| Tactical Command http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/ |
|
| About APGMs http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=16336 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | Lion in the Stars [ Tue Aug 04, 2009 2:12 am ] |
| Post subject: | About APGMs |
As one of the biggest developers of APGMs back on the GW forums, I need to point something out: APGMs were developed under the 3rd edition codex, when moving meant that you couldn't shoot heavy or rapid-fire weapons. The tactic of the day was either a '100 Years War' gunline of about 72 Fire Warriors, or a highly-mobile Crisis horde with an anchor of a 24-FW gunline . Markerlights could only guide *ONE* shot in with a 2+ to-hit, so nobody really used them except to call in Seeker Missiles. Kroot weren't really useful, and Pathfinders became the equivalent of an anti-tank (or anti-Monstrous Creature) team. When your army list example is a gunline, you design units to fill gaps in that example. A gunline needs artillery, so I proposed a unit halfway between a Manticore and a Whirlwind. When 4th edition came out, the biggest change was to allow rapid-fire weapons to shoot if the user moved. This made the 'Fish of Fury' mobile Fire Warrior army possible. The first Tournament I played in after IA3 came out (before the 4e Tau Empire codex came out) I used Fish of Fury to great effect (the look on the Khorne player's face when I moved 12" directly towards him was memorable, but the look on his face when 24 Fire Warriors unloaded and annihilated a squad of Berzerkers was priceless!). This was the first step towards the 'Eldar mobility with IG firepower' Tau army. Then the Tau Empire codex came out. All of a sudden, Markerlights were useful. Pathfinders became a high-priority item, since they could get a unit of FW hitting on 2+ with no cover save allowed, or two units of FW hitting on a 4+ with no cover save. This, plus the rapid-fire change, allowed the Tau to move close and shoot the unholy stuffing out of any unit on the table, with little chance of getting assaulted in turn. The Tau changed a bit, since their effectiveness was based not on the Eldar's use of multiple specialist units to cover each other's weaknesses, but in the use of specialist units to enhance the strengths of another unit. 5th edition 40k made a couple changes that really limited the abilities of the Tau, but made one or two more that have really enhanced them as well. The limiting changes are: 1) the removal of area terrain, which makes the Crisis horde nearly inviable; and 2) the 'Defensive Weapons' change, which dramatically reduces the firepower of a Devilfish on the move. One of the most subtle changes is the 'Jet Pack' rule, which allows a Marker Drone to move and still mark targets, allowing the Fire Warriors some organic ML support *that doesn't keep them from moving*. I'm not certain that a highly-mobile army needs what is essentially an artillery piece (the APGM). While every modern army does have several different artillery pieces ranging from light mortars to Hellfire-armed drones, I don't know that the Tau need one for game balance reasons, even if they are highly likely to have developed one much as I described the APGM (ie, a seeker missile with a pile of Smart Missiles in place of the anti-tank warhead for long-range high-precision AP capabilities). |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC [ DST ] |
| Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|