You Can Change One Thing...

[MaltonNecromancer]

Exactly what it says. You are given total control of 40K... but only for one thing.

You can either change:
a.) One thing about the fluff.
b.) One rule from the game itself.
c.) One rule that any one army uses.
d.) Introduce a new rule.
e.) Any other reasonable "one-off" change.

What do you do, and why?

For my part, I wouldn't make the change for female Space Marines (because that'll happen the day after never).


My change would be to introduce a new rule to the Tyranid codex:

Beta Creature:

Units with the Beta Creature rule: Zoanthrope, Pyrovore, Venomthrope, Lictor, Carnifex Broods comprised of a single Carnifex.

A model with the Beta Creature rule follows all the rules for Independent Characters except where otherwise noted. A unit with a model with the Beta Creature rule attached to it may never use that model's Ld value for any test. The Beta Creature instead uses the Ld value of the unit as though it were one of the primary models comprising that unit (i.e. it uses the highest leadership of the squad, excluding its own. This may mean its Ld value drops).
A unit may have up to three models with the Beta Creature rule attached to it at any one time (i.e. a Brood of them), but may not have different types of model with the Beta Creature rule (so you may attach a Zoanthrope or a Venomthrope, but not both types at the same time). While part of a unit, the Beta Creature follows the Instinctive Behaviour rules of the unit it is attached to.
A unit with a Beta Creature attached may also attach a single model with the Independent Character rule, if there is one available.
Independent Characters may join broods made up of purely Beta Creatures as though they were normal units.

[Mazelf]

I would make triarch praetorians and lych guard have 2 wounds or give them a 2+ save

[CrimsonTurkey]

I'd go with nids too, but the rule would be that synapse creatures have eternal warrior.

[gcsmith]

Id have GW become an Ltd not a plc so we dnt have namby pamby share holders to dictate GW practices

[Dalleron]

Either 1. Redo whole BA codex for whole host of reasons
2. Revert to 4th edition cover system.

[CrimsonTurkey]

Id have GW become an Ltd not a plc so we dnt have namby pamby share holders to dictate GW practices

There's the real answer.

[Scrumblegort]

I wouldn't necessarily fire Matt Ward, as I think he is improving and certainly tries to bring lots of the flavor of Rogue Trader and 2nd Edition back which I love, but I wouldn't let him write anything unsupervised. Maybe force him to work with Phil Kelly or Cruddace from now on to balance him out. We can still have wacky wargear and bombastic retro-fluff, without going full blown GK 'nades and the Spiritual Liege.

[chromedog]

Change one aspect of the fluff.

Space marines NEVER became space knights on a damn-fool-idealogical crusade.
They were always repurposed criminals given mind-wipes and re-educated into being the unstoppable psychotic killing machines they are.

[SotonShades]

I'd increase the strength of vehicle explosions to S4 if you are nearby outside, and S5 if you are stuck inside. Would make getting stuck in a transport a little more problematic, but without being so harsh as to completely kill off the possibility of Mech armies.

[StraightSilver]

I would change the WS / To Hit in CC chart.

For the most part it's ok, but it seems crazy that you always need a minimum of 3+ to hit anything.

Or I would allow a re roll if your WS is double or more than your opponents, in the same way that you can if your BS is 6 or above.

So you could reroll misses if your WS was double or more, hitting on a 4+ instead of 3+.

[eldargal]

Give Craftworld Eldar some ******* females for start, I think that is a reasonable one off change for a race with no gender roles.:rolleyes:

[gcsmith]

Give Craftworld Eldar some ******* females for start, I think that is a reasonable one off change for a race with no gender roles.:rolleyes:

Give the same to tau while ur at it

[Demonus]

Step 1: Bring Back Squats
Step 2: ....
Step 3: Profit

[fuzzbuket]

remove matt ward from the fluff department.

or make phil kelly GW CEO

either would do :P

[sangrail777]

Thunderhawk: Rear armour 12 (instead of 10)

cuz it drives me nuts that a lil' raven has better rear armour then my mighty hawk.

[L192837465]

Stop how many people *i*** about the cost of the game.

[flekkzo]

Bring back the emperor and advance the story.

[Luke Licens]

Kill the Emperor and end the story.

[Wildcard]

I would give some unique super-heavy for grey knights :)

[computertrucker]

I would redo the whacky shooting rules... IE Splitting fire.... Bring back overwatch.. cover shooting into melee etc etc.

[Maelstorm]

Update ALL codex's at one time, THEN release updates to each Codex in the White Dwarf (similar to the effective Privateer Press releases).

GW should learn from their ongoing protracted mistakes and emulate what the competition is doing correctly.

[computertrucker]

Amen to that and how about this.

Dont release a new edition untill all Army Codexes for the new edition are near completion. Then attempt to have all the codexes launched within one year. So everyone will have the ability to play an up to date codex throughout the life cycle of the edition.

[heretic marine]

Bring back the emperor and advance the story.


Kill the Emperor and end the story.

or GW does something crazy, and makes 2 reality's that collide with both these changes, and makes more money.

[Uncle Nutsy]

I'd introduce a new rule, in shooting.

if two units are less than 12" away, the shooter only needs a 2+ to hit, and 3+ to wound, regardless of the ballistic skill and strength of the weapon.

[Rissan4ever]

I'd make Assault Moves random. It's too easy to get into an assault, and I think adding some risk to it would make things more interesting and force assault armies to think more tactically. Assaults should be 2d6 and take the highest. If the assault is through difficult terrain, you just roll 1d6.

[doom-kitten]

Hum so many options here, sad when you think about the number of simple changes that would really help thise game out, sadder still when you think about why no one from GW seems to clue in on them either. First of all cover and line of sight need to be fixed, forests are rarely perfectly spread out and easily seen through and no that fencing will not stop this uber laser cannon of death. Ah great idea leap on the ground and go fetal in plain view of the enemy that always provides a harder to hit target. Hum it would appear that man is standing in a field of grass, fire the plasma cannon or crap right he's in some grass, grass can totally prevent a super heated energy from boiling that man alive.

My point cover should be dictated by weapon strength as well as what it is, if a flamer can mold and flow around a wall to engulf my foes, I'm sure my Melta weapon thats designed to boil through tanks is not going to have a problem with a wooden fence. I have more but as they said only one change, yes this would make the game abit more complex but heaven forbid you have to think.

For the Emperor

[CrimsonTurkey]

Hum so many options here, sad when you think about the number of simple changes that would really help thise game out, sadder still when you think about why no one from GW seems to clue in on them either. First of all cover and line of sight need to be fixed, forests are rarely perfectly spread out and easily seen through and no that fencing will not stop this uber laser cannon of death. Ah great idea leap on the ground and go fetal in plain view of the enemy that always provides a harder to hit target. Hum it would appear that man is standing in a field of grass, fire the plasma cannon or crap right he's in some grass, grass can totally prevent a super heated energy from boiling that man alive.

My point cover should be dictated by weapon strength as well as what it is, if a flamer can mold and flow around a wall to engulf my foes, I'm sure my Melta weapon thats designed to boil through tanks is not going to have a problem with a wooden fence. I have more but as they said only one change, yes this would make the game abit more complex but heaven forbid you have to think.

For the Emperor

It even says in the rulebook that a cover save doesn't just represent an obstacle stopping the force of a shot but also takes into effect how much harder it is to hit an obscured target. Even if you can see bits of a target it's way harder to hit a target in a cornfield because of the disruption of line of sight.

[computertrucker]

what you mean you dont build your fences at home using re enforced adamantium? Wow.. I thought everyone was doing that these days?

[Charistoph]

I would divide the development teams up according product lines (40K, Fantasy, Specialist, LotR) and set it up so that their developments and releases didn't interfere with each other. This would allow for more rapid army development and help keep the continued interests going in each field.

We also avoid the deployment dearth that comes with the release of a new Edition AND start expanding on Dreadfleet and Space Hulk, and start getting Necomunda and other games hopping again.

[MaltonNecromancer]

AND start expanding on Dreadfleet and Space Hulk, and start getting Necomunda and other games hopping again.

I'll get my female marines before GW start supporting Specialist Games again. They've overtly said they're not going to. The best you can hope for is a one-off re-release, ala Space Hulk/Dreadfleet, and that's it.

If they ever re-do Adeptus Titanicus, I'm buying six boxes.

[Charistoph]

I'll get my female marines before GW start supporting Specialist Games again. They've overtly said they're not going to. The best you can hope for is a one-off re-release, ala Space Hulk/Dreadfleet, and that's it.

If they ever re-do Adeptus Titanicus, I'm buying six boxes.

Policies can and will change. Need I remind you of the Codex design philosophy that defined the second half of 4th Edition that plagued Chaos (and Eldar, Orks, Dark Angels, and Daemons to a point).

[thecactusman17]

a.) One piece of the lore:
Eldrad's imprisonment in the Blackstone Fortress unexpectedly ends, and he emerges with critical new information vital to the future of the fight against chaos, specifically that the Emperor is now a fully-fledged deity within the Warp--regardless of being alive or dead on the throne. He has begun a massive campaign within the Warp against the Ruinous Powers, and the affects of this struggle ripple throughout the galaxy in the form of increased Chaos activity, greater numbers of Nulls, and massive warp storms hindering travel to critical worlds and diverting Tyranid swarms onto unexpected paths toward the Galactic Core. This will also help explain the ridiculous new psychic powers and chaos abilities we will see in 6th edition.

b.) One rule from the game itself.
AP1: Models with AP1 weapons gain the Entropic Strike rule when rolling against vehicles. Models with AP1 do not change the result of the damage table.

c.) One rule that any one army uses.
Fortitude: A unit with this power may change Crew Stunned results to Crew Shaken upon passage of a successful psychic test.

d.) Introduce a new rule.
Models may use grenades in close combat in place of their normal weapons when fighting non-vehicle units, as though they were attacking tanks. In addition to offensive/defensive grenades, krak grenades and melta bombs functioning as they do now, haywire grenades would count as S4.

e.) Any other reasonable "one-off" change.
The terms "Shooting," "Assault," "Psychic Power" and "Close Combat" would have static definitions across all rulebooks and codices. Those rulebooks/codices with differing or unclear definitions would get an immediate errata to rectify the situation.

[Sister Rosette Soulknyt]

Bring out a miniature of Matt Ward on his knee's with a Jump Pack Cannoness about to shoot him... oh wait am already planning that.

Ok, how about just bring out the SoB codex with a complete range of new plastics, units, awesome fuff and great rules for once.
And if you say you will "never do another WD condex release" then mean it...

[doom-kitten]

It even says in the rulebook that a cover save doesn't just represent an obstacle stopping the force of a shot but also takes into effect how much harder it is to hit an obscured target. Even if you can see bits of a target it's way harder to hit a target in a cornfield because of the disruption of line of sight.

Oh I know that I should have elaborated, I still feel cover needs alot more work like why a AOE that lands behind the wall still allows a cover save, should be some kind of directional and placement rules to adjust this, Warmachine has rules like this and it makes these weapons feel more like what they are, a weapon designed to ignore fortifications and flush out hiding enemies or pin them in place.

[Doktor Porkov]

One thing I would change in 40k would be to make melta weapons more expensive. One thing I never understood in 5th edition is that melta weapons seem rather underpriced, seeing as though they are more powerful (but cheaper) than lascannons and plasma weapons.
I would suggest that meltaguns be 5 points more expensive than plasma guns and multi-meltas be 5-15 points more expensive than lascannons (giving you a 20pt melta gun and an up to 50pt multi-melta). Alternatively, make the plasma gun and lascannon cheaper, to reflect their shortcomings relative to melta weapons.

[doom-kitten]

One thing I would change in 40k would be to make melta weapons more expensive. One thing I never understood in 5th edition is that melta weapons seem rather underpriced, seeing as though they are more powerful (but cheaper) than lascannons and plasma weapons.
I would suggest that meltaguns be 5 points more expensive than plasma guns and multi-meltas be 5-15 points more expensive than lascannons (giving you a 20pt melta gun and an up to 50pt multi-melta). Alternatively, make the plasma gun and lascannon cheaper, to reflect their shortcomings relative to melta weapons.

:eek: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

Seriously my heart stopped for about ten seconds, why would you even suggest that...you've been melta spammed and it sucked didn't it. Well don't worry I've got this guy who runs 16 Lascannons in a 1250 pts list and I'm sure he can fix this right up for you.

Joking aside, why should they be that ridiculously overpriced.

[gendoikari87]

Cover is no longer a save but a "to hit" modifier.

[scadugenga]

I would change the way the design/writing team works.

Instead of 1 writer, you have a creative team.

There is 1 lead writer (who is the lead writer for all codices).

There are the assistant writers who work in concert with the lead writer to ensure all codices are balanced with each other, do not break the game, and have a release schedule that ensures all armies are updated quickly and without too much of a gap between them.


I would've said something about pricing structures being changed to reflect the cost of production rather than the value of the piece in the game...but that would be true fantasy... ;)

[warpcrafter]

I would re-do the entry for Ork Boys, dividing it into three discrete entries.

#1: Yoofs: They would be the standard Boyz as they are now, but with no Furious Charge, Waaagh! or Mob Rule, costing 4 points. Unit strength 10-30.

#2: Boyz: These would have S and T of 4, a 5+ save Furious Charge, Waaagh! and Mob Rule rules, and would cost 6 points. Unit strength 20-50.

#3: Skarboyz: These would be veterans. S and T of 4, 5++ save, Furious Charge, Waaagh! and Mob Rule rules, with their weapon options being either twin-linked shoota or big choppa. They would cost 8 points. Unit strength 5-15. However, to retain a sense of balance, I would include a rule where for each Skarboy unit in the army, you must have one Yoofs unit.

[Myu]

Make the Necron fluff BACK to what it used to be.

@Sister Rosette Soulknyt
He can't die before he admits humanoid robot pilots for machines make no sense and all that jazz :P

[Cessna]

No price increases on old stock far over and above inflation.

If Kharn the Betrayer cost $8.99 when he came out in 1999, charge $12 for him today - not $20.

[eldargal]

I am shocked and horrified at this latest price for metal. I just can’t carry on with the prices as they are on the majority of the range. I need to put prices up to maintain profitability. It saddens me to do it, but it seems that there IS a reason why GW are charging £8.00+ for single figures these days. If only I had the vast fortunes it requires to make plastic kits.

To illustrate, when I started out the metal price was £4.65 a kg plus VAT, it is now £23.75/kg plus VAT, which means in order to get bare minimum profits – and that ignores additional costs such as packaging, labour, etc – on the heavier figures at trade discount (which is the bugger in all of the pricing problems), a figure like a Deathball Ogre needs to be price at £22.00 each. Currently they are £12.00
From here (http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/2011/04/04/45317/).

This is why I dislike all the amateur CEO nonsense that GW gets subjected to. The only way to price metal miniatures in line with inflation would be ot use cheaper lead based alloys which limit the markets you can sell them to, thus limiting sales and costing them more money anyway.



No price increases on old stock far over and above inflation.

If Kharn the Betrayer cost $8.99 when he came out in 1999, charge $12 for him today - not $20.

[mallet_man]

I would change the sweeping advance rule, the fact that an archon a single model can cut down 50 guardsmen in one fell swoop is a little bit much even for a game that isn't that well balanced :/

[Cessna]

From here (http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/2011/04/04/45317/).

This is why I dislike all the amateur CEO nonsense that GW gets subjected to. The only way to price metal miniatures in line with inflation would be ot use cheaper lead based alloys which limit the markets you can sell them to, thus limiting sales and costing them more money anyway.

Your argument would make a lot more sense if GW still produced metal models.

How much does resin cost compared to metal alloys? (Hint: a lot less)

[eldargal]

And your argument would make sense if they had switched to resin in 1999. They did not, so you can't compare 1999 prices with prices now. Even now GWs (British) Finecast prices are still in line with those of other companies such as Avatars of War, Studio McVey, Raging Heroes etc.


Your argument would make a lot more sense if GW still produced metal models.

How much does resin cost compared to metal alloys? (Hint: a lot less)

[Cessna]

I do a lot of purchasing through my work.

If one of my suppliers switched to a cheaper material but kept their prices high on the grounds of "but the old material was expensive" I'd switch to a different supplier.

[Cessna]

I do a lot of purchasing through my work.

If one of my suppliers switched to a cheaper material but kept their prices high on the grounds of "but the old material was expensive" I'd switch to a different supplier.