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Shields
Oct 30, 2013 13:39:31 GMT -5
Post by godsgopher on Oct 30, 2013 13:39:31 GMT -5
I was reading about the shield perk for infantry and I'm a little confused. I understand when a shield is knocked down by taking 1 point of damage and it requires an action to restore it. But how does this work with Infantry.
Example: An infantry man has a Shield (Soak 15) and it takes a hit, damage 16. Wouldn't the infantry man then be dead? as He can only take one point of damage? OR
Also the Shield Perk costs 4 points in the Barracks program. But getting Power Armor of soak 15 costs 9 points. Yes I understand PA lets you carry heavier weapons but you buy those weapons, per weapon. Seems pricey at an extra 5 points. Better to have a shield.
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Shields
Oct 30, 2013 14:43:41 GMT -5
Post by Mr. Harold on Oct 30, 2013 14:43:41 GMT -5
Well, the shield would take one activation to recharge, so it would limit you next time it activates, and if the unit gets shot twice in the same turn, or before you recharge, then the shield is nullified.
PA is a constant high armor, every shot, and no need to recharge it.
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Shields
Oct 30, 2013 15:05:34 GMT -5
Post by godsgopher on Oct 30, 2013 15:05:34 GMT -5
But its my understanding a basic Grunt can only take one shot then he's Waxed. So that's the question. Do shields give you an extra hit point? or does the hit that penetrates the shield also wax the grunt?
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Shields
Oct 30, 2013 16:41:52 GMT -5
Post by Mr. Harold on Oct 30, 2013 16:41:52 GMT -5
Sorry, I misunderstood the question!
Yep, if it exceeds the shielding, he would be dead, just as if it exceeded his armor.
The shield basically gives one shot of really high armor, not an extra hit point.
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Shields
Oct 30, 2013 22:49:48 GMT -5
Post by godsgopher on Oct 30, 2013 22:49:48 GMT -5
Thank you Mr. Harold,
Alright so second part of my question. The rules say a Shield is Overloaded when the wearer takes damage. So for 4 points I can get a 15 Soak rather than paying 9 points for the same Soak rating from Power Armor. Sounds like everyone would be fools to NOT take shields as their so cheap. If one wound point Nulls a shield but also waxes the figure there is absolutely no difference for a single wound model. The only reason to take the higher cost power armor is for the dubious pleasure of buying an even more expensive gun for every member of the squad. Over all sounds like a bad diminishing return to me.
So is my understanding of the Power Armor vs. Shield correct? Or am I missing something?
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Shields
Oct 31, 2013 1:11:09 GMT -5
Post by baldlea on Oct 31, 2013 1:11:09 GMT -5
I think the shield rule is broken. I've never got my head round it unless it is supposed to represent a single shield for the whole unit.
There is nothing dubious about the pleasure of the big guns my PA troops carry!
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Shields
Oct 31, 2013 8:35:51 GMT -5
Post by Mr. Harold on Oct 31, 2013 8:35:51 GMT -5
Yeah, some of the point costs are like that. That's why I like to make sure that when I build my units, I use it as a tool to develop the kind of troops I want, since it is possible to min/max point costs. It tends to work out in averages as long as everyone is building their units to make them more "characterful" rather than just towards game stats. But of course, you need to have effective units
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Shields
Oct 31, 2013 11:52:28 GMT -5
Post by godsgopher on Oct 31, 2013 11:52:28 GMT -5
Perhaps a constructive alternative would be to have the shields collapse under any hit of damage 10+ ? So yes you get a 15 Soak shield but any hit of 10+ (same damage soak as an unarmored unit) will still shut down the shield but only those with damage rolls of 15+ will kill (wax) the trooper. By doing it this way it makes sense to have both shields and armor. The shield is a cheaper replacement for heavy armor but its also far more fragile and undependable. This makes a 4 point shield and interesting alternative to a 9 point Power Armor suit providing the same protection.
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Shields
Oct 31, 2013 12:12:45 GMT -5
Post by Mr. Harold on Oct 31, 2013 12:12:45 GMT -5
So, it would actually add a disadvantage? Makes sense.
That way a low powered unit could still cause the shield to go down and kill the wearer.
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Shields
Oct 31, 2013 14:10:05 GMT -5
Post by godsgopher on Oct 31, 2013 14:10:05 GMT -5
Right!
As they are, Shields on Grunts are over powered. However the same Shield on a multi-wound unit Grunt Specialist and everything else works much better. That first hit needs damage 15+ but until the shield is brought back up the unit only has its armor to depend upon. But that's not the case with the Grunt trooper, he only has one wound so the shield never really goes down and the end result is he's got Heavy Power Armor protection for half the cost.
I think the best solution is this. Dont allow the shield or heavy shield on grunts. I would also say remove them from specialist and commanders. So vehicles get the Shield as its currently written. Foot troops get instead a personal forcefield.
Personal Forcefield: A small belt worn unit capable of generating a limited duration field to deflect incoming attacks. A personal Forcefield has a Soak of 15, however any damage of 10 or over will deactivate the forcefield until the bearer spends an action to recharge the field. If the damage does not meet or exceed the Forcefields soak value the wearer will not be harmed however his Soak value will now equal his armor value until the shield is recharged.
Personal Forcefield 3 points: Soak 15, deactivate 10+ Heavy Personal Forcefield 5 points: Soak 17, deactivate 12+
I reduced the cost because personal fields are more fragile.
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Shields
Oct 31, 2013 15:03:34 GMT -5
Post by Mr. Harold on Oct 31, 2013 15:03:34 GMT -5
I like it! Makes sense to me.
Maybe even something where it takes an extra action away from the receiving unit, so next turn they have only one action. It might not kill you, but it'll still sting!
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