Cool!
Apocolocyntosis wrote:
* Swap the manticores for bombards on artillery. Manticores are swanky'n'tech, bombards are crude, brutual, and easier to maintain/crew … could maybe have field guns as well
I can do that. How do the field guns differ from the Support Squad with Mortars?
Apocolocyntosis wrote:
* add leman russ thunderers in somewhere (default for russ formation then punisher/demo as upgrade?). They are the cheapest not-good-for-anything-else hulls
They've also got TRA so they synergize better with Punishers. I'd probably just do a list swap because
1. that keeps it simple
2. easier to proxy (lots of demolishers out there-not so much the thunderers)
3. it's cheaper and I want cheap but plentiful
Apocolocyntosis wrote:
* Vultures too advanced, you'd give those to proper regiments not waste on penal legion
Yeah but there's little AT in this list so I figured they've have to have something. Everyone?
Apocolocyntosis wrote:
* could add in a scout inf formation other than 0–1 last chancers, plenty of room for sneaky convicts/gangers to be scouts … forlorn hopes
Last Chancers are now 1 per 1500 (so it scales in games) already (just not posted) so perhaps that works better now? Another idea I've considered was some type of prison gang leader character. It counts against the ratio of prisnors to guards but brings something else to the formation.
Apocolocyntosis wrote:
* What about a war engine size land transporter? Really truck the masses about, give them no independence, lock them up in mega-transports then let the ramps down at the front, leaves the poor wretches no choice but to serve their emperor.
4+ armour no RA, couple of heavy stubber for point defence/to turn on the penal troops if they go awry.
What speed, what DC, and what capacity? Part of the thing about WE with lots of troops in them is that it is actually a penalty in the game by
1. Opens them up to be independently targeted
2. Reduces the DC of the formation (often) below what a bunch of cheap transports give
3. Makes them more temping for TK weapons (which is a large part of the theme of the list: Hide behind meat-shields. "yeah you go ahead and shoot that Shadowsword at that Land Transporter now..."
)
I'll point out this is the discussion happening right now over at the Heavy Mech list. WE transports kinda suck n EA unless they're really tough and then things go wonky in large formations (see DKoK)
Perhaps this can work as a stupid cheap Arbites WE transport prison barge with the option that you can not take it and get a crap ton of trucks (but pay more) instead. Basically it's the prison block itself on tracks. Just crash through the walls and open the jail cells.
"The one with the rifle shoots! The one without, follows him! When the one with the rifle gets killed, the one who is following picks up the rifle and shoots!"
Certainly THAT'S thematic ha!
Apocolocyntosis wrote:
* more stubbers in general. Swap penal troops to generic small arms not lasguns, to represent mix of autoguns etc
yeah done. Small arms anyways..
Apocolocyntosis wrote:
* abrites support formation in addition to command force?
Kinda what the Taskmaster unit is. I'm good to add a formation though I don't know what it brings on it's own.
Apocolocyntosis wrote:
Love the commissar rule. Forward unto death! worries me 'cos counting to 4 is hard, could it just be: any infantry formation that breaks takes D3 extra hits from collar detonations, BUT increase their initiative to 2+ default? (think this give similar feel with less checking)
The big weakness of this list is that it's character driven so that means sniping those guards is actually a really good way to crap them out. Also they should pretty much be shite at doing anything but double/assault and be crap at say sustaining, overwatch, and marching (too undisciplined)
Apocolocyntosis wrote:
What about some sort of priest fanatic char? (prison chaplain 40k style trying to impress cult of emperor and chance of salvation)
Interesting. How would that be different in effect than commissars? Perhaps leader?
