Friday, July 6, 2012

6th Edition - First Thoughts

I'll be holding off any event announcements about 6th Edition until the end of July, to give the new rules time to get settled. Initial thoughts, however, are;

1) Allies allowed, with the limitation of no Special Characters (this is specifically to simplify potential special ability abuse)
2) Fortifications allowed. Scenery will be pre-set, and a fortification will replace one item of normal terrain in your deployment zone (for Fortress of Redemption, any other Scenery within 2" of it's final location will also be removed)
3) Event points to remain at 1500 (games will be slower, and this should also limit the amount of rules bending that can occur)
4) (possible) limitation on flyers. This will be dependant on if Skyfire weapons are introduced in an FAQ update. Currently there are very few counters for flyers outside of;
a) other flyers
b) Fortifications
The limitation will probably be in the form of a max number per army, if it happens. If Flakk is added to missile launchers, then this may go away. The other option is adding Flakk into the rules pack for missile launchers at x points per shot the missile launcher has.

5) (probably) no Relic mission. Of the 6 in the book, that one seems a little tough for some armies, and too easy for others.

Added 14/7/2012

6) The special abilities for objectives are easily forgotten. I think this may be worth omitting for this year at least.

7) There is some potential filth involving taking Independant Characters from  one codex and adding them to units from others (for Battle Brother partnerships), and them conferring certain special rules unit wide (Fearless etc). A simple fix for this is to say that for Ally IC's, USR's are not applied to joined units.

8) Going back to Fortifications, using the Fortress of Redemption you can seal away a section of the board in your deployment. Simple solution again...Fortifications may not be placed within 6" of the board edge.

9) As terrain will be fixed, and missions determined by round, the start of game will be;
1) Roll Sides
2) Place Fortifications (see (2) above for specifics and limitations
3) Roll for variable numbers of objectives (if required)
4) Place Objectives (rolling for first placement if required)
5) Roll Warlord Traits
6) Roll for Night Fighting
7) Deploy

10) List secrecy - there will be none. I consider this nothing less than good sportsmanship. Before, during and after the game your opponent will be able to ask about the equipment, abilities and rules for any model, and check your list. Everyone is going to be pretty new with the rules, and it sucks to lose simply because you were not made aware of some specifc rule.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

StarSmash 2012 - The time and place

StarSmash 2012 will be held on the 15th and 16th September. We will once again be using Spiky HQ in Reading, Berkshire (a.k.a. the Post Office social club on Richmond Avenue...complete with bar!)

The full rulespack can be downloaded from here, however what you need to know!
  • Entry is £30, with early entrants getting a 10% discount
  • It will be 5 games at 1500 points
  • You may use Forgeworld "40K approved" units
  • We intend to be using 6th Edition rules
  • There are 2 painting competitions
As we get closer to the event there will be a full FAQ, and the missions will be announced as well.

Starsmash 2012 is open for entrants

Hello everyone!

Entry for Starsmash 2012 is now open. You can find the rulespack and entry details on the link  below. We plan to offer the same high-quality event Spiky Club always aims for...and looking forwards to the changes and challenges of 6th Edition!

Starsmash 2012 Rulespack

When you enter, please can you make sure you confirm the email address you can be contacted at, and also any food allergies. Closer to the date we will be sorting out food orders (our new catering supplier offers a range of specially prepared baguettes, including hot food), and we will also be issuing an update as and when 6th Edition lands!