Ok. I am in a little bit of a predicament. I have been GMing Deathwatch since it first came out with some of my friends and lets just say that after some ridiculous things, that I have a handful of crazed Veterans (who have gone rogue[we're getting prepped for Black Crusade]) that have some of the most powerful stats and gear a man can think of. I do let them get away with this because I know I can still hurt them but 2 or 3 of them wield storm shields and it makes it nearly impossible for me to use my super-awesome melee baddies against them effectively. After my (amazing) Slaanesh Champion, who was called The Mayor, was beat down after getting the starting Initiative, without giving any damage because of a Storm Shield.

Argument: Although the Combat/Storm shields count as force fields (and it does state "Force field projectors are often small devices, easily fitted onto armour, shields, or weaponry." ), they are merely shields and should not be able to deflect every single attack I throw at them. It has gotten to the point where my greatest Chaos Champions die without spilling blood in close combat because a shield magically deflects it. Either I am reading the rules for them wrong or I need to revise the Combat/Storm Shield to a point where they are effective but also allow me the satisfaction of hitting the Kill-Team. My two thoughts so far have been to either restrict the Force Field effect to specific locations like the arm wielding the shield and the chest or restrict the amount of times they can use the field.

By the grace of the Dark Gods, I really need help with this. I both love and respect the power behind Combat and Storm Shields but it has become much more than a simple thorn in my side when my Elites and Master enemies getting brought low in close combat with no blood on their fangs/claws/blades. Please tell me what you think. Thank You.

Force fields do get troublesome, especially when stacked upon Astartes' already impressive resilience. But sooner or later, they will fail. I'd strongly advise you against nerfing them mid-game, that's likely to cause bad blood. Just be patient, maybe up the stakes a little, and introduce more enemies sporting force fields themselves. No force field in the game grants true invulnerability, and sooner or later, your players will run out of luck.

Since the protection of a force field isn't optional, the best way to overload one is with fire discipline; a few hordes peppering the shield with autoguns and that 1-10 chance should come up fairly quickly. If they've master-crafted the sucker, this'll take a lot more time, but it's still inevitable.

And, oh yes, remember that it's possible to use the Disarm/Grapple moves to take a shield out of play.

You could use

• psi powers that do damage from within.
• Traps that lead to a StarWars like waste press
• Something so small it's inside the shield when attacking.
  

Example: constrictor snake,spiderlike xenos mini robots with laser drills

Plasmafest said:

[Rereads own post]

Arg, come to think of it, since Grapple is classed as an Attack, the forcefield'd still apply against the attempt, same as against a punch. It could be used to remove the shield, but since it's a Full Action for only a single Attack, probably not worth it without some substantial bonus. Disarm, however, does appear viable since its Talent based, which is a handy, if daft loophole. Especially since enough DoS allows you to take the shield for yourself...

Plasmafest said:

The Bloodletter took your Storm Shield. Sorry, buddy.

Thank you guys all so much for your ideas. I definitely should focus more on the ranged weapon fire (especially the big guns that can tear a man in 2), psy powers that may force a man to make a bad (in my case, great) decision for the rest of his team, traps, and disarm (which I had forgotten was even a thing). I think that I have focused too much on making insane melee enemies for those incredible duels and have forgotten to make them wade through storms of bullets for them to reach what they want. I will try to focus on these and will hold off on trying to reforge the rules for it.

Thanks for the ideas and keep them coming. I'm always looking for alternatives to this issue.

Ave Imperator!

You can also send a Vindicare Assassin with Shield-Breaker rounds against them. Just don't use the broken Ascension mechanics that give him a bazillion dodges, that's unfair and frustrating.

Also, IIRC, in TT fluff Psycanon Bolts ignore fields as well as psychic defenses. Since it's a pretty rare ammunition (but not rare enough that a determined force bent on killing your PCs can't access it), I'd consider it a fair house rule.

Eh? The field isn't optional? Maybe not taking the rules literally, but it's pretty safe to assume that they have an 'off' button. This is borne out in the Crimson Fists novel where the chapter commander flicks on his Iron Halo just in time to stop an attack, having never used it before in the book!

I would not have a problem with a character keeping his powerfield off until willing to use it, so as to prevent risk of overcharge. Have turning it on a free action on your turn, or a reaction outside of it.

Siranui said:

Sure, it can be turned on or off, but if it's on, it's On; you can't pick and choose which hits to use it against, so it may well get overloaded stopping a bunch of autopistol rounds before the guy lining up a plasmagun takes his shot at you.

So there's no 'off' button, or do you mean on a per-shot basis?

As I said; I have no problem with it being switched on and off as a free action or reaction outside your turn, but flicking it on and off between incoming shots would indeed be a bit silly.

Siranui said:

Yup, just so.

the shield gets rolled as soon as a hit is confirmed, before damage is rolled. Just pepper them with fire until the shields go down. They have to roll against EVERY hit, no matter whether it has the chance of actually hurting them.