Bad TheoryHammer: Doing Bad TheoryHammer Reviews
This one is not having a lot of pictures here, sorry, guys. This was something that struck me when I was (as I'm pretty much always doing) evaluating why I dislike Wyrmblade so darned much. I figured something out.
I don't dislike them because they're bad. I dislike them because they basically have one way to play. That's sort of my thing.
Then I started thinking about things for a while and realized how I could "fix" things and I came up with an idea. This is a silly idea (it's Bad TheoryHammer for a reason), but I kind of like it.
Why are Bespoke Teams Separate?
Let's think about this for a second. Why is it that someone can't take, say, Veteran Guard alongside Scions in a roster? I can understand keeping the "bespoke" things a separate Kill Team altogether, but allowing someone to take both of them in a roster just gives a lot more options and playstyle and that would be pretty neat in my book. But let's go into the bespoke teams.
Bespoke Teams
In general, I'm going to divide Bespoke Kill Teams into three separate categories. Here they are:
Complete Improvement
Here are the teams that are just plain better than the Compendium Teams. I'm going to include Warpcoven in this group absolutely and probably Hunter Clade as well (people can argue here, I'm okay with it).
Selective Improvement
Here are the teams that make some things a lot stronger than others, but neglect the rest of the Compendium Rosters. Things like Wyrmblade apply here, as do Kommandos (to an extent, I might argue they are Complete Improvement) and Pathfinders and Veteran Guard. Most Bespoke Teams, I would argue, fall into this area.
Something Completely Different
Look at Novitiates. Nothing they do is similar to Sisters. They're a completely different faction. That isn't a bad thing, but it's strange seeing the bespoke Sisters team being so completely, shall we say, divorced from the main Sisters Compendium Roster.
What Would Combining Do?
Well, to be honest, it would make all the factions (outside of maybe Greenskins and Thousand Sons) stronger in general. The reason for GS and TS to not be stronger is because of two things. Firstly, I don't generally think that Warpcoven needs to include baseline Thousands Sons and probably don't want to. Secondly, the Kommandos are 10 models in a Kill Team and they would need a smaller Greenskins Kill Team to work with them.
There is one thing that would need to happen for this in general. A lot of names would have to be standardized. There is no reason for two Operatives with the same model, the same stats, and the same weapons to have different names because they are in two different "factions" that are actually the same faction.
Teams like Imperial Guard could alternate between Veteran Guard and Scions (or Scions with Normal Guard using Vet Guard models if they were selective). Genestealer Cult could take Wyrmblade for Guncult and then use the Neophytes to run a Mixcult with Acolytes if they wanted to. Orks could run Kommandos or Boyz plus Speshulists. Heck, AdMech could mix up whether they wanted to go full gunline with standard Forge World or throw in some murderbots and go Hunter Clade. Imagine if T'au could run Pathfinders as well as having Stealth Suits or the like.
I don't know. I think it's a neat idea and one that would allow people more options. Right now, I feel like the bespoke teams are just a bit of a "one size fits all" thing and allowing them to mix with the compendium teams would make some sense.
So, assuming names were standardized, how would this work?
Sample Kill Team List Thingy With the Rules
This is going to be simplified as heck. I'm not going to copy and paste all the rules for all the operatives. And I'm using Brood Coven because, well, they're still my boys!
Your Brood Coven Kill Team may include one of the following:
-Wyrmblade Fire Team (yes, I would change this to a Fire Team in this option, sorry, I'm being silly here).
Alternatively, it my consist of up to two of the following:
-Acolyte Fire Team
-Metamorph Fire Team
-Neophyte Fire Team
Again, this is assuming that names are standardized so you're not stuck making your Neophytes Brood-Adepts instead of just Neophytes and all that. Keep that in mind!
Sample Kill Team (Again, Using Brood Coven Plus Wyrmblade with my Weird Rules)
Acolyte Leader (Lash Whip, Bonesword and Claw)
Neophyte Leader (Autopistol, Chainsword)
Acolyte Fighter (Heavy Rock Cutter)
Acolyte Fighter (Heavy Rock Drill)
3x Acolyte Warrior
Kelermorph
Sanctus
Locus Talon
Locus Sniper
Neophyte Gunner (Grenade Launcher)
Neophyte Gunner (Webber)
Neophyte Heavy Gunner (Mining Laser)
Neophyte Heavy Gunner (Seismic Cannon)
Icon Bearer (Shotgun)
4x Neophytes (2x Shotgun, 2x Autogun)
There's one thing I didn't talk about that, and that's ploys. I think it could be easily solved by saying "If your kill team is X, then you can use this." All this does is add some more uncertainty into what you're facing in a Kill Team match, because let's be honest, it's all pretty much solved at the moment.
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