Oh cool. I've got a special place on my desktop reserved for these rules. It's called the 'Recycle Bin'.
See, now that’s what I call constructive criticism. Thanks.
I really hate disliking something that so much work apparently went into. I'll try again tomorrow, maybe the morning will bring new revelations.
Okay, hopefully this helps… (see below)
Well, I'm going to swim against the tide to say that I really like where this is going. I think there is a space for players that want to play highly upgraded versions of standard ships. Adeptus Mechanicus should have done this, but the randomness in the list is a huge turnoff for players that like to tinker.
Some suggestions:
The Black Ship - I like the general direction; heavily protected but undergunned. However, I think the Black Ship should be more carrier and lance based than it currently is. Remember that the weapons systems are there purely to protect the ship, and AC have a defensive, as well as offensive, role to play. I also doubt that the Inquisiton would rely on standard transports to uplift their precious, psychic cargo, so perhaps resilient Thunderhawks would be a fit?
Because the Black Ship is going to want to escape pursuers (such as the torpedo escorts that destroyed the planet killer) it is not going to want to have to maneuver (always bad for a battle ship) to bring it's guns to bear. So a strong dorsal lance array would be fitting; the hangars could be on the side of the vessel, much like on the Emperor.
Any reason why it is not 6+ armour? I'm also not sold on the torpedos - what would it need torpedos for?
This ship has potential, but it currently feels confused, and I'm not clear what it would actually do in a game of BFG. Being able to soak fire is great, but I just don't see my opponent's bothering to shoot at it right now.
Blackship. This feels confused because the comparisons I see here are to warships. This is NOT a battleship! The very LAST place the Imperium in general and the Inquisition in particular wants a Blackship brimming with untrained psykers is in the midst of a firefight. TAHT is why it is such a hard nut to crack defensively. Imagine super-heavy transport with extra defensive goodies and just enough weaponry to make it a thorny prospect if the bad guys manage to get it cornered. That's why it didn't get Exterminatus capabilities, etc. About the only places you would find this ship is caught by surprise in a Convoy Run type scenario or accompanying a Planetary Assault (from way in the back!) to vacuum up more untrained or rogue psykers from a contested system once the
rest of the fleet mops up any resistance.
This thing is a well-guarded super-heavy transport, for all intents and purposes an Imperial treasure ship, which is why it’s REALLY expensive for what it brings. It’s really expensive for not much firepower, but tough to kill even by battleship standards. The owning player gets extra VP’s if it lives, the opponent gets extra VP’s if it dies. It’s not something a player is going to be hitting the table with every game, but for some games this can be a very interesting ship, and it fits very neatly with fluff.
It fits VERY neatly with fluff, by the way- guidance for how this ship should look came directly from the game designers, and I’m not talking about BFG. Thus, the ship doesn’t get Thunderhawks, big-deck firepower or anything like that. The only reason it’s in a battleship hull at all is for increased survivability and to provide adequate power for the enhanced Gellar Fields, which are the most powerful fitted to any ship in the Imperium. It’s a special scenario vessel formulated to be used in other scenarios if the player wants to. It play-tested very well, but is not something to be used in lieu of a regular warship. If a player doesn’t like it, there’s nothing in the rules obligating him or her to use it. If you hate it so bad, feel free to smash it flat with your fleet if your opponent brings one.
Grand Inquisitorial Cruiser - I like the concept very much, but why have you used cruiser base stats rather than grand cruiser base stats (given the name)? I see this more as a center piece rather than as a line ship, so perhaps it could use a few more side-grade options, to reflect the individualistic nature of Inquisitors? Alternatively, perhaps just drop the "grand"?
Grand Inquisitorial Cruiser. This suffers from a poor naming convention (my fault). The idea is that it is supposed to be a battlecruiser of sorts, which is how the Imperium handles Grand Cruisers, hence the name. No, it is not supposed to be a Grand Cruiser. While it can serve as a centerpiece, it is nothing more than what the Inquisition uses for cruisers. Yes, to avoid confusion we can drop the “Grand.â€
Grey Knight SC - A nice touch.
OMG a compliment! <faints>
Inquisitor Ordos - I like the direction, but not the execution. First, if you feel something is too powerful, then up the points cost. Don't make games (or tournaments) complicated by modifying your opponent's fleet list. Second, kill the random factor. Randomness is a huge part of why the AM fleetlist was such a disappointment. Rolling for upgrades kills strategy and tactics.
-Silent Requiem
AHA!!! This is EXACTLY the comment I was waiting for! Here’s why we took this approach, which I shamelessly cribbed from the WH40k Demonhunters Codex.
1. Ordo Hereticus is more like a plain-vanilla Inquisitor coming around to dish out hate and discontent, which is why that profile is plain as well: a given cost for a given benefit, almost (but not quite) as good as Space Marines for almost (but not quite) the same cost.
2. Ordo Xenos is an altogether different animal. They’re in town because the aliens (whatever flavor) have gotten so bad, somebody somewhere decided the Imperial Navy needed a little help, and for whatever reason a Space Marine Chapter rigged for Exterminatus wasn’t handy or the most useful tool at the moment. These guys are geared primarily to face off against aliens and do much better against them than they can say against Chaos, against who they are not too much better than a Hereticus Inquisitor. To
not make them too expensive when facing Chaos, their point value is based on fighting Chaos, and their special benefits against Xenos fleets is balanced by the xenos fleets getting more free escorts. Keep in mind that “too many aliens!†is why an Xenos Inquisitor is on the scene in the first place.
Before anyone else catches it first, I forgot to add in from my notes that all Xenos races get a -1 modifier (after applying all modifiers) during boarding actions and H&R attacks. Of the three inquisition “flavors,†this one is the one that will need more tweaking to get right.
3. Ordo Malleus is to Chaos what Ordo Xenos is to aliens in that it ignores Chaos Marks, which is really useful when fighting Chaos but of no value when fighting say Eldar. That’s why against Eldar, Necrons, YourMom’sCar, etc. they only count as Ordo Hereticus, and Grey Knights are just fancy Space Marines with even better (and more expensive) strike cruisers than the normal vanilla kind. Against Chaos however they suddenly negate all the fancy bells and whistles a Chaos player paid for his fleet to have, which means he or she either gets more of them (like Tzeentch re-rolls if desired) or free demonship cruiser upgrades. This balance instead of cost issue is exactly how Grey Knights are handled in WH40k, to keep the Grey Knights themeful but prevent them from being too expensive when playing anyone besides Chaos.
- Nate
