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Special Rules Special rules are rules that don't come up very often, or rules that only apply to certain armies or situations. Special rules are unusual and different, and they lend that difference to they games they are used in, sometimes giving those games a different flavor than others. There are special rules in the main Warhammer 40k rulebook. These are rules like Preliminary Bombardment, Sustained Assault, Sentries and Random Game Length, among others. There are special rules in each codex (And They Shall Know No Fear, Counter Assault, Furious Charge, Stubborn, Fast and Deadly, We'll Be Back, etc.) There are also special rules for individual characters (Regenerates, May reroll dice for first turn, and so on.) Special rules are used to give someone or something in the game an advantage or disadvantage in certain situations and to represent unusual traits or powers. As such, they add some flavor to games they are used in and make those games different from other games. Many players feel that they need to use special rules to liven up the game or make their army more interesting. When they don't have enough special rules, they start to make up their own. Anyone can make up rules for 40k. It is, after all, a game you usually play with your friends, so if you can talk them into allowing your rules, you can use them. Sometimes these home grown rules are used to represent situations that aren't covered in the main 40k rulebook, other times they are used to represent a particular take on something. I'm not big on special rules, since they tend to complicate the game, for reasons I'll detail later. One of my friends, however, is putting together some rules for a new unit he is creating. They are an elite, fast strike unit for his Black Templars. They will be using Space Marine Jetbikes. (Do you remember way back when Space Marines had jetbikes? Me neither, but they did in the original version of 40k, Rogue Trader, so there are actually some models out there.) Going with the medieval knight/crusader theme of the Black Templars, they will be armed with Lances and Shields. I had a look at the rules for them the other day, and the rules don't seem overbalanced and the points seem about right, so I told him I'd be fine with him trying them out. The key with home grown rules is trying to find that combination of balance and points cost, while still staying with the style of your army. If you use the special rules to give your army access to something it doesn't normally get to use, it'll look like you are trying too hard to justify something. Most home grown rules that I've seen give their armies incredible advantages for very little cost, or for disadvantages that aren't actually disadvantages (either because the disadvantage won't come up frequently, or isn't a big penalty, or can be designed out of the army list.) Balance is something that is very hard to achieve. There are an amazing number of choices for different armies in 40k. There are also countless situations for them to be in. This combination gives 40k a good replay value, since each game offers a different set of circumstances. On the other hand, that high number of permutations means that it can be difficult to determine the effect of a special rule on all situations. In turn, this means that special rules can be more of an advantage in some situations than others, and that might not have been taken into account when they were created...which leads me to my next subject, rules interaction... When rules collide. Sometimes two special rules will come up to affect the same situation. As an example, a Fearless unit is hit by a weapon that forces the opponent to automatically fall back. It can be difficult to determine which rule takes precedence, or how they should work. Sometimes rules will not directly conflict, but the way they are supposed to work out goes against any logic. For example, the A Word In Your Ear rule for the Callidus Assassin allows the player to change the deployment of one opposing unit. The Tyranids with Wings rules states that tyranid models with wings suffer a wound with no save allowed, if they enter difficult terrain. Plain and simple, then the Assassin suggests that the unit of 32 Gargyoles go hide in that forest, killing them all instantly. Obviously this was not something that the designers thought about ahead of time (seriously, just try to tell me they planned it that way!) Personally, I think that GW should make a chart of all the special rules, whether it's for specific scenarios, different armies, classes of vehicle or individual models, and cross reference them by the phase they effect (Deployment, Movement, Shooting, Assault, etc.) That way, they can find odd interactions in the current rules and either re-word the rules so they will work properly, or issue clarifications. In addition, whenever they make a new rule, they can reference it with existing rules to make sure it doesn't cause any problems. Home grown rules have this problem as well, but it is multiplied by the fact that the people designing the rules are not professional game designers and probably don't have listings of all the special rules. All this isn't to stop you from writing up special rules, just remember that they do have an impact on the game and they will need to be balanced if you want to have a standard game. (Sometimes it can be fun to be fighting an unbalanced game, giving the feeling of striving against overwhelming odds, but I have to be in the right mood to enjoy that, personally.) If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know |