Smite Nerf Feedback

[Drakmoore]

So the beta-rule nerf to Smite (increasing the psychic test by 1 per attempt) threatens the overall viability of this Army. GW has given an email address 40KFAQ@gwplc.com  where you can email feedback on the new rules. As a community I suggest we all weigh in asking them to refrain from reducing the viability of an already struggling army. Please send an email telling them how you feel about this potential rules change before it gets permanently added to the game.

[Excessus]

We have a whole subforum dedicated to discussing the beta rules nowadays if you want to discuss it in depth.

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/forum/291-beta-rules/

[Gentlemanloser]

We also have a stickied thread and a few other old ones about providing community feedback to GW.

[newdigitalGK]

So here is my suggestion that would help mitigate a lot of this. If your army contains X amount of psykers then you recieve a reduced smite ala GK/TS. IE your smite only does 1 MW. Call it draining the warp or something. This would leave GK's and TS alone and discourage armies from mass psykers as after X amount you get a massive diminishing return. Does that make sense?

[Gentlemanloser]

But Then you just take units like zoans up to that soft cap and abuse thier super smites. Edited January 22, 2018 by Gentlemanloser

[newdigitalGK]

well anyone can do up to the soft cap but that's an arbritary number. Obviously people would try to get to that number and not go over it but it would cut down the over abuse of the psychic people. An you can keep that number incredibly low IE 3 or 4. If you can't handle 3 or 4 zoans super smites then I don't know how to help you.

could be worded like

 

If your army contains less then 5 psykers you have greater smite

if your army has 5 or more psykers you may only use lesser smite

 

Greater smite is ML 5 D3 MW if you roll more then 10 then the

damage is D6 MW

 

Lesser Smite ML 5 when sucessfully cast you deal 1 MW to closest 

enemy target

 

and I would say it would be army wide not just detachments. So you don't have just detachment detachment detachment to circumvent the rule. 

Edited January 22, 2018 by newdigitalGK

[Reclusiarch Darius]

The problem isn't Smite itself, its suitably random and can backfire horribly if you Peril (and unlike previous editions, when you Peril you straight up take damage with no save, there is no chart anymore). The problem is the costing of the ability.

 

Strike squads are appropriately costed for what they do, and are the cheapest possible Smite platform in the army barring characters (which you can't use to fulfill Battalion requirements).

 

Many other psykers are not however, because GW are terrible at game design and underprice their abilities.

 

The way to kill Smite spam is to take it away from Brimstones (nobody takes those guys for anything other than cheesing anyway, so if people switch back to Pinks/Blues its no loss), and price other platforms correctly. I also find banning Supreme Command detachments works great as well, cuts down a lot on cheese builds (not just Smite spam builds).

[Commissar K.]

The problem isn't Smite itself, its suitably random and can backfire horribly if you Peril (and unlike previous editions, when you Peril you straight up take damage with no save, there is no chart anymore). The problem is the costing of the ability.

 

Strike squads are appropriately costed for what they do, and are the cheapest possible Smite platform in the army barring characters (which you can't use to fulfill Battalion requirements).

 

Many other psykers are not however, because GW are terrible at game design and underprice their abilities.

 

The way to kill Smite spam is to take it away from Brimstones (nobody takes those guys for anything other than cheesing anyway, so if people switch back to Pinks/Blues its no loss), and price other platforms correctly. I also find banning Supreme Command detachments works great as well, cuts down a lot on cheese builds (not just Smite spam builds).

Can only agree to that, many of the Psyker models seem more undercosted as usual. By large because this time around it doesn't seem like GW has made a true standard for costs attached to at least having Smite and the like. Then if the after effect is to change Smite, so should there become a new cost standard for the units (especially infantry) who have it. 

 

At the same time I don't dissagree with Supreme Command Detachment bans but would actually prefer the Character rule to be looked upon again. The way it interacts with visual model placement and being untouchable still makes really little to no sence to me.

 

Offcourse I don't design for GW but I do wonder why GW didn't simply opt for the Character rule (as is) to apply only if other units are either near them 3" or 6", the latter being a visual stretch also. 

[Reclusiarch Darius]

The way it interacts with visual model placement and being untouchable still makes really little to no sence to me.

 

Agreed, I didn't see the problem with the old version as per rulebook. The Rhino sniping meme was entirely built out of one player's dumb understanding of the meta. Nobody actually did that successfully in real games. But, because of that echo chamber, here we are. It reminds me of how you can charge targets you can't see, and deny Overwatch in the process. 7th handled that far better, it specifically said you're always assumed to be within range and have Line of Sight.