Switched to 40K Apoc...Sort Of.

So we switched to GW's new 40K Apoc game....well our version anyway.

Image taken from http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=503795

 So obviously I have not kept up with posting stuff here (I'm more active on Instagram) but I have been wanting to post about our transition from our version of Kill Team to Apoc for some time.  Over the time we played Kill Team, it started to be apparent that we wanted to play with ANY model we wanted but the unbalancing effect this would have would break the game the way we play it.

So in December (the 29th to be specific), Ron introduced the new rules we would use.  What we kept from Kill Team:

1. Maintain 4 turns games.

2. Maintain the 2 foot x 3 foot game board.

3. Maintain the same missions each side rolls for.

4. Battle Dice - we roll 4 D10 that we use to determine who goes first each turn.

5. Roll 1D6 each turn to be used as command points. +1 if the commander is still alive for a maximum of 6.

6. Small force (explained below).

7. Set up simultaneously.  We adopted placing a screen down the center of the board which hides where each side is placing their models.  This leads to some very entertaining results!

8. Alternating actions starting with who has the highest battle die for that turn.  Each model gets 2 actions and can move - move, move - fire, fire - move, fire - fire (with the second round of fire having to hit on 6's).  A single model moves vs. a group but for 1 CP you can designate a group that fits under one of the old large blast templates and they then move together.  They remain together for the turn and have end end their movement and still maintain fitting under the blast template.  They also have to fire at the same target.  There is no firing at a group of models either (see firestorm).
9. Each model that sees the action can spend 1 command point to move half their base movement or fire (hitting on 6's).  Heavy weapons cost 2 command points.

10. Firestorm.  Since a lot of weapons have multiple attacks (i.e. assault cannon, boltgun, etc.), we allow "spill over" representing the shit storm of  lead going down range.  Any sixes rolled past the first six can be applied to other models within a certain radius of the original target.

What we adopted/changed was we are using the the datasheet and point cost for each model in a force.  BUT the cost gets you only 1 of that model, not a full squad (if that buys more than 1 model in normal Apoc).  This goes with our desire to maintain quick, skirmish style games and not spend hours setting up and tearing down.  Now we can play with whatever model we choose while still maintaining a pretty good balance. 

There are probably a lot of other things we adopted but I am no rules master and we've blurred the actual rules so much in how we play that I am not sure which rule belongs to which system or owner (ours of GWs).  I can tell you I was excited to try out some of the models I have had on the shelf for sometime.  The games are brutal and just plain fun with some epic battle scenes like when Ron's chaos dogs (which I hate!) took down my redemptor dreadnought!

Ron's dogs swept up from the left flank and chewed off the legs of my dread!

My Christmas present that I can now use in the game!

Ron's Spider and Dogs. Ugh!

So that's it.  Fun games with the introduction of a wide range of models to use.  So far we've kept the points for each game pretty low with our highest point total to date being 87 points.  We are pretty solid on the rules but Ron is always looking at new rules for us to try out to see if we can add them in and make the games fresh and maintain the fun. 

I will try and write up some more of our games to post here (and try to do it more often!).