I've pointed out in several threads that the Regiment Creation rules indicate that they should be seen as guidelines and that the rules themselves suggest allowing for more points to be spent and/or allowing for more than three Doctrines. So how many of you have tried this?

What I'm actually most interested in is seeing how far can this go. Interesting combinations can be made from allowing such things as a composite Home World (like the classic Mining Colony/Penal Colony or even a Death World/Penitent for zealots that elect to live under terrible conditions as a test of faith) or a multifaceted Commanding Officer (Fixed/Phlegmatic for the quiet but determined type or Bilious/Choleric for a total monster). Likewise, hybrid unit types such as Guerrilla Regiment/Rough Riders or Grenadiers/Mechanised Infantry or Artillery/Seige Infantry.

How would the balance go if these options were allowed so long as the Regiment's points still balance out?

Are you talking about purchasing both home worlds at character creation or actually creating a hybrid between the two? same with Officers.

As pointed out in Regiment Creation, increasing the points used to purchase regiment options should reflect veteran and specialized regiments. I think that the main way to balance this out is that these types of regiments often fight superior enemies or given high-risk missions that would mean certain death for more inexperienced units.

I have two suggestions for bending the rules on regiment creation. First, for combining home-world or regiment types, I would follow a path of synthesis, combining elements from the two (or more) options being combined. Take, for exampe, a regiment drawn from a Frontier Mining World.

• Characterisitcs: +3 to two of the following - Agility, BS, Perception, or Toughness
• Skills: Awareness, Linguistics (Low Gothic), Navigation (Surface), Tech-Use, Survival
• Life on the Verge and Independent Operation (From Frontier World)
• Acclimated to Darkness, Tunnel Rat, Unaccustomed to Light (From Mining World)
• Wounds: +1

I just picked a couple options from both, expanded the starting characteristic's options, and combined some of the skills. Now, what would this option cost I have no idea. Probably in the range of 4 or 5 points. I would follow the same idea in combining regiment types. For all other regiment options, I would simply allocate more points in purchasing additional dotrines, and would obviously allow multiple commanding officer doctrines to be selected. I would say that any regiments using expanded rules like this should see their starting regiment creation points increased to the range of 15 to 17.

The one thing in regiment creation I will stick with, and I think others should as well, is one regimental drawback. I have seen several custom regiments that have several drawbacks, which are used only to stack up additional equipment or to create special snowflake Gaunt's Ghost replica units. This bothers me on both a fluff level and on a balance level, especially if the drawbacks are not rigorously enforced by the GM.

That said, these are just a few random thoughts I've put together. If someone has some better ideas, let's hear 'em.

Magpie Stoner said:

Hybrids, such as a Commanding Officer that is both Fixed and Plegmatic for a 2-point selection or Home World that is both a Mining Colony and a Penal Colony for a 6-point selection.

I'm currently more comfortable with hybrid COs as those don't seem as potentially unbalanced as hybrid HWs or Regiment Types.

I think that's fairly decent, all I would argue is if buying two homeworlds for their book cost that you only select the highest of the two starting wounds not stacking if you went death/agri-world or something.

Magpie Stoner said:

Hygric said:

Someone has to harvest the poisons later refined for the use of the Officio Assassinorum.