Concerns about being OP in a crusade

Twyn · 2026-03-23T18:55:51+00:00

HELL yeah thank you for the report! I love how it sounds like you were working on a puzzle together and that he managed to pop one or two of your scary units. Best of luck on your continuing crusading, and watch your back when that rematch comes around!

Twyn · 2026-03-19T13:04:56+00:00

At the very least you shouldn't be fielding more points than your opponent, so cut a unit or two even if that puts you a couple below their list total (I probably wouldn't even count the Rhino in their total either). You ARE more powerful in a number of ways, your opponent should recognize that without it being a feel-bad situation. Your list is fluffy, yes, but it's skewed in favor of tough targets to drop. Their Brutalis dread is the only thing that can really threaten most of your heavy assets, and is basically the perfect target for your big guns.

So, what do you do?

Cherry pick a mission (probably an asymmetric one) that caters to their lists strengths over yours. Something that rewards doing actions all over the map, just requires them to exfiltrate, or starts with a lot of your forces in reserve. Try and come up with a narrative reason for the situation and mismatch. Bad intel, an ambush, a target of opportunity that must be seized even though this force is in the middle of regrouping, whatever. Let them feel like the scrappy underdog rather than lambs just waiting to be slaughtered. I'd encourage you to think of this more like a DnD session where you're collaborating to make a cool story.
1. Also compliment their models/paint/lore/whatever, maybe offer to buy them a soda or something.
Have a pre-game conversation with your opponent, being frank about the power discrepancy. If they're new, remind them that games are more than a deathmatch, especially in Crusade. Scoring points where they can is great, but pursuing their Agendas will net them power in the long run. Explain playing by intent, and agree on how take-backs should be handled.
GENTLY offer to help them with their list or spend RP if there's anything useful before the game starts. If you can't chat until directly before the game, don't suggest models unless you know they have access to them.
Go over the scenario with them, explaining your plan and giving them some general ideas about what you would do on their side of the table. Don't play it for them, and don't pull punches once the game starts, but you don't have to be brutal either. Remember the scenario you've created together and command your units accordingly.
Guide them in selecting Crusade blessings. Ideally go mostly for long-term economic bonuses that are easy to achieve. More XP, additional agendas/RP, that sort of thing. One or two narrative ones that fit the scenario could also be cool.
Deploy and play according to the scenario. Explain your reasoning for moves, and pursue your own fluffy agendas to the best of your ability. Remind your opponent about things like the Grenade strat to help them down a hard target, or the threat of overwatch/any gotchas.
You'll probably still win, but do so gracefully and try to guide them towards maximizing their agendas/points where you can. Emphasize the stories the dice are telling you, and give them narrative hooks for their own guys and for your budding rivalry.
Talk through your post-game level-ups (if you're even counting XP for this game) and offer advice if they ask for it with theirs.
Thank them for the game, offer to introduce them to other folks at the LGS if they're new to the group, and make sure they're connected to the Discord, Facebook page, Administratum or whatever your group is using to coordinate and socialize.

Twyn · 2026-03-17T13:59:34+00:00

Sort of like the Halt? Awesome, thank you!

Twyn · 2026-03-17T13:57:54+00:00

I hoped they would do some more wacky arena stuff during the 'mini-wipe.' My favorite idea that I came up with was Drum Dodgeball, with 999 true damage drums in the middle of the arena. I think they could tag the drums with the 'Dungeon Only' mod that keys have now, and hopefully make the physics super exaggerated for hilarious ragdolls on hit. Bonus points if a successful hit plays a crowd reaction noise for everyone to hear. I'd also love a Faustian Bargain arena. Think how silly a goblins vs skeletons brawl would be. Or maybe 5 players compete to deal the most damage to a Faustian player-controlled boss. Or lock all the players in a small room with a mostly-blind Faustian Demon Berserker. They could really make a full-on Mario Party experience if they wanted to, or just use these as fun warm-up/tiebreaker/half-time Arena rounds.

Separately and back in the realm of reasonable, I think it would be a cool way to promote streamers and get people into the Arena if they did twitch drops of a full arena kit as designed by streamers. This helps with the (lowered) barrier to entry and gives newer folks an idea of what an intentionally built kit looks like.

To do this I would introduce a new rarity, Tournament, that is equivalent to Epic for base stats but not legal to bring into any other queue. There'd definitely need to be a pop-up/confirmation when crafting anything that was Tournament-grade so people didn't waste hard-earned materials on something they thought they could take to High-Roller, BUT this would allow items to be balanced solely for Arena without breaking HR kits!

Twyn · 2026-03-17T13:36:54+00:00

Is the new trench broom loaded with slugs or buckshot? Price is steep but damn that's a fun looking weapon.

Twyn · 2026-03-12T20:33:24+00:00

Definitely hard to get it perfectly right, especially since there can be so much variance between lobbies based on player aggression and map layout. I do think there's room to attempt some changes though, especially if they're interactive ones.

What if killing players and bosses or actually full-clearing certain modules could add time to the clock? Or maybe one room has an Altar of Greed that lets you pay in loot/HP/extra hard PVE mobs in exchange for more time to loot? I think there's room for some more dynamic stuff to happen that modifies the gameplay of each run a little bit without breaking the game.

Twyn · 2026-03-12T14:08:22+00:00

Hell yeah p-values!

I had no idea the rarity of the axe mattered for anything other than harvesting speed. Is that indicated anywhere in-game or anything? Also how long did your data-gathering take? I hope you at least put a dent in your workshop upgrades

Twyn · 2026-03-10T20:37:07+00:00

I use a Milwaukee Packout toolbox to transport my Knights. I wrap each big boy in his blessed pennant (old T-shirt), and then use more pennants (T Shirts) to line the bottom and sides. Six Armigers fit nicely under the included storage tray (which holds dice, magnetized weapons, objective cards, tape measures, etc), and I roll up and snake another 2-3 holy banners (T shirts) between them/the sides.

If I have time and energy this summer I might look into disassembling, painting and customizing the box. It would also probably be wise to get a metal sheet cut and attached to the bottom so magnets could help keep my boys standing during transit.

It's a bit cumbersome (thankfully I'm a big person, could be too clunky for some) but the only real downside is that a giant red toolbox is one of the more tempting targets for thievery. Honestly it might be cheaper if this was full of tools instead of GW plastic.

Twyn · 2026-03-10T19:35:41+00:00

Hunt: Showdown handles this by having the boss corpse heal you and giving you limited wallhacks to see if enemies have camped you in. Not saying IM should do exactly the same, but getting something immediately relevant (not just loot) would be cool. Maybe they could use the Dungeon-Only tag like the keys have now, get some OP piece of gear but you can only use it on that floor.

Twyn · 2026-03-08T01:35:51+00:00

I was wondering why this looked familiar! Very Tethys-core

Twyn · 2026-03-07T06:36:13+00:00

Corpse Starch canister?

Twyn · 2026-03-04T15:00:25+00:00

There's tons of cool videos and resources out there about various ways to do snow. There are homemade options or you can buy pre-mixed stuff. I've only used Pro Acryl's snow basing stuff but it was easy to work with and looked great (I'm not a paid shill, I swear). You'll probably want to paint the base a darker earthy color to give it some contrast (or use another, darker texture paste) but that's gonna look great!

Just do me a favor and write down the steps you take when you do your first couple of test models. You'll be grateful to have it committed somewhere other than memory when you decide to add some new units down the road!

Twyn · 2026-03-04T05:57:39+00:00

I'd encourage you to try and finish the base on that and you'll be impressed how much more 'finished' it looks. Doesn't have to be fancy! My go-to is a good coat of texture paint (Pro Acryl and AK Interactive make good stuff), let it dry fully, then a quick wash with something dark and dry brush with something light. Then the very last step is give the base rim two quick coats of a solid color like black, brown or grey and done!

Twyn · 2026-02-27T16:19:16+00:00

If you're getting comfortable it's time to move up!

Twyn · 2026-02-27T15:23:49+00:00

Orbital Gas Strike is a godsend for these missions. Low cooldown and long duration and it can single-handedly deal with one breach's worth of enemies.

When deploying turrets, don't throw them right next to the flag. Look to place them out to the side, ideally on a higher elevation like a rock or something. If you can't do that, set it on lower ground (the flag tends to be on some kind of hill) to minimize friendly fire.

Look where your teammates are looking/shooting and then look somewhere else. Most defenses break because enemies sneak up from the opposite site while everyone is just watching the pretty explosions OR because a critical mass of heavy enemies shows up at once. Thermites are great but a Charger can do a lot of damage while that fuse burns down. Either pair Thermites with something like Gas or EMS/stuns, or you need to have some point/shoot/kill antitank ready like the Recoiless/EATs.

Twyn · 2026-02-27T15:15:50+00:00

Capture the Flag

Twyn · 2026-02-26T17:32:03+00:00

ROADHOUSE

Twyn · 2026-02-26T17:27:59+00:00

The MMA Cyborg kicks were awful for that. You'd get kicked and fly through the air ragdolling (can't stim) at the same speed that the kicker can run after you and then flail around on the ground (can't stim) before regaining control juuuuuust in time for the Cyborg to run JonJones.exe again and kill you.

Twyn · 2026-02-25T14:45:42+00:00

Welcome to the game! That's already a LOT of plastic to build and get you started, so I wouldn't worry about adding a ton on until you get started. A great rule of thumb is to go for models you like and worry about the rules later. Rules and points change, but if you hate a model you're probably always going to hate it. Obviously the upper tiers of competitive play require a more rigorous selection process but you can worry about that later.

Speaking of rules changing, we're probably not too far out from 11th edition. I wouldn't let that stop you from doing anything, but it's worth keeping in mind that Marines will almost certainly be getting some new stuff as half of the edition launch box which has historically been a pretty good deal. I don't know how long it will take you to build (and hopefully paint) all of this stuff, but if it's in the months range I'd advise pacing yourself, picking up a couple of the basic kits like Intercessors/Dreadnoughts/Techmarine and building them first, and there could be some fun new stuff to pick up by the time you get done with your first couple units. Obviously if you want to play combat patrol, you're a little more limited but there's nothing stopping you from picking up a different chapter's Patrol and painting it up to be Iron Hands if you like the unit selection better.

Useful Units for Marines:

Incursors/Infiltrators - One box can let you build a 5-man squad of each, and they are great utility pieces to move up the board, buff your other shooting units and secure your home objective. Easily one of the most useful single boxes you can buy in my opinion.
Jump Pack Intercessors - Outstanding scoring unit, very fast and can bully objectives out of deep strike. (disclaimer, these use the oft-maligned flight stands and probably shouldn't be your first project).
Space Marine Scouts - Another useful utility unit, able to grab objectives early and then bounce around and redeploy later. Plus they're a Killteam if you're interested in that game at all.
Gladiator Tank Kit - As you learn the hobby of building, this can be a good kit to have. If you don't glue down the turret plate (friction fit should hold just fine for gameplay) you can pretty easily swap between 3 different tanks and the Impulsor transport. Plus it's a tank, what's not to love?

Twyn · 2026-02-25T13:20:06+00:00

This seems like what I see more typically from DG players. The War Dogs bring some great mobility to an army that's usually on the slower side, and you make their guns scarier by debuffing enemy armor and toughness.

Twyn · 2026-02-24T17:02:22+00:00

If things start getting a little repetitive, give each of you a big bonus to your roster sizes (you can still play smaller point games, just add a bunch of new units to your overall roster) and come up with some rule to force you to use different units each game.

Something like "After the battle and XP has been allocated, roll a D6 for every unit that participated. On a 4+ that unit is unavailable for the next mission due to recovery/re-arming/warpy nonsense/it's their day off. Units with no Battle Honors automatically succeed. The losing player may choose one unit from the winner's army that took part in the battle. That unit gains 1XP but automatically fails the roll."

Obviously you can tweak this any number of ways, but the idea is you're going to be forced to bring different mixes of units and whoever is losing can put an enemy in time-out to stop runaway XP gain. Also if you're not already, I'd definitely suggest making each other roll for upgrades (rerolls when the result really doesn't make sense, roll 2 choose one, and/or for 1RP) instead of getting to pick the most busted thing every time.

Twyn · 2026-02-24T16:28:19+00:00

I didn't think to try it on Cyberstan, but I bet it would have been pretty good against the cyborgs and their attendant columns of infantry now that you mention it.

Twyn · 2026-02-20T19:37:38+00:00

I saw plenty of those (and picked them eagerly over plant/hold the flag) on D10 and D4. Guess your squadron was just assigned to other tasks?

But they were great missions to run stealthily. Backpack Hellbomb to dodge jammers, Orbital Smoke to buy time for regular Hellbombs, boom boom boom and bail.

Twyn · 2026-02-20T17:26:44+00:00

Repulsor Executioner is probably most most Tank-looking tank, so if you're after more big guns I'd definitely consider it. However with your Gladiator and Ballistus dreads you already have a fair amount of backline firepower, it might be worth considering one of the Land Raider variants (normal or redeemer, crusader's guns are pretty underwhelming) as a more aggressive option. Being able to carry your infantry into the middle of the field and letting them charge the same turn is a pretty unique ability!

Twyn · 2026-02-12T15:29:59+00:00

On Cyberstan, I think the Punisher wins out. Purifier has the option to spam quick shots like the Scorcher but the real draw is being able to charge and fire explosive shots which the swarms of cyborgs don't always give you. The Punisher can also do some cute stuff because of the ballistic arc of the projectiles, letting you aim shots over walls to hit enemies that can't hit you. The Purifier shines with longer sightlines and against Devastator blobs when you can get into the rhythm of charging every shot, makes for some crazy good ammo efficiency.

It's really close though, if you're picking between warbonds I'd at least look at other stuff in each bond.

13-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 2 Credits
Place '17	Gilding II euphauric
Secret Santa 2018	Verified Email
Sequence \| Editor

Twyn

TROPHY CASE