The M42 Project - A 40k Alternative

I should have posted this a long time ago. I want to bring to the attention of all my readers the brave and original efforts of the crew at the M42 Project. This site is an attempt to build a set of balanced, simple wargaming rules in order to provide a directly competing alternative to the behemoth that is the 40k rulebook.

The site's progenitor is Sandwyrm, one of the contributors to The Back 40k; an excellent 40k blog that I have been following for years. I always liked his content there and so when he dropped the bombshell that he was making a serious attempt to write an alternative rule set for his 40k armies it got me excited. I quickly subscribed to the new blog he set up to document this endeavour.

Still more 40k podcasts!

The TCP Podcast (link)


Over a year ago now, I wrote a review of The Codex Project (TCP), a website dedicated to the development of fan codices and rules for 40k. Obviously as a developer of fan rules myself I was intrigued. I tried to get involved on the site but it was something I didn't really have the spare time for. It's hard enough developing content by myself without having to do it by committee.

A year later, and it appears that TCP encountered issues similar to my own. The original potential has not been realised. However, Big Jim an Stucarius (Jeff) have now started a TCP podcast, with the mission of discussing alternatives to the published 40k rules and codices.

Any Ideas for my next Fan Codex / Chapter Approved?

Seems like I have the itch to work on another army list or supplement for 40k. I have some ideas but am not really committed at the moment. Currently I am considering the following, but I'm open to suggestions:

• Chapter Approved - Salamanders
• Savage Orks
• Squats
• Beastmen Guard
• Movie Marines

What would you like to see me produce?

I've also created a new page to store links to my current collection of Alternate Rules for 40k.

Black Templars vs Necrons Campaign

Have you seen the campaign in the recent White Dwarf, pitting Necrons against Black Templars in a series of four battles? I have recently been challenged by Battle Bunker Joel, our resident Necron player, to participate in the full set of games against his robots with my Crimson Fists Black Templars.

This will be a great opportunity to have some fun with 40k, and might provide some motivation to buy and/or paint up a few extra models. It's also going to be a great source for some blog content. I'll make sure I take lots of pics of the games to share, and a report on the highlights and outcome of each battle.

Three Simple Ways to Speed Up 40k

Over and over when playing 5th edition games, I find myself frustrated by the same three rules. They unnecessarily delay the game without adding commensurate value. *drum roll* The rules in question are ...

• Wound allocation rules. They suck.
• Running. Waste of time. Throw in Move Through Cover as a bonus.
• Rolling armor saves. Yup.

Comp and Swiss

Like many of you I am a big fan of the idea of win/loss tournaments. The premise behind this scoring methodology is that players shouldn't be penalised for winning close games against highly skilled opponents. In a battle points tournament the luck of the draw is vital, as getting assigned a weak opponent allows you to race ahead in points 20 - 0 or similar.

The win/loss system cares only whether you won or lost - but hang on a sec, that's not entirely true is it? Some kind of points measure is still recorded, for the purpose of determining the next round's pairings using the Swiss system.

Space "Knights" for Warpath

So I have read the Warpath rules several times and I like the simplicity of having two rolls for combat. Speeding up the game is great - it might even be possible to play an entire game with my wife before she looses interest! I still don't like the idea of having a counter for each units current Nerve. I'd prefer removing models as a mechanism to record the losses, but I guess I'll have to suck it and see...

This list covers most of the standard Space MarineKnight models. It is built as a heroic army and the prices are high, but in reality I haven't the slightest idea how to price Warpath units :) So any feedback on the pricing would be very valuable. Giving Elite to all the units might be over the top, or it might be a stroke of genius. Anyway please let me know what you think!

Space Knights (0.1)

Codex: Harlequins

May I present for your my vision of the Harlequins in 40k. This is something I have been working on for a while, but it is not well play-tested. Points values may need tweaking, so I would greatly appreciate any feedback that you have.


Codex: Harlequins
by Plague Marine

• Requires Codex: Eldar and Codex: Dark Eldar.
• Rules for Warp Portals and Shadow Fields taken from Codex: Dark Eldar.
• Rules for Hallucinogenic Grenades taken from Codex: Grey Knights. 

The mysterious Harlequins live within the webway, sworn guardians of the Black Library. The may emerge at any time or place to perform, or wage war, with exquisite grace.

Coming Up - Codex: Harlequins

See here for my previous post on how I approach fan codices.

I've been sitting on the draft of my Harlequin fan codex for a while. There were a few unique challenges building a 'dex for this army, and I've spent the time I needed to think these things through. This is going to be a draft codex - it has not been playtested and is definitely not intended for competitive gaming at this point. Harlequins are a unique elite army and only experience will tell how balanced it is against the huge variety of forces out there.

The old Harlequins were among the first models I bought when I started playing 40k back in '92. I loved the rich fluff but the paint jobs were too much for my inexperienced fingers :) The fluff of this army is first class and it's a pity that Games Workshop have not continued to support the army since the release of the experimental codex in 3rd edition.

The Codex Project

Now this is an intriguing happening. A respectable group of 40k net-celebs have joined forces in an effort to create a new online community. Their goal (which I share) is to create a respected central body that publishes and certifies fan created Codices and other rules. They have a vision of clubs and even some tournaments allowing the use of alla new online community certified Codices. Check out The Codex Project for the lowdown.

There might be something you can do to contribute! Rules, photos, artwork, layout, playtesting, editing and fluff writing are all required for a TCP codex. They are built by a team with a single leader - but that leader will be changed if progress stalls. They anticipate that it will take a long time for a Codex to reach certification from scratch - perhaps in the realm of 6 months to a year.

After hearing about the site on an episode of The Overlords podcast, I got very excited and went straight to the site. Ended up my introductory post on the forums was their virgin post! I have started posts linking to each of my fan Codicies - the Crimson Fists and the Death Guard. I am happy to contribute these rules to TCP in the hope of seeing some set of rules certified for these forces.

Oh by the way I have another Codex in the works - hopefully I'll have it ready to publish in a couple of weeks. Sadly I don't enough models to give it a proper playtest but hopefully TCP can help with that.

Send in the clowns...

Chapter Approved: Crimson Fists

Chapter Approved: Crimson Fists
by Plague Marine

• Requires Codex: Space Marines

In the times directly after the Horus Heresy was defeated, the Space Marine legions were forced to split into smaller chapters 1000 marines in size - this was known as the second founding. The Imperial Fists legion was known for their self-discipline, loyalty and siege warfare skills. They split into three chapters: the Black Templars, the Imperial Fists and the Crimson Fists. Those chosen for the latter were the newest recruits to the chapter. Thus they were most strongly guided by the writings of the Codex Astartes and operated as a Codex chapter until recent events.

Unfortunately the Crimson Fists chapter recently suffered a near-fatal tragedy -  whilst fighting an Ork invasion of their home planet Rynn's World a missile misfire resulted in the complete destruction of their entire chapter monastery. Reduced to a shadow of their former strength, the Fists were left with a dangerously small amount of gene-seed to continue the chapter. However they have managed to survive this cataclysm and are now slowly rebuilding their numbers, recruiting heavily. In order to prevent another massacre that they could ill-afford, Chapter Master Pedro Kantor has been forced to avoid most open confrontations, instead focusing the efforts of the chapter in lightning strikes and guerilla warfare.

Even before the cataclysmic loss of their monastery, the Crimson Fists were experienced in fighting the greenskins. They have now dedicated their efforts to the eradication of the Orks and their kin. Because of their effectiveness against Orks and other greenskins, it is common for the Master of Weapons to distribute Hellfire rounds to every marine taking part in an engagement. Also, the Fists use a chemical they call 'Hellfire' promethium to increase the heat output of their flamer weaponry. This dangerously sensitive explosive is used whenever it can be obtained to fuel their flamers and heavy flamers.

Rules

Build a Crimson Fists force using Codex: Space Marines as a basis. Apply the following additional rules:

Kill the Ork

• All Crimson Fists models have the Preferred Enemy: Orks rule.
• Tactical squads may take a heavy flamer as a heavy weapon option for 5 pts.
• Any unit containing models armed with a storm bolter, bolter or heavy bolter may upgrade all those models with Hellfire rounds at a cost of 5 pts per weapon.
• Any unit containing models armed with a flamer or heavy flamer may upgrade all those models with 'Hellfire' promethium at a cost of 5 pts per weapon. The weapon then counts as twin-linked against models with a Toughness score.

Rebuilding the Chapter

• You must take a scout squad for every tactical squad selected.
• Only one 5 man Terminator or Assault Terminator squad may be selected in the army.
• Bikes never count as scoring.
• A maximum of 1 Land Raider (or variant) may be included in an army.
• A maximum of 2 vehicles of each of the following types can be included in an army: Dreadnought, Land Speeder, Vindicator, Predator and Whirlwind.

Other

• Any power fist or lightning claw can be made master-crafted for 5 pts.
• Only the following special characters may be selected: Pedro Kantor, Sergeant Tellion.
• Note: The Stubborness inherent in the Imperial Fists geneseed is tempered by the dire need of the chapter to preserve its members. Crimson Fist models are not Stubborn unless joined by Kantor.

Example Force: 1500 points

The idea with this list is to deploy the drop pod (with Captain) and scouts in the midfield, using the tacticals as a mini-Sternguard squad. The Devastators and Dreadnoughts sit in the deployment zone and lay down a steady stream of covering fire. The Dreads can tie up units trying to assault the Devs. Just a fun list I would like to have a game with! Now time to find an opponent to test it on...

Captain (128)
master-crafted lightning claw, storm bolter, hellfire rounds

10 Tactical Marines (305)
hellfire rounds, hellfire promethium; heavy flamer, melta; sergeant with combi-melta, master-crafted power fist
drop pod

10 Scouts (205)
extra close combat weapon, camo cloak; missile launcher; sergeant with master-crafted power fist

Dreadnought (125)

2 twin-linked auto-cannons

Dreadnought (145)

twin-linked lascannon, heavy flamer, hellfire promethium

2 x 1 Land Speeder (150)
multi-melta, heavy flamer, hellfire promethium

5 Devastators (170)
4 heavy bolters, hellfire rounds; sergeant with chainsword, bolt pistol

2 x 5 Devastators (270)

3 missile launchers

Justifications for Codex: Death Guard

(See my previous post for the codex discussed here)

First off I want to mention a few changes I made to my initial post, due to some great feedback from sonsoftaurus. I added the missing Typhus -  with the Cloud of Flies rule and a 10 point price raise. The rest of the changes were to Plague Zombies. I clarified that they are destroyed when in reserve if there is no Zombie Lord for them to be raised by, and I added the missing Join Us! rule. I also removed the ability for Plague Zombies to score. This was done partly because it made sense in the fluff, but mainly to help differentiate their role on the battlefield with the much more expensive Plaguebearers. Now they are more of a throwaway unit which was how I imagined them being used.

Now let's start with the HQs. There are two important issues with the Prince/Lord/Sorcerer: upping the cost for feel no pain, and the removal of wing/bike options. Without raptors or bikers being included in the army it made sense that the commanders would also stat on foot. Losing wings from the Daemon Prince should counter any complaints about the addition of Feel No Pain. I charged the Lord and Sorcerer less for FNP because they can't be picked out of their unit for shooting so it is less valuable than on the prince.

The reason for reducing the cost of the Great Unclean One was because you need to kill a champion to bring him in to play, and that he must enter play through reserves. I instead built his cost up from that of the generic Greater Daemon in the CSM Codex.

I had to think a bit when deciding how to handle Lesser Daemons. I wanted to use the same rules as those in Codex: Chaos Daemons (to avoid confusion), but I wanted to avoid copying half that codex, without forcing the player to purchase a second codex to play their army. So I compromised - I included Plaguebearers, who feel iconic to me, and skipped the other Nurgle themed Daemons.

The decision to make Rhinos take up a fast attack slot was motivated by fluff, not balance. The Death Guard prefer to fight on foot and have little motivation to maintain their vehicles. This won't have much effect smaller games, but will force difficult decisions when building a larger force. With nothin else besides Spawn to select anyway it won't have s large impact.

I encountered a lot of resistance to including heavy weapon squads in a Death Guard force, with claims that it was unfluffy. I dispute this - sure they don't keep heavy weapons in basic troop squads, but I'm sure they have squads dedicated to long range support. My compromise is the Pandemics squad, able to take a couple of lascannons to make an all-infantry army at least feasible.

I made the decision to make the Daemonic Possession rule mandatory across all vehicles in the army. This represents the fact that the Death Guard do not spend time on maintenance - the only reason they are still running is because of the daemons that have made themselves at home. To this end I even added the rule to the Chaos Dreadnought, despite it not being an option in Codex: Chaos Space Marines. I also changed the terrible Crazed! rule to one with a Nurgle flavour. The new rule means that your Dread will only shoot at you enemies - but it also means they will only shoot two thirds of the time. Sure I have made it better, but that's only because it is so crap currently. This way it becomes a viable option.

The Vindicator is not a pre-Heresy vehicle, so the Death Guard should no have them in their arsenal. But about of Chaos players have probably picked up a couple for their army - and the concept of a short range vehicle really suits the nature of Plague Marines. I wanted to include an alternative use for the model, so the Regurgitator was born. This is one of very few vehicles in the game that have the ability to wipe power armoured troops in cover off the board. I based the profile on the Collosus - and the improved armour and possession of the Regurgitator is balanced by the short range and additional cost.

In general I tried to avoid adding army wide rules that would require extensive playtesting. The only two needed were Cloud of Flies (which I just borrowed from Codex: Chaos Daemons) and the plaguesword. This weapon wounds on a 2+, making it great against monstrous creatures and hordes but less effective against marines than a power sword.

Hope this helps shed some light on the motivation behind the design decisions in the 'dex. So anyone out there tempted to give this a go?

Codex: Death Guard

The latest Chaos Space Marines codex left a bad taste in the mouths of many Chaos players, because it took way the ability to play cult armies in a consistent fashion. For example, an army of Plague Marines cannot be lead by a Chaos Lord with Feel No Pain; power armoured troops taken as Elite or Heavy Support are inferior to the basic troop selection, missing Feel No Pain and blight grenades. It's frustrating to have to deal with all these differences during a game. It makes it harder to immerse yourself in the game because you have to play an army that doesn't properly reflect the fluff.



Last year a group of us on WargamerAU started talking about how a Death Guard Codex could be created. What follows is the codex that I suggested, with a couple of tweaks. So thanks to the other people contributing to those threads, some of their ideas are included within.

I'll write a follow up post later this week to explain my design decisions...

Codex: Death Guard
by Plague Marine

• Requires Codex: Chaos Space Marines
• Rules for Plague Zombies taken from the Apocalypse Plague of Zombies data sheet.
• Rules for Plague Bearers and Great Unclean One taken from Codex: Chaos Daemons.

The Death Guard are the diseased sons of Nurgle. They are the masters of infantry tactics and resilience, building their constitution with a diet of poisons. There is no force more stoic in the face of danger than these once-proud marines, now infected with the blessings of the Chaos god Nurgle. Their decaying armour and equipment is held together by pestilent growth and daemons of the warp.

From what we know of the Death Guard they are split into two major known forces. The majority serve their Daemon Prince - and Primarch - Mortarian. They occasionally venture forth from the Eye of Terror to cause death and destruction at a planetary scale. There is also the breakaway group that follow Typhus, the Host of the Destroyer Hive. They protect him as he spreads the Zombie Plague that has been claiming whole imperial worlds.


Rules

All units use the rules and options for a corresponding entry in Codex: Chaos Space Marines, with the listed exceptions.

Due to the infantry based nature of the Death guard, a fast attack slot is filled for every dedicated transport purchases for the army. See the fast attack section for more information.

For Lesser and Greater Daemons, follow the rules for summoning Daemons as per p61 of Codex: Chaos Space Marines.

Cloud of Flies: The models count as being equipped with offensive and defensive grenades

Plague Sword: a poisoned weapon that always wounds on a 2+.


HQ

Death Guard Daemon Prince - 150 pts
Use the rules and options for a Daemon Prince with the following modifications:

• Mark of Nurgle (+1 Toughness) - included in base cost
• -1 Initiative
• Feel No Pain
• May not take wings
• May take Cloud of Flies for 10 pts

Death Guard Lord - 125 pts
Use the rules and options for a Chaos Lord with the following modifications:

• Mark of Nurgle (+1 Toughness) - included in base cost
• -1 Initiative
• Feel No Pain
• Blight grenades (if in power armour)
• May not take a bike, a jump pack or wings
• If in power armour, may replace close combat weapon with a plague sword for 10 points
• If you upgrade to Terminator armour, it only costs 25 pts
• If in Terminator armour, may replace power sword with plague sword for 5 pts less
• May take Cloud of Flies for 10 pts

Death Guard Sorcerer - 135 pts
Use the rules and options for a Chaos Sorcerer with the following modifications:

• Mark of Nurgle (+1 Toughness) - included in base cost
• -1 Initiative
• Feel No Pain
• Blight grenades (if in power armour)
• If you upgrade to Terminator armour, it only costs 10 points
• May take Cloud of Flies for 10 pts
• May not take a bike, a jump pack or wings

0-1 Great Unclean One - 130 pts
WS6 BS4 S6 T6 W5 I2 A4 Ld10 Sv-
Unit Type: Monstrous Creature
Greater Daemon, Fearless, Feel No Pain, Slow and Purposeful, Poison 2+, Cloud of Flies, 4+ invulnerable save


Typhus - 235 pts
Use the following modifications:

• Has the Cloud of Flies rule

Elites

Death Guard Chosen - 26 pts each
Use the rules and options for Plague Marines with the following modifications:

• The models have Infiltrate
• +1 Leadership
• Replace all weapon options with those from the Chaos Space Marine Chosen codex entry
• Any model with the optiont o take a power sword can instead take a plague sword for 10 points

Death Guard Terminators - 40 pts each
Use the rules and options for Chaos Terminators with the following modifications:

• Mark of Nurgle (+1 T)
• Feel No Pain
• -1 Initiative
• One model may be given a Personal Icon for 5 pts. No other Icons can be purchased
• Armed with a plague sword rather than a power sword. Any model may replace their plague sword with a power sword for 5 points
• You may take Cloud of Flies for the unit, at a cost of 5 points per model

Death Guard Dreadnought - 110 pts each
Use the rules and options for a Chaos Dreadnought, with the following modifications:

• Daemonic Possession
• Crazed roll is replaced by the following:

        1 - Shower of Pus: Does nothing all turn, all models within 6"  take an S3 poison hit.
        2-5 - The player controls the model normally.
        6 - Projectile Vomit: Must move and run towards nearest enemy, then an S3 poison template attack at nearest unit in front arc.


Troops

Plague Marines - 23 pts each
No rules modified.

Plaguebearers - 15 pts each
WS3 BS0 S3 T4(5) W1 I2 A1 Ld10 Sv-
Unit Type: Infantry
Unit Size: 5-20
Weapons: Plague sword (this Daemonic version is only Poison 4+)
Special Rules: Lesser Daemon, Fearless, Feel No Pain, Slow and Purposeful, Cloud of Flies, 5+ invulnerable save

Plague Zombies - 5 pts each
WS2 BS1 S3 T2 W1 I1 A1 Ld10 Sv-
Unit Type: Infantry
Unit Size: 10-30
Weapons: Count as having 2 close combat weapons, that are Poison 4+
Special Rules: Fearless, Feel No Pain, 5+ invulnerable save

Lord of the Zombies: When deploying Plague Zombies they must always be placed within the zone 12" from a Death Guard Lord or 18" from Typhus. If entering play from reserves they are deployed in the above zone using the deep strike rules but without scatter - and if no Zombie Lord is on the table they are destroyed. If at the start of the movement phase no model in the Plague Zombie unit is within the deployment radius of a Lord or Typhus, they become Slow and Purposeful.
Join Us!: At the end of every Assault phase during which the Plague Zombies have fought in close combat, before ‘pile in’ moves, roll a D6 for every casualty caused in the combat (friendly and enemy). On a roll of a 6, they are resurrected as a Plague Zombie – add a model to the Plague Zombie unit. If the Plague Zombies unit was wiped out that turn this rule has no effect. If multiple Plague Zombie units are involved in the same combat, evenly divide the new models between the units (Chaos player’s choice for any odd models).

Plague Zombies do not count as scoring. Your army must includes Typhus or a Death Guard Lord in order to allow Plague Zombies to be selected. Like Lesser Daemons they do not count towards your Troops allowance, so you may include any number of units in your force if they are allowed.


Fast Attack


Chaos Rhino - 55 pts
Use the following modifications:

• Each Rhino taken as a dedicated transport also fills a fast attack slot.
• Daemonic Possession (included in base cost)
• Cannot take Dirge Caster

Chaos Spawn - 30 pts each


Heavy Support

Death Guard Pandemics - 23 pts each

Use the rules and options for Plague Marines with the following modifications:

• The models that can take a flamer, melta gun or plasma gun may instead take a lascannon for 35 pts, a missile launcher for 20 pts, an autocannon for 20 pts or a heavy bolter for 15 pts

Chaos Predator - 90 pts
Use the following modifications:

• Must take Daemonic Possession (included in base cost)
• Cannot take Dirge Caster 


Regurgitator - 165 pts
Use the rules for the Chaos Vindicator with the following modifications:

• Must take Daemonic Possession (included in base cost)
• Replace the Demolisher Cannon with a Bile Cannon (S6 AP3 Ordinance 1 Large Blast). Units wounded by the Bile Cannon cannot take a cover save.


Chaos Land Raider - 240 pts
Use the following modifications:

• Must take Daemonic Possession (included in base cost)
• Cannot take Dirge Caster

Thoughts on Fan Codices

There seems to be a lot of hate for fan made codices on the net. Apparently they are all overpowered, cheesy and no fun to play against. Well there is some truth to this, but there are plenty of well balanced gems amidst the rough. Fan codices are a great addition to the hobby and help to bring to life whole armies in the 40k fluff that GW has given the short straw. Here in Australia it is common for some of the more well known to be allowed at tournaments - for example the Kroot and Genestealer Cult codices.

As a bit of an amateur game developer I have a habit of writing my own codex when GW fail to provide. I am looking forward to sharing them with you here. Sadly with the amount of free time I have it is difficult to perform extensive playtesting, so if you do decide to take a codex of mine for a spin please post your experiences as a comment on the post. It will help me and others to learn and improve their unsanctioned 40k gaming experience! I really hope that some of you will. If I get enough feedback then it will be worth my while to format these up into a PDF.

I had a very clear set of goals in my mind when I go about these projects. Let me document the goals that I will always be striving for whenever I publish alternative 40k rules:

1. Fluff - produce a list that mirrors the latest published fluff for that army.
2. Reuse - reuse existing units and conventions where possible, except where these are stupid or inconsistent
3. Simplicity - don't over design, produce the minimum list of units and options that fulfill the other requirements
4. Moderate Power - aim to produce army lists that would not produce top tier armies.
5. Modern - follow the design approach of the latest codices, such adding options to a unit entry rather than a wargear section, and using characters to provide army-wide abilities.

So there are plenty of fan codices already out there. What am I contributing by adding another unofficial work to those already on the internet? Well what I can guarantee is that I will adhere to the tenets I enumerated above. Especially important to me is keeping things as simple as possible, and erring on the side of a higher points cost. I just want to be able to play with the army in question, not beat Space Wolves! So if this sounds ideal to you then you might find a use for my produce.

Coming up... Codex Death Guard