40K variant for Chain of Command

I have plenty of 40k figures but I'm not particularly fond of GW rules.  I've tried my hand at writing rules but I've never been entirely satisfied with the results.  I had head that there was a 40K mod for Chain of command(ww2) but all the links i find are broken.  also, the discussions draw attention of the one element that i really like about CoC: the platoon lists.

Example of a Tau platoon list, complete with custom header

So I decided to develop my own variant.  I don't think it would take a lot to modify CoC.  so I bragged a copy of the CoCulator, which is a formula for getting  platoon and support ratings, and I went to work.

I decided early on 1 major change:  armour saves.  these are really the defining characteristic in modern sci-fi games.  I decided to lessen them a bit.  So I grouped armour saves into 4 groups.  saves of 5+ or worse get no armour saves. the armour will save your life, but leave you incapacitated, much like modern body armour.  Carapace armour gets you a 5+ save.  Marine equivalent armour gets you a 4+ and terminator-equivalent armour. when you make an armour save, it converts a kill result into a shock result.    there would be no armour saves in close combat though, as i wanted this to remain bloody.  In relation to the CoCulator,  I count 5+ save as +1 point per model,  4+ save as +2 pts per model, and a 3+ save as +3 points per model.

Another rules change I decided to make was a change to Infantry Antitank weapons. In the rules, you get a -1 for each range pas the first.  I have made extensive use of this class of weapons for things like Melta and Plasma guns.  I modified both the range bands to better reflect ranges in the 40K rules, and i made one more change.   On the army specific Infantry anti tank weapon chart,  grey-range bands and white range bands. Grey range bands get no modifier.  For every range band past the last grey range band,  the rules for firing infantry anti tank weapons apply as normal.

Not everyone will agree with my platoon lists.  40k has left some huge holes in the orders of battle.  many forces don't really have a platoon structure. They go down to company level and then just don't go any further. others  like the Imperial guard, go right down to platoon level, but their theoretical maximum sized platoon IS a company by any other name, with 5 infantry squads, 5 heavy weapons squads, 3 special weapon squads, and 1 30 man conscript squad! I've had to adapt some platoon structures to something playable, while with others wholly inventing a platoon structure that makes as much sense as I can make given the information in the codexes.

I've played the Imperial Guard  Type 1(5 squads) platoon versus a Tau Fire warrior Demi Cadre(3 squads of 12 with 2 drones each)  and it seemed fairly balanced.

the rest have not been tested yet. I've also made custom headers for each race I've worked on so far.

Here is a link to my google drive folder for the PDFs I have thus far set up. I have a few more but they need at least one more pass before I consider posting them.

Steve's 40k CoC Google Drive folder


I hope you enjoy!

Yme-Loc Eldar

I haven't play 40K in over 5 years, and I've never played it seriously.  But that never stopped me from building armies.

My Eldar army started when i found a big old blister box(the kind that held 10 blisters) of rogue trader Eldar aspect warriors at a  Five Arrows Fine Figures & Art , During a trip to  Hotlead 6 years ago. The Owner, Donald Cameron, was handling an estate sale for an old friend.  he gave me a good price and  that was that.  that Same Day I  found a bag of Guardians in the Bring and Buy, and that was that. 

Yme-Loc Farseer and council.

I set about creating my Eldar army. I picked up a Wraithlord, Farseer, and a box of Dire Avengers(back when Dire avengers came 10 to a box) to compliment what I already had.   a year later i found an OOP Cloudstrike Squadron box(3 falcons). Almost everything else in the army was  bought 2nd hand or at a significant discount. the 3 forge world tanks were payment for painting a Friends Forgeworld items.

Extra Dire Avenger Exarch and Autarch

The Army i decided to do was Yme-loc. they are one of the non-mainstream craft worlds mentioned in the codex at the time. they were red and grey, although i decided that the weird green-blue grey i had kicking around form a previous project would suffice.  the Brief bit of fluff on the craft world suggested that their armies were backed up with signifcant armoured and titan support. and this the strange eldar tank army was born(before 6th edition when serpent spam became common.

Custom Jetbike Farseer(or autarch) to lead my never-realised Windrider host.

 I had always intended to build a windrider host.  I always like jetbikes.  I may build it using the new jetbikes GW jsut released.

my Old school Fire Dragons.  some new ones mixed in on the right with Old rogue trader ones.

Old-school Howling Banshees

Old school Striking Scorpions

  so as you can see my Eldar do not follow the typical paint  Scheme.  the head and shoulders are usually the colour that is associated with that particular troop type.  so so the howling banshees are washed deneb stone head and shoulders with bluegrey bodies.  Dire avengers are blue head and shoulders with Bluegrey bodies. etc.  the exception is the Striking scorpions.  I decided to invert them, as I like the green. The result is a more uniform look then your typical aspect-focused eldar army.

Wraithlord and Wraithguard.

Dire Avengers. 

Serpent spam.

  I have 2 more Wave serpents waiting in the wings to be painted.  Unfortunately they won't get done any time soon as i am moving cross country from Ontario to  Edmonton, Alberta later this summer.

Guardians.

Modified Vypers

Forgeworld Warphunter(back) and Horners(front)

 Yes, I have a lot of tanks. including the Vypers and the 2 unpainted Wave serpents, i have 13 vehicles.

my Cloudstrike Squadron

As mentioned I'd like to add some jetbikes and a wraith knight to the army. they are expensive, but this army is more of a modelling project now then anything else. and that Wraith knight is definitely deserving of some serious customization.

 I actually have begun writing my own set of rules for sci fi.  I've been waiting far too long for someone to write a set of customizable sci fi set of rules i like.  I waited like 6 or 7 years for one company to released but it never seemed to get published.

Introductions and a few pictures

Hi there,

My Name is Stephen Thomson and I've been gaming for 22 years(since I was 12). I started gaming with Battletech.  before I even played my first game I built my own terrain table.  I used the "table top" conversion rules.  I never liked hex maps.

for teh last decade I've mostly played Historical games, and you can see that on my other blog, Adventures in Miniature Gaming , which is listed as a "page" of this blog(and vice versa).  Recently my interest in Sci-fi and fantasy gaming and re surged a bit. and now I'm balancing both instead of going whole-hog into one genre.

Over the years I've played many Scifi and Fantasy games, including:
Warzone(all versions but Prodos one)
Warhammer 40K
Void
Battletech
Epic Space Marine/40K/Armageddon
Starship Troopers
Full Thurst
Babylon 5 a Call to Arms
A Sky full of Ships(which my gaming group playtested and Published)
Dystopian Wars
Warhammer
GW Man O'War
Crucible: Conquest of the Final Realm
GW Lord of the Rings SBG,
GW War of the Ring

Here are a few bits and pieces of stuff I've done in the past:

A lot of my older pictures are garbage, so I'll be retaking photos of stuff  over the next little while.

Cheers!