Balance

            There has been much talk lately on the game of 40k and if it is balanced or not.

 In 5^th Edition, I did notice “codex creep”.  It seemed to me that anytime a new codex would be released, the writers of that codex would try to one up the last codex.  The writers were constantly trying to come up with something to out do the last codex that was released.  This became a major problem for the older 4^th Edition codices and early 5^th Edition codices as they would have a hard time trying to compete against the new shiny toys of the latest codex.

            6^th Edition was then released.  And it seems that to some, 6^th Edition has brought on a whole new list of problems.  Rather than have the codex creep, Games Workshop has introduced flyers for the game of 40k.  There are numerous people who feel that flyers are necessary to be competitive in the game of 40k.  Currently, flyers are the cheese for this edition.  They are super useful, but also extremely hard to take out.

            In this article, I would like to discuss how Games Workshop could balance flyers in such a way to create more balance in the game as well as keep things competitive for all.

            The first option would be to take away or adjust the snap fire rules for flyers.  Currently, a 6 is needed to hit a flyer unless a model has the Skyfire USR.  I feel that if the roll to hit was adjusted to a 5, there would more balance to hit those flyers on more consistent bases.  Also, by taking away the snap fire rule altogether, ground targets could use their full ballistic skill to take down a flyer heavy list.

            Another option I have heard people mention is to limit the number of flyers that someone can bring in a list.  By allowing a limit to the flyers, gamers will have to balance out their list with other units.  Some feel that this will require gamers to use more strategy and technique in a game rather than using the “easy” button to win.  I don’t necessarily agree with this option, but I wanted to include it in the article.  I feel a gamer should be able to bring what is legal in his/her codex.  If you want to field 9 flyers, then go ahead.  I just don’t want to be limited to what I can bring if it is legal in my codex.

            A third option would be to modify the rules for flyers.  Possibly a “hard to hit” rule could be used.  A flyer would have to be hit on 6’s until it loses a hull point.  Then the flyer could be hit with normal ballistic skill from other models that do not have “Skyfire”.  This would allow flyers to have some staying power, but also allow targets shooting from the ground to have a much higher chance to bring a flyer down. 

            A forth option would be to take away the jink save after a hull point is removed.  Similar to option three, this would again take away some of the abilities from flyers to make the game a little more balanced for everyone. 

            A fifth and final option would be for GW to release dedicated anti air kits with the Interceptor and Skyfire USR’s.  This would allow gamers to pick and choose how to balance out a list.

            Again, these are just some options for GW to take in balancing out the game.  It seems that GW is moving towards balancing out the new codices being released.  If this continues, what steps do you think GW will take to balance flyers?  Would a simple FAQ work or would it take more to balance things out?

Post up your thoughts

Happy Gaming,
Tin Man