Loopy returns with a follow up article on D Weapons. Check out his blog, WAAGH!! Drillteef for more of his content!
I was over on the Frontline Gaming forums chatting about D-Weapons in 40k when I had a little bit of an amateur game design thought about how to streamline the rules for D-Weapons in 40k. It’s clear that the primary issue is the alpha strike component of the rules which really make even fluffy games of 40k a bit of a snooze fest with entire swaths of models meeting their maker far too early in the game.
Having said that, though, there are a lot of fun units which are allowed in Escalation which could be great fun. Many of the Baneblades are really cool and, of course, my green heart adores Stompas of all variety.
I’d like to suggest the following rule for use in friendly games of 40k whether the games be fluffy or competitive.
As such, these powerful weapons are not armed at all times. In the protracted engagements which are represented by games of Apocalypse, they begin the game armed and operational, but in the skirmishes represented by regular games of 40k, they are not.
During a game of Warhammer 40,000, a D-Weapon may not fire at full power in the first game turn. Additionally, a unit may not fire a D-Weapon during the game turn in which it arrives from reserves. At the start of every other of your player turns, you may attempt to power up your D-Weapons. Roll a dice for each D-Weapon you control. On a 3+, that weapon becomes fully operational.
Alternatively, before deployment, you may choose to power up all of the D-Weapons possessed by a unit right away, either by arming warheads prematurely or shunting power directly from more conventional sources. Whatever the case, if you choose to do so, the D-Weapon’s profile is changed to Strength 10 and AP 1 with no other additional special rules for the entirety of the game.
What do you think? Wanna give it a try? I’m guessing the “no other additional special rules” may need some more precise wording to avoid rules lawyering.