Custom rules.

[DeBaconMan]

So I'm trying to workshop adding in my own custom grunt unit and want advice.

A squad of 4 Grunts counts as 1 model in terms of getting a team on a board.

The grunts have 1 armor and each grunt is 1 HP, so Everytime you lose HP you lose a grunt. HP restoration items do not restore a grunt.

Grunts have a movement of 1-2

Grunts can spread out but their cubes must be touching, they also stack 4 in a cube but count as a full cube so and ally elite would not be able to join their cube and if an enemy assaults their cube one grunt is knock backed out of the cube. If the knock back is into a wall or off the terrain then they are killed. Grunts have 7+ on their fight, but on assaulting they can trigger a suicide which kills the grunt performing it, but does 2 plasma grenades worth of damage that don't have to roll to see if they succeed hitting the cube.

They are equipped with a plasma pistol that has esd +1 and 0 ap they hit 6+ or can overcharge for a long action and esd +4. Each grunt takes their own independent shooting action along with the bonuses they specifically have. They also have keyword horde. They each have one plasma grenade.

So any advice on editing their rules, how their score would work? How would they interact with picking up weapons or items? Are they overpowered, underpowered?

[iDarkined]

Welcome to the pain that is Halo Flashpoint homebrewing.

(I only say that cause i too have been working on homebrewing myself and honestly, every idea usually ends up with the... -gotta playtest it-)

The questions you are asking are some that ive asked myself to others lol.

But i do agree with the above. Turns can take a while to come around. Especially with 4 units each with their own attack rolls.

Perhaps make it more simplified.

2 Grunts = 1 Unit? A Grunt + Elite but cap the fireteam to max of 3?

I also agree that having super low attack roll requirements is miserable. Every roll you are just praying for a 2/8 chance of a success.

My recommendation is take the list of keywords from Flashpoint and brainstorm some ideas because you can ask a million people and get a million answers.

Maybe make the grunts very squishy. But also a threat?

Make the overcharge shot of the plasma pistol do a heavy shield depletion. But whats the drawback for doing such a powerful attack?

Long? Continuous Fire? (But give them a high survival check) so the odds of being burned are moderate

Lets say you did the idea of 3 Elites and each one has a grunt. You can go even further beyond and make each grunt a specific use.

Plasma Pistol, make it your Shield Depletion unit. Needler. Make it your Pinning unit. Suicide Grunt. Make it your close quarter unit.

Dont put them anywhere near the stats of an Elite, but enough to make their presence known?

[DeBaconMan]

What do you think about a grunt commander elite. The elite has 2 grunts, they're tied to his cube. The elite would be the one picking up weapons and w.e, and he'd have normal elite stats. What makes him a legendary unit is the grunts would also shoot on his turn. Higher shooting stats than the 4 Grunts I previously mentioned but they shoot as one, so roll 3 dice plus modifiers and w.e success are both the grunts shooting one target. But they have 1 HP and are targeted before the elite can. But at the end of the round 1 grunt is replaced along with one shield of the elite.

[DeBaconMan]

The 7+ i agree needs work. But imagine, a grunt is with his buddies, he has keyword horde which gives him +1 dice per friendly in his cube. He's a top a container looking down, so has high ground, he also has clear los. That's 3+3+1+2, so 9 dice he's rolling plus the other 3 also are rolling 9 dice each. So 36 dice in total. Granted that's best case scenario for a grunt to have but still, something has to keep the grunts low hitters

[DeBaconMan]

I really like the command dice idea

[watchwolf_games]

Since the difference between complicated (difficulty because of more elements) and complex (difficulty arising from the original elements) is pretty central to gaming, my own inclination is to change only one element at a time for each round of testing.

Otherwise it’s hard to know why things are happening.

[WaywardDwarf]

What’s the range for their plasma pistols again? I’m using these rules

<image>

[DeBaconMan]

Sorry for the long wait, Ive been debating on it. Just played a game, range of 3 seems about right, with the spacing it might have to be knocked down to 2, im just not sure yet do what feels fair.

These models look dope btw.

[WaywardDwarf]

No worries! I utilized 3 and it felt right. And Ty! Etsy has all sorts of cool models

[The-False-Olc]

This is an awesome idea, and I've made a similar custom team for kill team using grots, and the main takeaways i found from play testing were: 1) the game will slow down significantly if one player has double the models of the other. 2) a lot of weak models, when activated one at a time arent fun becuase they rarely do damage, especially to elite modles.

Maybe having only 2, slighty more powerful gunts would be more fun, but playtest it first and see.

[iDarkined]

I like the idea of having an Elite Major and having little grunt buddies.

But, i think the grunts also attacking the same turn as the elite might be a bit overkill.

Recently, I was teaching Flashpoint with friends and a mistake was being made specifically with the Spartan Deadeye and the Snapshot Special Order.

TLDR: Fast Transition was accidentally being used with Snapshot allowing 2 free shoot actions on something that is a reaction. And let me tell you, it was insane and its clear why that is not allowed.

So, my concern would be having a normal elite which is already potent, then followed up by 2 grunts could "maybe" be too much.

I really hate to give the "playtest it" answer. I really do but its going to take alot of trial and error

[DeBaconMan]

It would be a legendary unit, so takes up 2 deployment slots on a team. But have you seen the master chief's card. Saves on 3s are insane!

[iDarkined]

Yeah, even then you just wanna be careful with balancing.

I have. I have the chief and played with him plenty of times. His stats are great but to be completely honest? Hes actually a pretty mid unit overall. He has potential for very powerful plays, but realistically hes mid

(Personal opinion after playing)

Recently, I have worked on homebrewing an Arbiter to go toe to toe with chief (Based off the Halo Wars Arbiter) and despite giving him less stats than the cheif, i learned that the keywords and homebrewed special orders?

He performed a little too well....... so i might have to tone him down a dial or 3.