I think what has Fearless is as it should be, but that the rules for Fearless are a bit too good, particularly in certain situations.

As a house rule I would suggest altering Fearless so that rather than it giving complete immunity to dying from taking a blast marker when broken, the owning player instead has rolls a dice each time and on a 2+ ignores it as now, but on a 1 the unit/formation looses a model or DC.

hmm, it seems strange to me that just because you dont fear the enemy, they shouldnt be able to hurt you - being fearless doesnt make you tougher it means you ignore the negative psychology of battle. you carry on fighting regardless but you still die just as easily so why not have it so that a fearless unit simply cant be broken, but would still take casualties from losing an assault etc. so rather than being tougher than other units theyre simply more reliable and less likely to run away when the las starts flying. i think this would represent it quite well.

Being broken is a function of a formation, not an individual unit.

It is theoretically possible to do this, but not with the current rules. It would be a major rewrite of a core mechanic.

I have long thought that the term "Broken" was inappropriate - "Disorganised" or even " "Uncontrolled" are more descriptive of the intended effects. However, once you get your head around this, the game mechanic still works quite well. In this respect Space Marines are regarded as especially motivated / briefed, so will continue to perform effectively beyond the capabilities of other races, hence ATSKNF.

"Fearless" also works quite well works as a mechanic - to me this represents individuals becoming "Uncontrolled" but disregarding the impact of the battle raging around them. So you get the image of the grizzled veteran sergeant standing up under a withering hail of fire screaming various clichés at other troops etc

The main problem with "Fearless" is where it is applied excessively to a given list without the introduction of counterbalancing deficiencies - so where whole formations are "Fearless" with RA, Initiative 1+ etc. Yes you can 'nickel and dime' the formation with BMs, but two or three such formations in an army tends to make it 'overpowered', and needs to be resisted or corrected (higher costs, list constraints etc).

Hackdown hits aren't kills anymore than the kills for taking a BM are. They represent the psychological effcts of units scattering or becoming broken (in 40k terms) and fleeing. You've already had the combat where people get shot and stabbed by the time they take effect. Therefore fearless units that are affected by them aren't so fearless, are they?

In response to Ginger's post there is certainly a limit to how many Fearless units you should be allowed to have, but the same goes for Disrupt to a great degree, or any of several other powerful Special Abilities.

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Just remember that a unit "killed" by blast markers and "hackdown" hits is only dead as a unit - the individual troopers are alive, but the unit is scattered and the troopers are fleeing the battle for good. If it's a tank the crew may simply have bailed out.

Thank you gentlemen. That was some good explanations on the status of broken troops. Its a good point to remember that "Broken" can be seen as a loose state of being. They are not necessarily fleeing before the enemy, but perhaps are disorganized, regrouping, etc.

There is - points cost

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OK, let me rephrase.

Fearless, like Leader and Disrupt, has a nonlinear effect on game balance. Would you play against an all Leader army? What about one where every weapon was Disrupt? These are good in moderation, but get abusive in large quantities. Fearless is even worse, as while Disrupt and Leader units often have weaknesses, like poor armor or slower reload times, Fearless units are often elite, top-notch units with statlines to match.

If Wraithguard had Guardian stats, no one would even murmer objections to Iyanden armies. If Khorne Beserkers were average in CC, it wouldn't matter as much that large numbers of Fearless raving loonies were roaming the field (yes, I know they aren't Fearless now). Fearless units are nasty to deal with because units with other Abilities that violate core mechanics usually have flaws that can be easily exploited. Fearless units are usually Fearless because they have no reason to fear due to their quality.

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Fearless 4+ RA... LOTS OF THEM (and never in my armies it seems!)

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If 'Fearless' was a Character only ability, there would be little issue with it. As it stands, it is a unit ability and merely stating that a points hike will fix it is like placing a band-aid on an open wound. It does nothing for the enjoyment of the list for either the player or the opponent.

Also trying to define what units are doing instead of dying is also a dead discussion as the result in EpicA is the same: the unit is removed and counts as a casualty.

When my Fearless formations break, they cordon off whole areas that disrupt enemy movement towards Blitzes and objectives. Nothing short of an assault will remove them. This is not an action that you would expect from a 'broken' (or dis-organised) formation.

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I think fearless is really only appropriate for titans and some characters.

Formations of fearless units are abuse fuel.

I'm fine with fearless as it is. I've never seen the problems that others complain about in regards to area control+movement

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I've never had a problem with fearless units/formations that are appropriately priced.

On the other hand I was glad when the all leader army, i.e. Spirit Stoned Eldar, was removed from the game.

I think the problems with Fearless mostly got nixed back in 2008.
Before that, yeah, Fearless units breaking and moving into b2b with enemies, then getting activated again by a nearby engagement, now that was dumb.

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