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40K to SG2

From: "Tom McCarthy" <tmcarth@f...>
Date: Thu, 20 May 1999 09:32:08 -0400
Subject: 40K to SG2

Okay, I certainly must concede John C's point.	There are many elements
of
WH40K and you have to choose what you will save and what will go when
you
convert to SG2.

It's a classic argument when two different game systems clash during
conversion; do a conversion which gives the performance or the style ?

For example, 40K Space Marines can practically march into the guns of
the
standard grunts of their universe, virtually immune to suppression, then
launch a devastating close assault.  For example, if 100 Tactical
Marines
are fighting 100 Tactical Guardsmen in close combat, the first round of
close combat sees 30 Guardsmen fall, then 4 Marines.  A second round is
probably fought, and 28 Guardsmen fall, while the remainder claim 2 more
Marines.  At this point, outnumbered 94 to 42, the Guardsmen should
break
and be rundown and scattered.

If you simulate this using Veterans in power armour against Regulars,
you
get results of 80 Guardsmen down, 15 Marines down, and 5 ties.	The
guardsmen will almost certainly break and flee, leaving the game.  Of
the 15
Marines, I think it's 1/3 will merely be stunned and rejoin the battle.

But, unless you change the psychology rules (as John C did or as I have
to
run this kind of battle), the Marines will be pinned by fire before they
reach close combat and be completely unable to launch the assault.

Some people like this result; it serves to illustrate a common anti-GW
bias
which is that GW's sci-fi in no way reflects a potential future or
reasonable military doctrine.

If you are tweaking the rules to allow and reward a charge into the
guns,
you are instead saying (to paraphrase), "It's not war, but it's
glorious".
You're willing to accept an unlikely or unique setting to play an
interesting or fun game.

I've tried both.  A force which can march across the open table into the
enemy's guns without a thought for morale is fun once or twice, but
there
are relatively few tactical decisions.	Stuart Murray, when faced with
such
a choice, went out of his way to be backward about tactical choices (at
least until he realized he might lose).  It does become a touch boring,
and
falling back on standard SG2 morale and suppression rules can force
tougher
tactical choices on a player.

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