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Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Why do 28 mm Wargames keep Trying to Add Flyers?

I have never quite be able to wrap my head around this.  First 40K went flyer crazy and now Warpath is getting in on the action with a 75 dollar package with like a 3 flyer squadron.  I generally do not see the need for these.  I can imagine skimmers just fine but a real fast moving flyer does not belong in these games due to the scale.  Corner to corner scale distance is like 173 meters (assuming 2 meters per inch).  This means that something going 25 mile per hour covers the distance in the like 15 seconds.  Something making a 200 mph attack run is there for like 2 seconds.  Most of the anti air and air support fire is actually happening off the board.  Epic actually has it flyers enter and exit the board in one game turn and then you may or may not get them back depending on how much fire they took.

Maybe it is just an abstraction of having it placed on the board and models are cool so modeling it is better than just making it a totally abstract air support choice but generally the rules are not set up this way.  What is a cover ignoring, nearly indestructible, precision targeting unit worth when you are trying to write list balance?  Probably a lot from that description.  What is the anti air unit cost?  Probably has to be a lot less since it is only useful if the opponent brings an air unit.  Even less than that if it only holds off the flyer while it is deployed or makes the flyer behave like a normal unit with respect to it.  Leaves you in the rock paper scissor stuff that is not the fun part with the owner of the flying unit at the advantage since if he brings it and no anti air he has the advantage, if he does not and anti air is brought he has the advantage  while if both show up it is often a push.

I will have to check how the warpath Alpha rules are treating these guys.

Update:  I looked at the Warpath rules.  The penalty to hit flyers is only a -1 but you also have a range penalty.  Flyers have to move each turn but it does not appear to me that there is side armor or weapon arcs so not sure if that matters so much.  I do not even see rules for turning vehicles or anything so you can just place it in a new spot not much of an issue really.  The price lists out to about 10% more than a walker but the flyer has  more than twice the firepower and an anti-tank weapon.

7 comments:

  1. Because "ZOOM ZOOM PEW PEW PEW!!!"

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  2. I think the reason is to sell more product.

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    1. That makes sense for GW but Mantic essentially have zero vehicles produced.

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  3. Maybe think of them less as flyers, and more as attack helicopters. Then it makes a bit more sense.

    Of course this doesn't help 40k, except for maybe the planes which can hover. Anything with a supersonic rule should really just make a single pass and leave.

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    1. Back in the day for 40k that is how it was played. Draw a line on the board and the flyer flew that path. Anyone could shoot at it by measuring to the line and then added 12". Kinda more realistic but not fun for the modeler as the thing was never actually on the table. So game mechanics are altered for fun appeal rather than realism

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    2. That is what we would call a skimmer. Already often a pain in the butt.

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