Demon Incursion and Chaos Terminators rules

[mnemnoch]

I made some rules to introduce Chaos Terminators in Space Hulk while keeping some important basic aspects of game: Chaos Terminators will be able to summon demons, similar to their ability in Warhammer 40 k. Demons have the same stats like Stealers. (I calculated it with Warhammer 40k stats. While WH40k Terminators and Stealers are very different to their Space Hulk counterparts - for example 40k Terminators are comparable in close combat with basic Stealers, if Stealers would not beat at first. But shooting at a demonette with a Storm Bolter has comparable chances of being succesful to shooting at a Stealer.) Your chaos force may equal the Space Marine force, or the Stealer force, or a balanced mix, for example: half blips per round and half terminators. Use a point system if you want to calculate the Terminator values more exactly. (From Deathwing: 1 Termi 1 Pt, Sgt 2 Pts, Heavy Weapon 5 Pts.)
The Chaos Terminators may start at former Stealer Entry areas. They begin their turn with generating their command points and summoning their blips (most cases: one blip). (CPs may not be used on demons or demon blips.) Ambush counters are not allowed. Zero Blips block LOS, even to the chaos forces - just imagine them to be instable demons, who disappear at conversion. Broodlord indicates a special demon herald, summoned demon prince or greater demon.

I didn't play much with chaos forces before, but I see some problems in pitting them against loyal marines. Giving the same hit and kill value like Stealers would make the game to random. Using other numbers (the 1st ed approach) would destroy its beautiful simplicity and even then it wouldn't compare to WH40k standards: one termi would need ten rounds/shots to kill one other termi (with a great deviation): he could even kill 2 with one shot). I don't have much experiences with using blind grenades, but it sounds to me like a compromise. My solution: Terminator armor needs to get hit 2 times directly after each other with firearms to fail. This doesn't apply to close combat, since the bonus already reflects armor, weapons and proficiency.

I am experimenting with other rules as well:
Awareness of being attacked: If you are being fired at and even if you don't see the enemy firing at you, you can still use CPs to react with an action per shot. You can't react two times if you see someone firing at you.
Retreat: Every unit with normal psychology (not Stealers) may make a turn or move action, but not turn and fire or move and fire action, if someone fires at it. In this case no CP may be spent on this unit (but on other units because of awareness and new CP usage rules clarifications).
Blips: Space Marines and Traitor Marines use custom blips with orientation and normal Terminator movement rules. Each Blips has a code at the other side and every Player has a table or some cards to prove which unit is symbolized by which code.

Conclusions:
I think Heavy Weapons and crossfire get important, as do close combat marines. The game will depend much on Command Points, because they allow you to step out of fire if you get hit. With the blips bluffing will be a bigger part of the game. It helps much to connect the mission more so that the marines have more tactical options.

[wilsongrahams]

Do you mean simply give Terminators the Hard to Kill rule the Broodlord has from shooting, but keep the flamers as 2+ kill as it is already?

Otherwise, this could be fun, but not sure what you could do for missions and how many genestealers they are worth if using spawn points.

[mnemnoch]

Hi, I post an example:
Suicide Mission, 1 Squad and two Blips are the total forces in this mission. If you play with Chaos Marines you could chose to get one Blip and half a squad. To define half a squad we could calculate 1 Point for each of the three normal Space Marine Terminators, 5 for the Heavy Weapon (Flamer) and 2 for the Sergeant. This is 10 Points for a Squad, the Chaos Forces may spend 5 Points: perhaps 1 Lightning Claw Terminator (also 1 Point), 2 normals Termis and a Sergeant? Additionally, half of the Stealer Force, means 1 Blip per Round.

A fight may look like this: Chaos Termi (C) steps diagonally in front into the LOS of an Overwatch Space Marine Terminator (T). He fires while moving, rolls. Doesn't hit. The Overwatch Termi (T) fires back. C spends 2nd AP, fires, misses again. T shoots, also has sustained fire, hits. C spends 2 AP, 3rd and 4th to move back to avoid a possible second hit directly after another which would kill him. T cannot shoot, as C isn't in LOS anymore. But C has some CPs left, steps in front in LOS and fires, again. He hits. T may think about using the retreat rules to move back diagonally to step out of LOS, or he may use his CPs to move away in front (if he has any left). He has some left but decides to fire, hits too, but this doesn't kill C because it is the first hit in a row. Now both Termis have one hit and the first who is hit again dies. C shoots again, hits and thus kills T. If there would now be another Space Marine Terminator (S) behind the former one, who is in Overwatch mode too, this Termi would now be able to shoot at C. If he would hit him, C would die. We assume this situation, S shoots but misses. Now C loses his hit and is restored back to normal state. As he must be hit 2 times directly after each other to be killed.

EDIT:
I tried this rule and it worked fine. We played custom missions with objectives to get an object and take it to an exit point. But the scenario that worked best was to place three markers and dominate 2 of them for four rounds. Domination would mean to stay in an adjacent field to it while there wouldn't be an enemy.

@HaunterV: this wouldn't be the same as being hard to kill. Hard to kill means to hit with a weapon with 2 or more dice. 2 or more dice must hit. With the present house rules Terminators may not be killed with one shot. They may be hit with one shot but killed only if a second shot hits directly after the first. I mean in the next action. I am using these rules because if they work, I would suggest to give Power Armor Marines the ability to ignore the first hit in a round, and not like Terminators, who ignore the first hit in every time fraction of two actions.

[HaunterV]

Nice.

I'd love to see more of this. I agree with the terminators treating eachother as hard to kill models

I'd suggest flamers get a nerf vs other terminators making them kill on a 4+ or 5+ this needs to be playtested to see if 4+ is too effective or 5+ is not effective enough.