Hello everyone!

Ok, my question. If a magnitude 30 horde fires it's autopistols, they do 3d10+2 damage with each hit, correc (1d10+2 + 2d10 for magnitude)t? And they get three attacks, since they have magnitude 30, correct? So, if I wanted to fire full auto with these guys (just imagine the autopistols can fire full auto), I'm guessing any additional hits from Full Auto also do 3d10+2 damage?

I seems logical and all, I just wanted to make sure I had it right.

Thanks.

/David

Mechanically, you got it right. Players need cover. Also, mag 30 is pretty huge, so the volume of fire from all those guns is going to be nasty.

KommissarK said:

+1; I've found that individual large hordes becomes a bit of a grind. Having more hordes can force some tactical decisions on your players (it can get exhausting trying to keep all the horde combats interesting, at least for me). Also, regardless of size, be careful how you equip the horde- you probably want them to be able to do damage to the KT in order to keep them on their toes, but not kill them with some lucky shots. Try to figure out min, max, and average damage output of each of them before dropping them off or else you could end up with a lot of dead or critically injured PCs by accident.

Thanks for the replies everyone! I'll break down some hordes I think, good call!

Reclusiarch said:

Just remember this though: hordes are a serious threat to PCs as long as their mag is 20+. With 10+ they are usually only a minor threat and below 10 they are merely a nuisance. That said consider how much mag damage your PCs can do in a turn. Buffer your hordes accordingly magnitude-wise in order to find the right threat level. 3 mag 20 hordes will cause smart players to spread their firepower and it might turn out an easy fight for them as one point of mag damage per horde will suffice for starters.

Alex

One possible trick off of what ak-73 says here is to use say, 2 mag 29 hordes instead of a mag 30 horde. Making it 29, instead of say, 20, allows the horde to remain a threat for longer, while still limiting the possibility of a horde accidentally making a marine go pop by rolling max damage.

Also, I'm assuming this horde is made up of a less than professional fighting force (why arm them with pistols otherwise?), so its safe to assume they probably have a BS in the 20s. Combine that with a poor range of pistols (30m), and marines can quite safely engage hordes like this at range. At anything over 60m, they're firing full auto with only a 35% chance of a single success, and maxing at 3 possible hits. Certainly, close quarters becomes deadly, but a marine can also charge in. What you don't want to let them do, is shoot you.

The trick is to spice it up with better armoured, better equipped elite troops, use say, a poor quality plasma pistol or power sword.