Assume hypothetically its Christmas and we can revisit profile costs. This is a hypothetical exercise, and there is NO GUARANTEE ANY of this will be incorporated. However, I would like a ready store of this info in case the opportunity presents itself to make these changes. Before anyone asks, NO we are NOT re-doing the Eldar rules right now.
If we do get to visit any of this, it’s to fix what is ACTUALLY BROKEN, not "...you know what else would be cool?" The term “actually broken†applies to profiles and point costs, not ship profiles that don’t match their pictures well. For example, I HATE how the Despoiler doesn’t look anything like its profile and created the Chaos battlebarge as an easily cobbled alternative, but the profile in and of itself is not broken.
Let’s start with the obvious: For its current profile, the Devastation and Styx DEFINITELY are broken. For just +5 points, TWO Devastations can be bought over one Styx. Separately, for 190 points, the Devastation carries far more firepower than the Acheron, which is actually a well- balanced heavy cruiser (despite how many people feel about it).
Because the Acheron is both well-balanced for points and fits in the Chaos theme of fast with medium armor, long-range weapons with no special rules, it is NOT broken despite being a bit quirky. Not broken means it gets left as-is. This ALSO means the Devastation can’t be raised in price, so its price is set at 190 points. The fix for this ship is obvious and has already been suggested by Sigoroth and others: drop the broadside lances to 45cm and leave everything else unchanged. Good.
Now what do we do about the Styx? Even if we change the Devastation, we have to make the Styx worth taking without making it so cheap that it suffers form the same problem the Devastation has currently- murderously too cheap. Once again the fix is obvious and was recommended by the fan list here: drop the price to 260, no other changes. It’s now (-20) points over two Devastations AND has longer ranged (if less total) firepower. For a carrier-heavy fleet two Devs is still a better deal, but no longer so much so that a Styx isn’t worth even considering.
Are there any other fleets out there with completely broken ships? The Tau Merchant was brought up as an example, and we will have to look at that one. Anything else? I’m looking for broken profiles like the Syyx/Acheron/Devastation triangle. Other examples don’t have to be so extreme, but if we do this at all, we have to justify something is actually broken, not simply cool if made a bit better.
- Nate