PDA

View Full Version : Codex: Lost & The Damned



Chaosgerbil
08-26-2009, 01:30 AM
Hi,

I wanted to share with you the codex I've been working on for the Lost& The Damned. I would love to hear your feedback.

http://chaosgerbil.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/codex-latd-1-7.doc


I keep design notes and version notes on my blog, at http://chaosgerbil.wordpress.com/

TheKingElessar
08-26-2009, 07:50 AM
Interesting.

Mutant overlords are too Strong, Mutants too tough (and good overall) lack of anti-tank, and I don't understand your reference to using a Large Blast to deploy Daemons when that method is no longer employed.

Inquisitor Soren
08-26-2009, 01:36 PM
Not to bad, there are a few things which I'll be listin below.

1. The large blast is no longer used to deepstrike, if that is a special rule for the codex then it'd probably need to be stated explicitly so no one gets confused.

2. Mutant Overlord is seriously underpriced for what he has in pure stat line, there would be no reason really to not take two, maybe make them 0-1 is a decent possibility.

3. Renegade Psyker's WS and BS are surprisingly high, considering both are supposed to be at 4, ie Super Human, its kinda odd, but not unreasonable, Carapace Armor also seemed outta place but that is ok too I suppose, after all he's probably leading a massive revolt and paranoid enough to keep the best swank for himself, no? Other than that he looks good, though I wouldn't mind having the psychic powers reprinted in there, though I do understand Copyright Infringement.

4. Rouge Trader, once again the WS and BS feels off-ly high, but if you intend to keep him at that level I'd consider buffing his point cost ever so slightly.

5. Giant Chaos Spawn feel kinda...erm, useless with random movement and how crushingly slow they are.

6. The codex lacks some serious Anti-Armor, not to good with the super mech-heavy lists that are creeping around.

7. Lack of transport options, this is a big one now-a-days, even with infiltrate and hiding in cover the entire army is more or less foot slogging up to the enemy with short range weapons and weak melee skills, other than a few specialty units, the only way i see to over come that is to take allies from Daemons or Chaos Marines, or use the Native Units from the IG that have transport options.

8. Question: I suppose any unit with Daemonkin has its save as an invulnerable save correct? If true that makes several of the units a little better, and makes spawn and actual viable meat shield, even with random movement.

Closing: Overall this is pretty good for a draft, there appears to be a formatting issue, but that maybe because I am using Open Office. I'm quite impressed but ideally I'd love to see maybe a few more LatD Heavy Support and Fast Attack choice that are unique to them alone, but I'm quite happy with the Troop choices.


Overall: 7/10, Good, needs a little balancing and a little clean up.

Herald of Nurgle
08-28-2009, 11:28 AM
I'm just going to twitch...
But then i'll read the minidex, and decide whether i'm going to continue with my own project =)

EDIT: Seems pretty nice. Could I perhaps use the format here - i've got everything except that in the bag already TBH. I'll give credit and stuff, mkay? Just got 3 days to finish it off

slovak
08-30-2009, 09:08 PM
Nice work.

Traitors should be able to swap their lasgun for a laspistol OR a shotgun for free, as per the original LatD list.
While you're at it, you might as well list that they can trade for an autogun as well, I know that the stats are the same as the lasgun but they look so cool modeled. . .

xynoq
09-01-2009, 01:47 PM
it might need some minor work but it is fantastic if you ask me...

Chaosgerbil
09-02-2009, 04:26 PM
Wow, great comments. Thanks.

Herald, I'd love to see your ideas here but if you prefer you can take what I've built and run with it, or put in your own stuff using my formatting.

I'll put up a new version incorporating the changes soon. Transports and Anti-tank are thorny issues but they will be addressed.

Chaosgerbil
10-18-2009, 01:58 PM
It's getting better.... I added some art, new units, and made many changes.


PDF link:

http://chaosgerbil.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/codex-lost-and-the-damned-1_8.pdf

Blog entry:

http://chaosgerbil.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/codex-lost-and-the-damned-1-8/

Katie Drake
10-18-2009, 03:04 PM
Well, I just took a glance over the Codex and it looks pretty good overall. There are a few issues though. I'll go through a few things I noticed here.

Ambition

"One H.Q. slot must either be filled with Aspiring Champions Of Chaos, or remain empty. At deployment, Champions from this unit may be split up and assigned to lead any squad of infantry, calvary, or beasts. They will become part of that unit and may not leave it for the duration of the battle. Any Champions assigned this way will not count for any kind of kill points when killed."

This is a bit too confusing and isn't very intuitive. Instead, try to word it more like this:

"Any Aspiring Champions bought as an HQ choice may be assigned to lead any friendly squad of Infantry, Cavalry/Beasts. This is done during deployment. From then onward, any Aspiring Champions count as a part of the unit they join for all intents and purposes and thus do not yield additional Kill Points."

Native Units

I feel that a couple units are unnecessary. Psyker Battle Squads don't make much sense to me as a choice in a Lost and the Damned army, because they're already barely able to control their abilities. Joining a Chaos army would almost certainly cause them to completely lose control of their abilities and maybe cause them to detonate messily or become possessed by Daemons. Too much Warp energy in the air or something!

Conscripts also don't really fit the feel of a Lost and the Damned army to me. These guys are supposed to be the newest recruits and as green as grass. Expecting them to fight alongside gibbering hordes of Mutants, towering, ancient genetically enhanced supermen and the very stuff of nightmares seems pretty unrealistic (relatively speaking, of course!).

Special Units

Firstly, I'm not quite sure that the size (in points) of the army needs to factor into the number of Allied units a player can take. Limiting them to 1 HQ, 2 Troops and 1 each of Elites, Fast Attack and Heavy Support should cut down on their potential numbers pretty severely.

Just a thought - should the "Cult" Chaos Space Marine units (like Khorne Berserkers and Plague Marines) perhaps count as an Elite choice in a Lost and the Damned army? I know that they can't score, but they're far better quality troops than what the Lost and the Damned can field normally.

Possession

This is fine, but I don't think that Daemon Princes should have to enter the game by Possession - that's sort of Greater Daemon territory (and let's be honest - there aren't too many Daemon Princes that are as powerful as Greater Daemons anyway). Daemon Princes and Nurglings have traditionally been the only two Daemonic units that were exempt from the whole Summoning or Possession rules of editions past, and it would make sense to continue to follow this "rule". Daemon Princes should most certainly start on the battlefield - after all, if they're being taken then they're probably the overall leader of the army (unless said Daemon Prince is taken from Codex: Chaos Daemons. Perhaps they should be Summoned like Lesser Daemon are?).

Lastly, a suggestion on formatting.

In order to maintain the professional look of this excellent piece of work, I humbly suggest that the format of the book is changed slightly. It should probably mirror Games Workshop's newest Codecies as closely as possible. In that vein, why not leave the descriptions of what wargear and psychic powers do out of the unit profiles themselves and add separate Armory, Psychic Powers and Gifts of the Gods sections that could describe these items in more detail?

That's all I've got for now. Hope this is helpful!

EDIT: Also, it'd likely be good to add in that all compulsory choices (like 1 HQ and 2 Troops for Standard Missions) be taken from Codex: The Lost and the Damned and not any of the other books that it can Ally with.

Bluesfart
10-18-2009, 06:36 PM
Excellent presentation.

A suggestion for characterful anti-armor: suicide bombers. sacrifice a model to do a high strength blast. have a chance to set off a bomb accidentally when taking wounds in close combat or shooting.

otherwise I'm not familiar at all with the original lost and damned list to give much feedback

Chaosgerbil
10-19-2009, 04:26 PM
Wow, excellent suggestions Katie and Blues, I can't really argue with them. Thanks for the compliments and feedback.

Last revision a great deal of my time was taken up transferring everything from MS Word to InDesign, and the next update can be more content focused.

@Blues, A suicide bomber is something I have been planning to include and have been playing around with.

@Katie
The rewording of ambition is more clear, although I was thinking I should restrict HQ to only one choice besides champions for both fluff and play balance reasons.

I will probably move allied codex troops to elites, it is another issue I have gone back and forth on.

I like the idea of Rogue Psykers in the list because they are common targets for Imperial kidnapping or extermination, but perhaps they should be a codex specific unit with unique rules instead of a clone from the IG.

Conscripts are not meant to represent actual conscripts but rather rabble such as cultists and workers without much formal military training. Again I could see where they would be better served by their own entry.

I was on the fence about Daemon Princes but you are right, they are normally not summoned or possess mortals.

Chaosgerbil
10-19-2009, 06:49 PM
Ok, I incorporated the feedback and did a ton of cleanup and formatting. A few points costs were messed with.

http://chaosgerbil.wordpress.com/files/2009/10/codex-latd-1_85.pdf

Chaosgerbil
03-29-2010, 03:20 AM
Hey guys,

After incorporating a lot of feedback and doing more edits, I have a new version of Codex: Lost and the Damned ready for review and playtesting.

You can find the PDF here: http://chaosgerbil.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/codex-lost-and-the-damned-2-0-is-here/

Atrotos
04-06-2010, 03:58 PM
Codex Review is up on Rules Manufactorum.

Chaosgerbil
04-08-2010, 04:56 PM
Version 2.15 is up, incorporating feedback from the review.

http://chaosgerbil.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/codex-lost-and-the-damned-2-1/

slovak
04-26-2010, 04:55 PM
This looks great!

You should feel terrific about the work you put into this codex, it shows. As a LatD player from way back, I've been looking for the right iteration to bring my army into 5th (including my own) and I'm playing this list.

Thank you.