The first element of Space Hulk that drew my
attention to its need of a revision was dealing combat damage. Admittedly, it
is not difficult to remember that a Storm Bolter achieves a kill on a 6, the
Assault Cannon on a 5+, and the Heavy Flamer on a 2+. In any edition, as far as
the basic game is concerned, combat is relatively simple and straightforward.
This very quickly becomes more convoluted as extra rules and expansions are
added, however.
The core of Space Hulk first edition was designed
around Genestealers, Terminators and Terminator Sergeants. Basic rules, and done,
with no need for messing around. This worked admirably well, forming a core of
simple gameplay that powered a smooth, squad-based tactical game. But then came
new weapons… and new units for them to shoot at. Soon, this handful of numbers
grew and expanded into page-long spreadsheets that had to be updated on a
regular basis with every addition of new rules or weapons. To top this off,
some of these official spreadsheets had editing errors. What had once been
perfectly adequate groundwork for Space Hulk’s combat no longer fit the needs
of the game as it should have.
This may sound familiar to you. Any old D&D
players out there? Here’s a hint: THAC0. It worked perfectly well for a time,
back when armor went from light (10) to heavy (0). As D&D grew, more items
were added, and soon you had to deal with heavy, magical armor that went all
the way down to -10. While there is nothing wrong with having to subtract a
negative modifier from a die roll, it is not needed, either. All it did was
make the game a bit more cumbersome. And so, with a slight update, Armor Class
became an entirely positive number, that simply went up with enhancement. Same
odds to hit, easy to convert from one to the other, but much more sensible for
the direction the game had taken.
This is essentially what I have done in Space Hulk:
XT for ranged combat. In first edition, you would need to view a chart to see
that a Storm Bolter needs to roll a 6 to kill a Terminator, a 5 for a Tactical
Marine, and a 4 to kill a Genestealer Hybrid. Every weapon you wanted to fire
would be similar to this process. Instead of this, in Space Hulk: XT every
model is assigned a Toughness value. When attempting to shoot a model, you will
roll dice as determined by your weapon, add any modifiers, and compare it
against the target’s toughness. Should you equal or exceed this value, you have
scored a successful hit. So firing a Storm Bolter (2d6 attack, +0 damage) you
would need to equal or beat a Terminator’s Toughness of 6, a Tac Marine’s 5, or
a Hybrid’s 4. This means that the core gameplay will remain unchanged: the terminology applied just gets simpler.
Very few values do not fit within this altered rules
structure. What few do not are weapons seldom used, or against targets that
only rarely make an appearance (i.e. extremely specific things like an Autocannon
fired against a marine at a range of 12 squares or less). As a tradeoff for
these few differences that affect gameplay only slightly, the addition of new
weapons and units becomes much simpler. Rather than adding a new unit and
having to decide how each different weapon will affect it, one may simply
assign an appropriate Toughness value based on the weapons already present in
the game.
In summary: instead of looking at a chart to
determine how a certain weapon will affect a certain model (on a Tuesday, if
the sun is out, and you are wearing blue), you roll a die, add your weapon’s
damage, and compare it to the target’s toughness. And done!
-M
Coming on Monday: the conundrum of melee combat.
Are you planning on simply re-writing rules, or are you trying to make a fully playable SH? As in, a print-and-play-with-your-own-stuff game?
ReplyDeleteA full print-and-play version of the game would be inviting the wrath of the GW ban-hammer. However, Space Hulk: XT will consist of a fully playable rules set, all the counters, tokens and cards you will need, and the most extensive missions compilation for SH to date. Other bitz like alternate board sections may eventually find their way into the project too. Stay tuned and you may be happily surprised by the end result.
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