Goatboy’s 40K Thoughts – The Terrible USR’s?
Goatboy here again – bringing some tasty 40k meats to the masses. Today I want to chit chat about USR’s. Those lovely simple rules that help can make a dull boring game into a wasteland of wargaming destruction.
For those not understanding – USR’s stand for Universal Rules. These are rules that interact with all aspects of the game. Like when someone says Feel No Pain we automatically know how their unit works without reading the codex or knowing the units rules. I have always stated that USR’s are the keys to creating an excellent game and I think GW is moving in that direction more and more. But we are not going to talk about that – instead I want to talk about how much certain USR’s just suck when compared to others.
We all know how good Feel No Pain, Fleet, Preferred Enemy, Stubborn, and Counter Assault (and how common they are) is – but what about some of the others?
Let’s take a look at Rage!!!.
Now this is a detriment USR designed to give the idea that this unit is crazy and doesn’t always do what you want it to do. This is fine because in a lot of ways it is a story teller USR that forces units to interact in a way that creates interesting situations. having a unit that is not totally under the player’s command is an interesting concept – kind of like Electric Football. The question I have is that it really doesn’t seem to give you anything for taking it at all. What I mean is that any time you dump a detriment on a unit it should receive some kind of benefit (usually in the points cost department). If you can’t guarantee a unit to do something but still want it to be usable you need to make it cheaper or make Rage better. Since we don’t have the magical spreadsheet of GW for points creation I think they should make Rage better.
I think Rage would be interesting if it also granted you Fleet and Furious Charge. I know that is a lot but think about it – wouldn’t these guys forgo all shooting and just come at you? Blood Angel Death Company has Rage and I think it would be a whole lot more interesting if they got Fleet instead of Relentless. Yes I know the reasoning for Relentless was so that you couldn’t “hide” your DC from charging by shooting their bolters but still I think Fleet and not having a bolter option would of been a hell of a lot more interesting of a rules design.
So in summary – Rage – You have to move towards the nearest enemy. You get Fleet and Furious Charge. – + Blah blah Points.
Next lets look at Move Through Cover.
Yes I know a lot of things have it but really shouldn’t it be on a lot more options? When do you see terminators going slow through rocks, bushes, walls, trees, guardsmen, etc? Shouldn’t they for the most part ignore terrain unless it is dangerous? So why not give that to more things? Dreadnoughts giving a crap about a wall? Heck no they are going to come through that like Koolaid man trying to give you a diabetic fit. We all know that certain big robotic like things are not always the best with massed shooting causing you to roll 1’s so why not give some benefit from taking a big 40 pt+ fat butted guy in your army?
So in thought – more Move Through Cover please.
What about Tank Hunter? I know we see it in some of the older codexes but I always thought it was a skill that would be a great benefit to today’s Metal Box showdown age we see all the time lately. I know I don’t want a crap ton of them out there but having some “Veteran” options available to armies would be great. I think that would grant a hell of a lot more variation to builds as people figure out ways to create units that fit their style a lot more. Heck just giving an option to USR some things for a points cost upgrade would be awesome.
What other USR’s you think should be more widespread in books? Which ones need to be seen less? Any other options you think might make for a good USR design? Do you think creating sub USR’s within the USR to be a good idea (Ala the rumors FNP 1, 2 and 4.55555)? Do you even want more USR’s? What do you guys think?
Also, did you know that those Electric Football guys have tournaments, and spend crazy money on hand painted teams with custom weights and other conversions? Who knew there was this wierd parallel universe of sports minis guys out there…
