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Sorry, CS, I was getting really steamed about this.
Just to counter one point you raised, though: my Crisis Suits get shot at by as many Lascannons as my Broadsides do, often more, because one Broadside will kill one model very dead while 3 Crisis suits will usually kill 3-4. Suits, just like Marines, tend to draw lots of high-AP fire (meltaguns, plasma guns, and Lascannons. The reason I say that I lose more Suits to Heavy Bolters and Assault Cannons is due to the rate of fire those weapons have. The more armor saves I have to make, the more I fail. 4 Heavy bolters (say, from a Devastator Squad) make 12 shots, 8 hit, 7 will wound. That will kill one Drone, or maybe a Broadside. It is low odds, but the shooty 'Fexii that I've been facing don't seem to have a problem with causing casualties. 4 Lascannon shots (from the Devastator squad next door to the first one), 3 hit, 2.5 wound. The first Shield Drone will bounce the First Lascannon, get killed by the second, and the Half wound will bounce off the second Shield Drone.
Hmmm... Maybe I can live with them as LVs, since they seem to have the same casualty rate under both AP and AT fire. I still have a problem with having to make dangerous terrain tests for walking into woods (which Crisis suits have to make in 40k, but Broadsides don't), and I really don't like not being able to deploy Broadsides in buildings (Walker still doesn't allow that), which is my favorite spot to put them in 40k.
The reason I was getting bent out of shape about Broadsides as LVs is that according to the basing suggestions in the v4.4 designer's notes, Broadsides are mounted 2-3 per base, just like Crisis suits. If one is Infantry, the other one should be.
Now that it's official that Broadsides are 1 + 2 Shield Drones per base, LV is easier to swallow.
I like the formation of 6, with an upgrade of 3.
Based on the FW models, I still think that we should have both the SMS and twinlinked plasma rifles available on the statline. I think that AP5+ Ignore Cover is close enough to AP4+ for most situations for there to be no price difference between the two weapons fits.
I have a real problem with the armor, though. They should be frustratingly tough (if we're following the approximate resilience from 40k, which I believe that Epic as a whole does and has to), but they just can't take large amounts of AT fire (roughly on par with a Predator), while they can take lots of AP fire (equal to Termies). So they should have an LV armor about halfway between 4+ and 4+RA. While I don't like the idea of a 3+ save LV (LV's are supposed to be Land Speeders and Sentinels, which cannot take a hit from a Lascannon, while a Broadside can, as long as it has Shield Drones or Generators), I think that's the best compromise. Also, I'd like to consider Thick Rear Armor for Broadsides. The SMS can reach anywhere within 30cm, and with the drones placing themselves in harm's way for the suit, I think it could be justified. Comments?
In the 40k rules for Orcas and Mantas, a Crisis suit takes up the same space as 4 infantrymen. 3 Crisis suits + 2 Drones would take up 14 'spaces', which is the upper end of two infantry stands. A Broadside takes up as much space as 8 infantrymen, so a 'Broadside stand' would take up 10 'spaces', still 2 Stands of infantry. Personally, I think that we should make a change for play balance and allow a Broadside stand to take up one Epic 'Transport Space'.
I'm not entirely convinced that 250 points is the right starting place for a formation of 6, but I'll go with it for now.
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To address one of Tactica's questions: In 40k, drones do not take hits for vehicles. I'll extrapolate that to say that drones don't take hits for War Engines in 40k, either (since Superheavy vehicles are a subset of vehicles in the 40k rules). Whether they should or not is a different story. There's a lot of use in the modern military for 'drones' to act as decoys, from the old Quail decoy used by B52s in the 1960s, to the ITALD decoys used by modern fighters, to the torpedo-shaped noisemakers used by submarines. The thing is, they're all specialized decoys, not something that has an offensive purpose. IMO, Drone Wings (Gun or Heavy Gun) should not be able to take hits for WEs or AVs.
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Asaura, congratulations on the new little munchkin! She'll play Orks for a long time, though, especially if she can reach the table. Fist of Gork/Foot of Mork, anyone?
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"For the Lion and the Emperor!"
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