Hey, I was just wondering what you guys would recommend for a Space Wolf Assault Marine that doesn't want to use a jump pack. What would be a fair swap-out as far as starting equipment? Should I just give him some requisition points and let him pick?

Thanks.

AsaTJ said:

Thunder Charge Talent instead of the Assault Marine Specialty choices? (Preternatural Speed might be too much.) if you want to be kind, give him a powersword, other than that an exceptional or master-crafted chainsword or combat knife? Berserk Charge might be another consideration...

Alex

This came up with one of our players. Because the jump pack costs 15 requisition points I gave him the option of ditching it and being given 20 requisition points to spend on what he wanted. This is mainly because I hate the new fluff of SWs using jump packs, as i've had an army since 2nd Edition.

I would disagree with giving him a Talent, or a powersword.

An additional Talent is much more useful, as you can then just requisition a jump pack, and have both!

A power sword, while reasonably close in Requisition, also requires a good deal of Renown, which the starting Marines don't have. The renown requirements are a stricter control on most items than the Req costs.

I would recommend giving him an Astartes Harness, and his choice of a Hand Flamer or Flamer. The Harness is pretty useful, and the Flamer is a normal option for many Assault Marines in TT. The Hand Flamer is an option for Blood Angels in the TT, and both are pretty useful for a Marine which expects to fight close to the enemy. Another good option instead of the Harness is a Shot Selector for his Bolt Pistol (as it is standard on the Bolters, but not the pistols). You could also give him a Dipole Maglock as standard (basically, I'd replace the 15 Req for the Jump Pack with 15 Req of other gear useful for an Assault Marine).

I would either make him keep Pilot (Personal), as most Assault Marines are trained to use Jump Packs, or maybe let him swap it for Drive (Hover), as multiple sources say that the Assault Marines are also trained to operate Land Speeders.

Brother-Sergeant Cloten said:

You realize that Assault Marines can get a jumppack-based special ability for free? Besides Bloodclaws do have special abilities in their codex.

Brother-Sergeant Cloten said:

A player gets an advantage that other players don't get. So?

I didn't make the above suggestion as a general rule. Someone asked how to compensate for lack of jumppacks in their game. Me, I might give the player a good chainsword or combat knife or if I wanted to be extra nice a powersword.

Brother-Sergeant Cloten said:

Bloodclaws generally prefer to hack, I'd say.

Brother-Sergeant Cloten said:

I didn't even try to find an item of equivalent equipment cost. I tried to find substitute weapons/talents to make for a fairly cool bloodclaw rank 1 character, not balance it against what other players might or might not get to begin with.

Alex

Another option would be to allow for the turn in of the Jump pack to lower the Renown restriction level by one step for the acquisition of CCW's such as Power Fists and Lightning Claws.

craigpearson81 said:

Blood Claws could wear jump packs in 2nd edition - it wasn't standard issue as it was for Assault Marines, but it was still an option. All that's been done since is make the jump-packing Blood Claws into a distinct entry in the armylist from the ones on foot.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

I prefer these kind of special rules for special chapter/specialties combinations. In this case at least the option of it. Or the availability of psyber-ravens for runelords at a higher rank, for example.

Sure it makes the game less systematic but it also makes marines less uniform. Which, btw, is also why in my game Space Wolves are "real men" who know how to please the ladies.

Alex

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Or bikes, for that matter... Since it was an option for the bike packs. But yes, now we have Blood Claws, Skyclaws, and Swiftclaws each as distinct listing within the army list. And Wolf Guard squads and battle leaders can all go jumpy too. Actually, most HQ choices now. Makes more sense with their whole "dynamic" approach to assaulting their enemies.

At least they still disagree with utilizing the techno-arcana of Teleporters.

-=Brother Praetus=-

for myne i' do:

removed:

wing of angel;common lore deathw....;pilot; forbidden lore xenos...;jump pack

added:

sound constitution x1; hatred; hardy; survival;berserk charge;

upgraded:

ws; st; ag

equipment:

mk7; bolt pistol; eviscerator, krack e frag grenade, wolf pelt, knife

i vant my char resembles "gantz the berserk"

Give him a bike or land speeder!