Fixing Snap Shots (& Overwatch)

The idea of the snap shot made its debut in 6ed. The advent of flyers seemed to require a mechanic to make them harder to hit, and the simple idea of needing 6s stepped up to the plate. As is often the case, once the mechanic had emerged, it seemed to find a home in a range of other places too, helping fast moving and pinned troops remain involved in the game.

Overwatch was a big part of 2ed, but was removed in the transition to 3ed. Overwatch then was a very different beast to the rule we have now; it cost a unit it's turn, but allowed them to fire during the following enemy movement phase. This allowed a unit to cover an approach from an as yet unseen enemy. As charging also happened in the movement phase in 2ed, it could also be used by a unit that expected to be assaulted next turn, which could occasionally prove useful if the enemy were presently out of range of some of your good guns.  Unfortunately, taken to extremes it resulted in games stagnating, with both sides hidden and on overwatch to punish whomever came out of hiding first. This is no doubt one of the reasons it was removed. It's return in 6ed leveraged the new snap shot mechanic, with a kludge for templates, and a more limited focus.

So what's the problem?

Dark Eldar and Dissynergy

Pic from 40k wikia via Google

Synergy is a condition where the utility of an entity is greater than the sum of the utility of its parts. For example, if sufficient synergy existed between 1 and 2, then 1 + 2 might equal 4. The opposite condition, which I dub dissynergy, is when 1 + 2 = 2. Dissynergy is, in my view, the root problem of the 7th edition Dark Eldar codex.

Strength D is a terrible mechanic

Like this, except it's the game that suffers.

Formerly reserved for Apocalypse!, destroyer weapons, commonly known as Strength: D weapons, are now being integrated into regular 40k. While earlier 7th Ed Codicies used the D sparingly (Necrons, Orks) or not at all (Tyranids, Dark Eldar), Codex: Eldar appears to have brought D into the mainstream. And this is a problem.

Maths of the Psychic Phase, Part 1: Description

The new 7th edition psychic phase presents some interesting mechanics to model mathematically. If you're not familiar with the system, perhaps because you more routinely play a non-psychic race like Dark Eldar, Tau, or Necrons, each power has a cost to manifest, of between 1 and 3 warp charge. Warp charge dice are generated at the start of each psychic phase, at the rate of one per friendly mastery level, plus d6 because GamesWorkshop. Each warp charge dice can be converted to an actual warp charge on the roll of a 4+.

The catch is that you have to allocate dice to manifesting a power before finding out if they will convert to warp charge. The danger comes from the old standby, Perils of the Warp, that kicks in if two or more 6s are rolled on the dice for manifesting a power. The balance arises from the desire to manifest as many powers as possible per phase, for as efficient a cost, at minimal risk of inflicting Perils.

To the maths!













We'll start with some simple descriptive maths.