Introduction
A mod with changes to most upgraded units, such as purchasing more abilites, minor boosts to chaos (often to secondary weapons, but defense, speed and morale upgrades occur as well) and sometimes redesigns with other abilites. It also includes changes from V1.0 (and later) to some unupgraded units.
The documentation is a little lengthy, so I've done some restructuring. The mod files are attached to this post, the list of mod changes comes after and supporting information, like how costs are estimated, comes last.
One of the mods priorities is to have units that are useful in both equal point pvp matches and unequal point matches vs the AI. A significant priority is also to evaluate the costs of units as accurately priced units are amazing, whereas overpriced units may not get picked and underpriced units aren't fun to be against.
There's also a bit of covering gaps in cost ranges, scaling some units up or down as necessary, as it's neat to have many ways to mix and match units with the points you have.
The mod includes bug fixes to abilities that increase base weapon damage, as they kept increasing the damage far beyond what was intended. Da Best Ammo also didn't apply it's damage increase.
Reasoning for V1 changes is not included here, but can be found in this post: viewtopic.php?t=118733
Here are some examples of units in the mod:
The Upgraded Dreadnought (560 points) – with Master Crafted Weapons, Wolf Tooth Neclace and Extra Armor, almost every part of it's combat performance is enhanced, expanding on it's versatile nature. It's also neat that 560 points covers an unused position in costs.
The Upgraded Battle Wagon (400 points) – on top of it's speed, I've added Grot Rigger and Supa-Rangefinda. This usually allows it to stay in the fight for a while and Supa-Rangefinda allows it to threaten a wide area. This gives you a base of operations, kind of like a small Gorgonaut.
The Upgraded LemanRuss Executioner (520 points) – I've added the Compressor ability, which greatly enhances it's main weapon, and manually reduced the range by 2 (as the ability normally should). It has an extremely mean gun, but it's range of 5 balances it out a bit, since it has to get within melee range of the big units, to fire on them.
The Upgraded Lord of Skulls (950 points) – scaled down to 950 points, it sits well between the 1200 point Lord of Skulls and the 800 point soulgrinder. It's hit points have been scaled accordingly and it's gattling gun has been slightly reduced, offering a more affordable way to get a good ranged attack for chaos. It contrasts well to the 800 point soulgrinder as it hits harder, but it's also slower and has a less forgiving minimum range.
Installation
The mods files are structured according to the folders they need to be in, so you just need to find your game folder, copy the folders over and let them overwrite the existing files there.
Example of what the game folders path could look like:
"g:\Games\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Warhammer 40000 Sanctus Reach\"
It's a good idea to make a backup of the original files, if you need to be able to quickly switch back to an unmodded game. For Steam users, validating the integrity of the game files is also a way to revert the game to normal.
It works for online multiplayer, as long as both players are using the mod (though if one uses optional files and the other does not, you will get an error message each turn - the files used must be the same for both).
The mod is compatible with game version 1.5.1.
Attached Files Unit Tweaks Mod V2.0 - Tweaks for upgraded units.zip
Contains the mods essential files
Unit Tweaks Mod V2.0 - Optional files.zip
Contains Skirmish.bsf and ArmyList.txt
Skirmish.bsf changes skirmish defaults to:
Mission Type: Attrition
Force Size: Very Small
Player Army List: Sandbox
Enemy Army List. Upgraded Units
It saves some clicks for making skirmish scenarios for me, though others might like it as well.
ArmyList.txt disables the LordOfSkulls for Chaos' Upgraded Units army list, so that you have the option to fight the upgraded units, without a LordOfSkulls. The AI always has a super heavy against Sandbox, but chaos doesn't have a 600-700 point super heavy, like other factions. The upgraded Soulgrinders are more similar to those, but you can only really try it, if the LordOfSkulls is disabled. Then you can select Upgraded Units to exclude the LordOfSkulls, Limited Upgraded Units to include it and players can take it in Sandbox as before.
Unit Tweaks Mod V2.0 - List of mod changes.zip
A more concise list of the mods changes, without reasoning.
List of Mod Changes
The format for the describing the changes is as follows:
Unit Name (as it is in squads.csv), followed by it's total point cost Abilities: names of purchased abilities and an estimate for how much they cost Stat Name (as it is in squads.csv), change (new value - old value), old value, new value Reasoning: description of changes, cost estimations and overall thoughts
Space Marines Elite_Landraider (900 points)
Abilities: Hellfire Ammo (0), Extra Armor (100)
HitPoints -100 500 400
Reasoning: Adding Hellfire Ammo by reducing hp solves 2 problems: it's already well matched in damage to it's cost, so the tempo loss of 100 points is actually noticeable in smaller matches. The other problem is that it just becomes too tough, 90 side armor with this kind of mobility seems very hard to destroy.
A 100 point reduction in health makes it more fair to the other factions and until it gets all the way to near death or dies, you may very well have seen some benefit from Hellfire Ammo. It's versatile in that you can get close and do serius damage to Nob sluggas with it's bolters, allowing you to use your full movement sometimes, where you otherwise would have stayed outside the lascannons minimum range. The bolters are also used for reaction fire, so it's meaner there as well.
The combined durability from armor and hp remains sturdy and a fair bit more than the unupgraded version still. And then when you go back to the unupgraded, you can think ”at least it has +100 hp”, making it seem better somehow as a random bonus.
Elite_VenDreadnought (600 points)
Abilities: Void Shield (100), Inferno Ammo (50)
Reasoning: As a ”small knight”, I think he should both have good melee and ranged attacks, just like they have. At this cost, surely the imperium could spare the man some ”half decent ammo” as he no doubt muttered in there.
It's a mean bolter and the ability is meanly priced at 50.
Void shield estimates to 450 * (1 + 0.25) = 562. Rounding 112 down to 100 from there should then be covered by not adding defense vs melee.
So as far as I can see with estimates and testing, he is accurately priced as is, even with the addition of a mean bolter, and compared to a ”700 point knight minus a 100 flamer squad”, it seems about right for the cost.
Elite_Dreadnought (560 points)
Abilities: Master Crafted Weapons (80), Wolf Tooth Neclace (20), Extra Armor (60)
FSCost -40 600 560
Cost -40 600 560
Reasoning: Improving almost every aspect of the dreadnought makes for a unit that's noticably different and also very fun to try. Though the main gun is not much better up close, the predictability with terrain destruction and effectiveness at range is great.
Defense is greatly improved, as is melee and the flamer is fairly good now, so the versatility is amazing I think.
The grenade it had before was indeed the meanest stun grenade, but I have concerns about fighting players with this. I imagine you would be kited, that is the enemy keeps distance and concentrates fire on the dreadnought. In equal 1500 point matches, it seems like a deciding factor is whether the grenade lands effectively or whether the enemy manages to destroy the dreadnought. Rather than have the game be about killing the dreadnought and having to chase things down in it, I think a dreadnought that's tough and has 3 different improved weapons is more fun for both sides. 560 points also covers a neat gap in cost ranges.
Extra armor estimates to 400 * (1 + 0.15) = 460, so a 60 point increase.
Wolf Tooth Neclace seems about a 20 points standard ability – it's pretty good when you need it, but you often prefer not to go in melee, so it's limited in when and where it applies. Though it's nice to block melee attacks more often for sure and it's mean against individuals in melee.
I'm not sure how to estimate the value of Master Crafted Weapons (I first assumed 100 points), so I've mainly determined the total cost of 560 through testing, estimated the cost of the other abilities and set it to cost the remaining 80 points.
Overall, if you compare it to a 600 point Gorgonaut it seems about right that it sits 40 points below, as they both present varied attack options, they can both threaten each other and the dreadnoughts melee stats are actually similar to the Gorgonauts, minus the area damage and armor reduction.
It's not a Gorgonaut, but it's not that far from it either, though 580 would seem too close. So 560 should be about right and it tests well there.
Elite_Whirlwind (550 points)
Abilities: M40 Targeting System (50)
FSCost -50 600 550
Cost -50 600 550
Description: In medium and large maps, 14 range is the longest there normally is I think. Longfang Lascannons have 12 range and that is already excellent, so 14 range with indirect targeting is not really in need of a range boost at those sizes.
50 points seem more accurate than 100, in medium to large maps. You'd be hard pressed to make use of the range in a medium map, though it should be possible in large maps, but mainly if you specifically try to make it happen I think.
I hope it's fair to see the 10% accuracy increase every 3 rounds as a standard 40 point mean ability and the occasional range increase as a minor 10 point add on (it can be nice to have, but also has many situations where it doesn't matter).
Elite_PredatorAuto (540 points)
Abilities: Kraken Penetrator Ammo (140)
FSCost -10 550 540
Cost -10 550 540
1ST_TileDamage 5 30 35
1ST_WeaponPower[0] 5 95 100
Reasoning: It's a well made unit and could kind of carry it's original cost, but it does also have some problems, mainly against the AI – it consistently gets good hits vs armor, even from the front, but it struggles to handle swarms of cheap units and the AI always has lots.
At 530 points, it seemed reasonable to me against the AI's pressure, but a little mean when the AI used it against me. So I've set it at 540 points which seems a nice balance between what it can do in equal player matches and vs AI.
Players should find it a bit mean to be against, but also around a 140 point Wolfguard Hero sized risk to take. It has no defensive upgrades and may still die instantly, if mean cavalry manages to catch it and it's often not unreasonable to wear down with sustained fire.
The gun seems slightly restrictive for it's cost, though nearly good enough. At 5 higher power, it seems well adjusted to the AI and it's just a small step up in average damage.
I didn't give it's bolters the increase to base damage the unupgraded version had, as that got out of hand already in the first match I tried it.
So there are some inconsistencies between this and the unupgraded, but it's saved by Kraken Ammo, since you already expect it to behave differently from the original and rely on learning it's effectiveness by just using it.
Elite_Wolfguard_Hammer (500 points)
Abilities: Combat Teleporter (130), Camo Cloaks (30)
Reasoning: I can see how it works well at turning a big unit, so it's back faces the rest of your army, while also being able to do some damage even.
Still, I'm reluctant to take this without a bit of investment insurance with Camo Cloaks, as you can end up having paid a steep price for little gain, if a knight sized thermal cannon has a shot at them as well as high powered individual attacks and such.
Elite_Landspeeder (420 points)
Abilities: Hellfire Ammo (50), Extra Armor (45), Afterburner (25)
FSCost 80 340 420
Cost 80 340 420
Reasoning: I'm not convinced on only getting the Afterburner, preferring an overall upgrade of the unit. I tried it at 410 points, where it seemed very efficient, but too efficient against chaos.
At 420 points, I do start to notice the risk - it's very capapable offensively, and decent defensively, but still vulnerable to anti armor. The AI as Chaos struggles a bit with it, but it may be reasonable enough at 420, as you lack a little pressure elsewhere then and the AI can exploit that with it's overwhelming army points.
Chaos players should hopefully find that the ranged upgrades to chaos gives some tools to deal with this thing, modded Pink Horrors are substantially upgraded relative to unmodded ones and better Soulgrinder guns plus an affordable LordOfSkulls should give you some options.
The upgraded Herald of Tzeentch might also present a problem for it, but I don't have a clear picture of exactly how the dynamic is between them for players. I do know that this thing threatens the Herald up close, as it is able to take it out in 2 actions without needing much luck. The modded Herald has gotten a lot stronger though, so it's certainly much more of a threat, than it was.
Elite_Wolfguard_Bolter (390 Points)
Abilities: Camo Cloaks (20), Hellfire Ammo (50)
FSCost -110 500 390
Cost -110 500 390
Reasoning: While it was extremely good at killing low armor squads before, one thing I like about bolter terminators is their general effectiveness and Metal Storm Frag Ammo made them rather specialized – the loss of 10 points to armor piercing is pretty significant against individual targets.
Although it's less effective against standard squads now, it's still very good there while also being better against the tougher stuff, preserving their general effectiveness.
I've taken hellfire at 50 which seems to work well for other units that got it.
Camo Cloaks estimates to 320 * (1 + 0.1) = 352. It should get a discount for not protecting against melee, though a discount of 12 may seem a little high. From the perspective of other 400 point units, they do have a weakness to powerful area attacks that units at 400 points tend not to have, so from that perspective, it seems right that they sit a step below them at 390 points.
Elite_Wolfguard_Flamer (370 points)
Abilities: Wolf Tooth Neclace (30), Geneseed Mutation (40), Wolf Amulet (40)
FSCost -30 400 370
Cost -30 400 370
Reasoning: In campaigns, it's fun to get Geneseed Mutation on terminators, as their toughness ensures it'll get used and I kind of needed a sturdy unit to pair with predator tanks, which is why it turned out like it did. Sturdiness and independence from a healer is also something they can greatly make use of, so it's pretty fun like this.
I've also generally liked getting Wolf Tooth Neclace on the flamers in campaigns, as it's helpful in many ways. Theres only 3 of them, but now you only need 2 to crush most tiles, so you're less penalized if one dies. If even a single one survives, it can sometimes heal itself back to relevance.
Wolf Amulet estimates to 260 * (1 + 0.15) = 299, which I've rounded up to a 40 point increase, since they're often able to make full use of it.
Through testing with Thunderwolves, I've narrowed Geneseed Mutation down to a standard 40 point mean ability, which I think works for the terminators as well.
Wolf Tooth Neclace is above good, but not necessarily mean, so 30 seems about right.
Overall, the unit tests well at 370 - against it I can tell that it tends to be a little hard to kill, but I find it reasonable for the cost and it's very suited to fight the overwhelming hordes the AI comes with.
Elite_Longfang_Bolter (330 points)
Abilities: Hellfire Ammo (50)
FSCost -50 380 330
Cost -50 380 330
Reasoning: From the 280 points the modded unupgraded one now costs, an increase of 50 points seem to be where this ability is at, which also seems to hold true on most other units I give it.
Compared to 320 point bolter terminators, I can see this as a step above them – they do hit harder so as long as they don't die, you definetely have an advantage in higher firepower. Though I certainly don't mind going down to 320 point bolter terminators either, as they're much better protected and gives you 10 points on top. Not to mention terminator melee.
Testing also gives me the impression that their risk vs reward sits about right at 330 points.
Elite_Swiftclaws (320 points)
Abilities: Choke Grenade (160)
HitPoints 10 120 130
Reasoning: No changes aside from the same hp increase I gave the unupgraded one.
I tried to argue that perhaps it could get a 10 point discount for not getting defensive upgrades, but after getting my soulgrinder stunned by them, I no longer minded the cost.
It's also good to preserve at least 1 managable stun unit, when many of the other grenade upgrades got swapped for general combat performance.
Elite_Longfang_Missile (300 points)
Abilities: Adamantine Mantles (20)
FSCost -20 320 300
Cost -20 320 300
Reasoning: Adamantine Mantles estimates to 280 * (1 + 0.1) = 308. Rounding up to 30 isn't unreasonable, since you could argue the 2 points pays for the 10 ballistic protection above 100 (though this only matters against abilities that reduce ballistic protection, so it's kind of rare and a rather small advantage anyway).
However, with time I find that I'm just not very excited about it at 30 points. It's good, but certainly not mean and without weapon upgrades, just 20 point good seems the most accurate to me.
Elite_Longfang_Lascannon (290 points)
Abilities: Camo Cloaks (10)
FSCost -30 320 290
Cost -30 320 290
Reasoning: This is much less effective than 40 points. I count it as a minor ability, since they're already good at staying out of range with their 12 range lascannons, so it's not uncommon that they are enough out of harms way, that you didn't really need additional protection.
It also does nothing against melee, so it's certainly less useful than Adamantine Mantle is for Longfang Missile squads, so 10 points seems more accurate to me - partly because it doesn't protect against melee and partly because of how it is played, which tends to have it stay in safer positions than missile squads can.
Elite_Thunderwolf (290 points)
Abilities: Geneseed Mutation (40)
FSCost -70 360 290
Cost -70 360 290
BallisticProtection 7 78 85
(and +5 weapon power over the unupgraded one)
Reasoning: I've narrowed it down to a 40 point mean ability since I'm willing to take it at around 280 points. Though without defensive upgrades, the risk of losing it before it heals any significant amount is pretty high.
I didn't want to up the cost too much, so I've purchased 7 ballistic protection at 10 points, estimating it like so: 290/280 = 1.036, and each cost percentage point buys 2 Ballistic Protection, so 3.6 * 2 = 7.2, rounded down to +7 Ballistic Protection. 85 also looks nice in game and although the change is not as visible as using an ability, I think this is the best compromise.
A small bit of investment protection goes a long way to save the design, as it otherwise suffers a bit from not having enough durability to ensure the regeneration matters. I've also returned it to standard 90 weapon power, which seems about right in this price range.
Elite_Grey_Hunter_Meltagun2 (280 points)
Abilities: Stalker Sights (60), Adamantine Mantles (20)
FSCost 40 240 280
Cost 40 240 280
1ST_WeaponAccuracy[0] -20 100 80
1ST_ReactionRange 1 3 4
Reasoning: A custom design, serving as an alternate heavy weapons team with the best damage and durability, but also the shortest range (compared to longfang lascannons, missiles and heavy bolters).
This is more fun than the melta bomb I think, as getting stalker sight on these in campaigns was pretty fun, whereas the melta bomb is cumbersome to use - either it's not a vehicle or the thing has melee or you don't have enough movement to both use it and fire your meltas.
I did have to reduce the accuracy a bit as perfect 100% aim got kind of odd. Instead of the unupgradeds 80% chance to hit, they have 90% chance to hit at most ranges, which keeps them fair. So it doesn't do exactly what it says on the ability, but your expectation of greater accuracy and range holds true.
I also added 1 reaction range, further expanding on the enhanced range and appropriate for the high 80 point cost I think.
Elite_Rhino (260 points)
Abilities: Enhanced Chassis (10), Extra Armor (40), Hellfire Ammo (10)
FSCost 10 250 260
Cost 10 250 260
Reasoning: Extra Armor estimates to 200 * (1 + 0.15) = 230, but I've upped it to 40, as it 's durability seems a bit mean at times. I've purchased Hellfire Ammo as a minor ability, since it's applied to a rather modest gun. It's mean against vulnerable individual units, but remains wholly insufficient agianst things like Nob Sluggas and modest against most units.
Against chaos, I've sometimes gotten the impression that it performs more like a 270 point unit, since Hellfire Ammo helps threaten bloodletters and such, but 260 should still most accurately reflect it's average performance I think.
As you can see, I've heavily discounted Enhanced Chassis down to a minor ability, but that's also kind of what it is for me. A large portion of a Rhino's value lies in carrying terminators around and the unupgraded one already does that. Being able to transport more is neat, but not nearly as important.
I've also tested it with Camo Cloak instead, since it allows it to cost 240 points, but I came to miss the durability that Extra Armor gives, it's fun to have a troop transport thats also kind of a light tank.
Elite_Wolf_Priest (250 points)
Abilities: Healing Balm (25), Adamantine Mantles (20), Hellfire Ammo (5)
Reasoning: Mainly I'd like to have a sturdier priest and it doesn't seem to become unreasonable, even though the cost is the same.
Hellfire Ammo is nearly free, as it's applied to the smallest gun possible (probably), yet still neat to see him get occasional mean shots.
Adamantine Mantles estimates to 200 * (1 + 0.1) = 220, which leaves 25 points for the bonus Healing Balm. I could see the extra Healing Balm being somewhere between 20 point good and 40 point mean, so 25 points may just be accurate or at least pretty close.
Elite_Skyclaw (150 points)
Abilities: Camo Cloaks (10), Metal Storm Frag Ammo (20)
FSCost -210 360 150
Cost -210 360 150
Reasoning: I think it's more interesting to have this at 150 points with general combat upgrades – then you have the same dynamic of chosing either an upgraded bolter squad vs these at 150 points, like you can with the unupgraded at 120 points.
It similarly preserves the 40 point distance to upgraded blood claws, so the way that you can swap between bloodclaws and bolters/skyclaws to pay for stuff or make use of extra points now happens for the upgraded ones as well, which just seems to ”lock into place” in terms of making various cost combinations fit.
This also allowed a way to make use of the Metal Storm Frag Ammo the terminator bolters lost, only at a reasonable price due to the modest guns involved. Combined with Camo Cloaks, it tests well at 150 points and it's fun that the ranged attack can now effectively handle light squads.
Elite_Blood_Claws (110 points)
Abilities: Blood Rage (20), Adamantine Mantles (10)
FSCost 10 100 110
Cost 10 100 110
Reasoning: I needed a cheaper way to combine with other uneven costs than a 150 point bolter squad, but interestingly, since they have the same 40 point distance to upgraded bolters that 80 point bloodclaws have to 120 point bolters, they just seem to ”lock into place” cost wise, allowing cost switches up and down for upgraded units in a way that was just missing before.
A little higher durability also goes a long way to justify getting blood rage on it.
Orks Elite_BattleWagonKannon (530 points)
Abilities: Green Tide (10), Grot Rigger (10), Fuel Injecta (10), Da Best Ammo (20)
FSCost 30 500 530
Cost 30 500 530
1ST_TileDamage 15 100 115
Reasoning: I'd like more Gorgonaut alternatives, which requires a bit of survivability, so I added a few more abilities. Though it had to be cheap, as even a standard Kannon is a bit restricted by it's high cost.
Fuel Injecta is pretty helpful on a slow Kannon and also helps it serve the role of a troop transport and Da Best Ammo makes it better, while keeping it's design largely the same – it's a very big gun, so the extra damage sometimes goes to waste, but it does help against individual tough units and the added range is nice.
I also added 15 tile damage so it's a bigger gun there as well, allowing it to destroy 220 hp tiles.
Elite_MegaNobz (450 points)
Abilities: Cybork Body (50), Goo Bomb (100), Run for it! (10), Da Best Ammo (30)
Reasoning: I wanted to try cybork body on these, I've aimed for being about as mean as a venerable dreadnought which costs the same, though it's a very different unit of course.
At this cost, I thought it should have Run for it!, to mitigate one of it's shortcomings, as you kind of need it in the fight at this cost. Goo bomb is also more fun when you both have a means to get there and the toughness to survive the round.
Of damage abilities, Da Best Ammo seemed most right to me – since it's mainly just base damage, it's struggling a bit against armor like it's 260 point unupgraded version, while hitting much harder against the units it normally threatens.
It is very tough, but unlike the venerable dreadnought, it is vulnerable to knight-sized thermal cannons, executioner tanks and the like.
Elite_BattleWagon (400 points)
Abilities: Go Fasta Red (70), Grot Rigger (10), Supa-Rangefinda (20)
FSCost 20 380 400
Cost 20 380 400
Reasoning: This is meant to be a Gorgonaut alternative, as I find ork matches a little harder than others against AI, when you don't take the Gorgonaut or a similar big unit (they're a little based around often losing something, but withstanding it by having more units on the field, but this dynamic is less useful against overwhelming points, while working fine in equal point matches).
It can kind of lift 410 points, but since it's something I think the orks need, I'm allowing it at 400 points – kind of how the killa kan boss gives a ranged boost the orks need, but punches a bit above it's 240 point cost. With Supa-Rangefinda and it's speed, it can harass or threaten a wide area, slightly like the Gorgonaut, while still being limited in how hard it can hit and Grot Rigger often allows it to remain active for a good while, giving you a base of operations.
Elite_Deffdred (400 points)
Abilities: ”Chaos Scaled” (100)
FSCost -20 420 400
Cost -20 420 400
HitPoints 300 450 750
1ST_Damage 10 20 30
1ST_Shock 5 25 30
1ST_APEffective[0] 5 15 20
1ST_WeaponPower[0] 20 60 80
Reasoning: While I liked it as a tough nut, I didn't like that it could ignore things that even a knight could not - things get a little odd when even the side armor reaches 95. Instead of having most units be useless against it, this is actually very suited to ”chaos scaling”, that is to say it's hp is scaled to 750 like so: 750 = 450 * (((400/300 – 1) * 2) + 1). This also allows to sit at 400 points, which mitigates that it's melee attack still punches as a 300 point unit (but a mean 300 points).
Like this, I like that it reacts normally to attacks (that is to say it seems like stuff happens, not just ignoring all kinds of things), while still being extremely tough and not out of place fighting things like knights even.
Like chaos scaled units, I also included upgrades to secondary systems, so it also gets something besides hp - the flamethrower is noticeably meaner, without being nuts.
Elite_Flash_Gitz (370 points)
Abilities: Snazzy Ammo (10), Ammo Runt (20), Sneaky Gitz (15), Flashy Bomb (5)
FSCost -10 380 370
Cost -10 380 370
Reasoning: As you can see, some abilites are heavily discounted. Snazzy Ammo helps against terminators, but besides that, it's often irrelevant against standard squads, since Flash Gitz have the firepower to simply kill them (whereas horror squads do less damage, so wearing morale down becomes more significant). So, a minor ability that helps here and there, but also often goes to waste.
Flashy bomb has a similar problem: unlike flamers, you often don't want to get close and many of the mean things are vehicles. So IF you catch a terminator squad with this, it can be significant, but often it just doesn't matter that much as there are too many ways for it to become irrelevant (can't be used due to restrictions, range or it turns out you were able to kill the unit anyway, didn't have a melee unit nearby to use the combat skill reduction etc.). Anyway, I kept it for flavour, but I'm counting it as a very minor ability.
Ammo runt helps keep it cost effective and it synergizes with Snazzy Ammo. I toyed with adding hp, but it's prohibitively expensive at the standard cost, so I gave it Sneaky Gitz without hp. They probably can't stand up to upgraded bolter terminators in a fair fight, but they're cheaper and ammo runt with snazzy ammo might just wear them down enough, that other units can do the rest.
Elite_Warbiker (360 points)
Abilities: Supa-Rangefinda (20), Sneaky Gitz (20), Eavy Armor (60), Weird Ammo (20)
FSCost 60 300 360
Cost 60 300 360
Reasoning: This seems like a good opportunity to use the Eavy Armor ability, without things getting out of hand. It becomes a bit of a menace agains things like land speeders, valkyries and other units that rely on their speed to survive, while still being pretty weak against anti armor units.
Eavy Armor is taken at the estimated cost of 240 * (1 + 0.25) = 300. It helps it survive against standard squads like space marine bolters, so it has a chance to make it until it finds a shielded unit.
Sneaky Gitz estimates to 240 * (1 + 0.075) = 258, which I've rounded up to 20 (though it doesn't help vs melee, it is very able to make full use of it and the synergy with Eavy Armor also pushes the value up a bit, making it more appropriate to round up). Cover also helps it survive against knights, where it's weird ammo comes into play, as knights hit so hard that you would rather try to not get hit, than reduce the damage.
Elite_Killa_Kan_Rocket (350 points)
Abilities: Skorcha Rokkits (40), More Killier! (10), Armor Plating (30), Fuel Injecta (10)
FSCost 30 320 350
Cost 30 320 350
Reasoning: Similarly to how I'm reluctant to take the unupgraded at 280 points (and reduced it to 260), I don't want to put 320 points into a chassis with 200 point durability and see it insta gibbed by a dreadnought or something (though it requires some luck through the front, but if it lives, it was probably not going to live long after). Instead I've chosen an overall upgrade at a higher cost, but with high likeliness, that you will see a benefit from the added cost.
It becomes a bit like the orks version of an upgraded dreadnought, with all around upgrades – cheaper and smaller, but also less limited by speed. I originally set it at 340 points, letting it purchase Armor Plating at 20 points like the killa kan boss seems to do, but the AI demonstrated that it can be oppressive at this durability, so I let it pay the estimated 30 points instead.
Elite_MekGun (320 points)
Abilities: Ammo Runt (40), Fuel Injecta (5)
HitPoints 50 200 250
I haven't tested this much, but it seems like Fuel Injecta can be a neat addition without costing much, since it it may not be able to attack if it uses it.
Then for the remaining 15 points, I've purchased 50 hp at half the normal cost – my argument is that it is so weak, that adding hp doesn't have the standard value - adding 50 hp will mainly matter against light fire, anything hard hitting will probably kill it in the same number of actions.
I did have to reevaluate Ammo Runt as a ”standard 40 point mean ability” to pay for the rest, though I don't know the exact cost of this ability. It is mean on a unit with a single attack, so no doubt it is no less than 40. Perhaps you could see it as 50 for Ammo Runt and both Fuel Injecta and +50 hp as very minor 5 point additions. In any case, I think the additions make it distinct, but not unreasonable, so it should be fine.
Elite_Deffkopter_Rokkit (300 points)
Abilities: Go Fasta Red (70), Krak Stikkbomb (10), Armor Plating (20)
FSCost 80 220 300
Cost 80 220 300
Reasoning: Big bomb was pretty fun on this (which I moved from the Mega-Blasta), as it normally doesn't threaten armored targets much, but I eventually preferred the general purpose Krak grenade, so the risk of it going to waste is low. It's also just great to have grenades on these with the animation they have for it.
It's a neat medium bomber with good movement, which is very noticable on a unit that doesn't lose movement when it fires. Fuel Injecta shares cooldown with Krak bombs, so it had to be Go Fasta Red at a steep cost, but thankfully it is a unit that reacts well to a permanent movement boost.
Though it is fast and more durable, the heavy armor is not that much better, so anti armor units may still be able to just take it out without needing assistance. So as far as I know, the cost is accurate enough, you risk 100 points and it gets way better at reaching a good spot to fire and you have some investment insurance against light attacks, but you may still just loose it and have the points go to waste. A good balance of risk vs reward I think.
Elite_Nobz_Skorcha (280 points)
Abilities: Cybork Body (40), Target Practice (10), Da Best Ammo (20), Tasty Squig (10)
FSCost 30 250 280
Cost 30 250 280
Reasoning: It was well made and didn't necessarily need changes, but to avoid things like loss of tempo and expand on the upgraded nobz ability to function without a healer, I added some offense and Tasty Squig. The shooter is decent, if often a little ineffective for a 280 point unit, so the flamer still tends to be best. As a jack of all trades with great durability, it carries it's cost well I think.
Elite_Weird_Boy (250 points)
Abilities: no additional changes
HitPoints 120 240 360
2ND_APEffective[0] 5 5 10
Reasoning: I thought some investment protection should be included as the 160 point version isn't so hard to shoot down, but accurate for the cost and capability. It was too easy to kill for a 250 point unit however (and maybe he got a little better at using his stick).
Elite_Killa_Kan_Shooter (220 points)
Abilities: Smasha Ammo (20)
FSCost -20 240 220
Cost -20 240 220
Reasoning: Though it hits a little hard for a 220 point unit, it's low durability leads me to think it's more accurate, that the ability lifts a 20 point increase on average.
This is also my impression when I try it – it can ignore light fire from the front, but it's rarely safe from any unit, which balances out how much the damage increase really helped, versus how long it was able to apply it.
You could also say that the killa kan boss easily outranks it at 240 points, as the aura alone would compare to this upgrade (though the killa kan boss does also punch a bit above it's cost I think, by at least 5 points).
Elite_Nobz_Slugga (180 points)
Abilities: Supa-Choppa (20), Smasha Ammo (10), Tasty Squig (10)
FSCost -20 200 180
Cost -20 200 180
Reasoning: It's a great unit, though I disagree that it's a 200 point unit. It doesn't seem as important as a Shorcha Nobz stun bomb on terminators and soulgrinders. Similarly, the Painboys heal ability just seems a class above what the nobz can do. So just below them seems about right to me.
The Supa-Choppa is standard 20 point good to me, it applies often, but does at least require you to get close before it matters and when you get there it is good, but not necessarily mean.
I also thought we could purchase Smasha Ammo for cheap, as it's a great ability applied to a crappy gun. Though you do at least become a little concerned on your armored units sometimes, when they shoot now.
Tasty squiq sits well as a minor ability, since it's nice to have (and a great choice for it), but it's also the smallest heal ability with the longest cooldown, that only applies to itself. Many units also seem able to take out individual nobz, which prevents the use of tasty squig.
As I test it, it seems right at 180 points.
Elite_Deffkopter_Blasta (150 points)
Abilities: Grot Rigger (10), Sneaky Gitz (10), Frag Stikkbomb (10)
FSCost 10 140 150
Cost 10 140 150
1ST_Range 1 4 5
Reasoning: This is a neat light bomber, shooting a grenade with it's animation is the best. It's also fun to have something against masses of units, when you couldn't do much there before.
It's also fun to have more durability when they didn't have much of it, being able to withstand light fire changes how you can use it just enough.
Elite_Stormboyz (130 points)
Abilities: Supa-Rangefinda (20), Sharpshoota (10)
FSCost -30 160 130
Cost -30 160 130
Reasoning: It's damage return ability wasn't so effective against the AI, as it can withstand that kind of attrition. It works fine in equal point matches, where it seems effective against terminators, but I'd rather see something that works against the AI as well.
With Supa-Rangefinda, it's role as a spotter for others becomes greatly enhanced, letting you apply it's bonus to hit for others much easier. And it's nice that it synergizes with Sharpshoota, so you can do some decent damage, making ranged shots generally preferable to melee strikes.
It's then easier to keep alive, though without hard defense upgrades, it sometimes dies as easily as it did before. Though with upgrades that are fairly effective and easy to apply, 30 points is worth the risk.
Elite_Ork_Burna (110 points)
Abilities: Supa Stikkbomb (10), Run for it! (10), Sneaky Gitz (10)
FSCost -30 140 110
Cost -30 140 110
Reasoning: It's a great design and I like it as the orks version of a 110 point unit. I agree that Supa-stikkbomb is better than 10 points sometimes, but it's rarely more than a decent hit I'd say. Sometimes it doesn't change things that much. With it's restricted use and carried by a vulnerable unit, it's average is more like a minor abilty to me.
Without Sneaky Gitz, I found that I still would not take it at 110 points over time, so I added Sneaky Gitz from there, giving just a bit of investment insurance and then it seems fine to me.
I could see them all as minor abilites and it tests well like this.
Elite_Ork_Boy (70 points)
Abilities: More Killier (10), Blasta Ammo (15), Sneaky Gitz (5)
FSCost -10 80 70
Cost -10 80 70
Reasoning: The melee boosts brings it up to what is standard for Blood Claws, which is 80 point melee performance. Though I added Sneaky Gits, they are much less durable than bloodclaws still, so much below 80 point performance there. So although they shoot better than bloodclaws now, their even melee and much lower durability leaves them at 70 points overall I find.
Sneaky Gitz estimates to 40 * (1 + 0.75) = 43, which I've rounded up to 5, though that still seems like getting it cheap. But since the total cost of 70 tests right, it should be fine.
Elite_Warbuggy (60 points)
Abilities: Grot Rigger (10)
1ST_Damage 2 20 22
Reasoning: No changes aside from giving it the same boost as the unupgraded one, repair on this is great and more fun that I'd have thought on a light unit.
Elite_GretchinRifle (15 points)
Abilities: Loudeners (2.5)
HitPoints 20 40 60
1ST_APEffective[0] 5 5 10
Reasoning: It seems to me that scaling like chaos units is more accurate, with half of it's cost increase being the standard +25% cost for +50% hp and the remaining 25% can cover the ability (which is largely inconsequential), plus a small offensive step up (which actually stings a little more than one might think).
They're still very easy to kill, but their offense is just enough that you do want to get rid of them now, so I think they're well scaled.
Elite_Gretchin (15 points)
Abilities: Sneaky Gitz (2.5)
HitPoints 12 40 52
1ST_WeaponPower[0] 5 25 30
Reasoning: I think they're suited for chaos scaling, with 25% cost increase giving 50% increased hp, well almost. With both +50% hp and Sneaky Gitz they seemed more durable than they should be, so I changed it to a 50% combined increase in durability with Sneaky Gitz + 12 hp, which also tests right.
A boost of 5 to weapon power is probably the smallest step up they can get, but the durability they have now also accounts for most of the 5 point cost.
Last edited by BrotherNabor on Mon Mar 23, 2026 2:41 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Astra Militarum Elite_LemanRussVanquisher (580 points)
Abilities: Hull Reinforcement (100), Extensive Target Practice (20)
FSCost 40 540 580
Cost 40 540 580
Reasoning: Hull Reinforment estimates to 460 * ((415/265 – 1) / 2 + 1) = 590. So both the original and this version get's the upgrade heavily discounted. Though chaos scaling also suggests that 590 points should come with upgrades to secondary weapons, so if extensive target practice (which rarely affects the main gun) was similarly given for free, it compares a bit to how upgraded chaos units have been modded.
Extensive Target Practice is better than what chaos tends to get though, as the ability to fire 5 upgraded bolters is pretty helpful, when the main weapon has a restrictive minimum range. It doesn't seem like things get out of hand at 580 though, a ”near gorgonaut sized mess” is about what it can do.
Elite_Valkyrie (580 points)
Abilities: Reactive Armor Plates (10), Recovery Gear (20), Extended Target Practice (10)
Reasoning: Reactive armor plating is pretty good against a few rocket attacks, but the Valkyrie is threatened by almost anything that can hit it. So it's mainly a minor ability, that can be good, but also often doesn't apply.
Then I've purchased recovery gear with the 20 points extra I think the unupgraded version has and it's quite noticable against light threats, though it remains very vulnerable to getting shot down in 1 turn.
I've purchased Extensive Target Practice as a minor ability, since the missiles can only use 5 of the 15 armor piercing. +15 ap on the laser does help, but it's still less than good I think.
Overall, it's sitting a little above a landspeeder in durability, extended by recovery gear if it lives, but it struggles a bit with tempo. It's hard to win by elimination in time with this (at least unless you can get overtime), but it makes up for it by being great at winning by points.
Elite_LemanRussExecutioner (520 points)
Abilites: Relic Plating (60), Compressor (40)
FSCost 20 500 520
Cost 20 500 520
1ST_Range -2 7 5
1ST_TileDamage 5 15 20
Reasoning: Compressor made it kind of unreasonable in campaigns, since it applied all the buffs to the main weapon, without reducing the range. I've then manually reduced the range and the result is pretty neat – it can challenge most things, survive a lot and has limited 1-man-army capability, since it may be able to heavy flame it's way out of getting caught in melee.
Relic Plating estimates to 420 * (1 + 0.15) = 483, which I've rounded down to 60 points. Compressor is certainly at least mean, as many things become utterly trashed from just 1 shot, 2 hits kills any low armor squad. Thankfully, it does run into problems with big melee units since it has to get dangerously close to fire, so it's gruesome shots does have limits.
I then also increased the tile damage a bit, so it feels like a bigger gun overall. In game, each shot is doing 40 tile damage, not 20 (the unupgraded does 30).
Elite_LemanRussPunisher (500 points)
Abilities: Extra Guard Armor (60), Upgraded Optics (40)
FSCost -20 520 500
Cost -20 520 500
Reasoning: Extra Guard Armor estimates to 400 * (1 + 0.1 + 0.025) = 450, though without paying for ballistic protection above 100. So paying 60 covers that and then I've set Upgraded Optics at 40 – it is pretty mean that it becomes very predictable and consistent on top of the added damage it brings. It tests well at 500 I think and these upgrades were neat to get in campaigns.
Elite_LemanRuss (440 points)
Abilities: Camo Netting (30), Extensive Target Practice (10)
FSCost -40 480 440
Cost -40 480 440
Reasoning: Camo Netting estimates to 400 * (1 + 0.1) = 440. Then I've given it a 10 point discount, since it doesn't help in melee.
Extensive Target Practice is a minor ability, since it doesn't alter the main gun much and lascannons are entirely unaffected (they already sit at 100 armor piercing with no degradation).
Elite_Basalisk (380 points)
Abilites: Frag Ammo (20)
Reasoning: Mainly that it's already decent at staying safe, so the value of added durability usually only matters towards the end.
I'd rather have a mean bolter at an affordable price, since it allows it to threaten squads at short ranges and it's easier to apply than recovery gear tends to be. Though the main gun already attacks whole squads, being able to do 50 damage to tiles also helps here and there.
I moved recovery gear to the upgraded Valkyrie instead, where it's effects are more helpful.
Elite_Bullgryn (320 points)
Abilities: Bionic Arms (30), Bionic Eyes (10), Combat Drugs (20)
Reasoning: If I compare them to a ”terminator sized mess” their melee attack just doesn't have the armor piercing the terminators have, which limits them much against armored targets. So to ensure that you should see some benefits from the added points, I thought the grenade launchers could get some range. This was was also pretty fun on Upgraded Guardsmen Grenadiers and that it's easier to make use of both combat drugs and ranged attacks also helps.
Elite_Ogryn (300 points)
Abilities: Crack Shot (30), Bionic Legs (50)
FSCost -20 320 300
Cost -20 320 300
Reasoning: Mainly I get the impression that it performs at 300 points in testing - it is pretty good, but I'm not convinced that it's as good as terminators, even though the speed is very helpful. The terminators melee attacks are of much higher quality and their durability often makes up for their speed, while having an excellent ranged attack as well.
Elite_Sentinal (300 points)
Abilities: Refractor Field (30), Crack Shot (30)
FSCost -20 320 300
Cost -20 320 300
Reasoning: It's unupgraded version is already struggling a bit with tempo, doing less damage than usual at 240 points. Though it makes up for it by being really good at ensuring it has a shot to take.
This gets too much at higher costs though, so it had to get some damage to keep up with overwhelming ai forces. In testing it seemed at home at about 300 points, I find that it has a good risk vs reward there.
Elite_Scion_Hotshot (300 points)
Abilities: Frequency Modulator (20), Extensive Target Practice (40), Camo Gear (20)
Reasoning: I'm assuming Frequency Modulator may have been estimated as a 40 point ability, whereas I find it to be a good, but only sometimes mean ability – blind can be mean, but it's not so important on smaller units and may be irrelevant, if you're able to kill the unit. So standard 20 point good seems more accurate to me.
Extensive target practice is more consistently mean, since it's an effective upgrade to it's main weapon that's easy to apply, so that I would give 40.
Camo Gear then estimates to 220 * (1 + 0.1) = 242, which I've rounded down to 20 points, since it doesn't protect against melee.
Elite_Scion_Melta (300 points)
Abilities: Krak Grenade (20), Carapace Armor (50), The Emperor Protects (10)
FSCost 40 260 300
Cost 40 260 300
Reasoning: Its fun to try carapace armor on a different unit too and it synergizes a bit with The Emperor Protects. Since they gave it Krak Grenade, it already has something to reduce tempo loss and the squads damage at full strength is good enough, that it didn't need much more.
Carapace armor estimates to 220 * (1 + 0.1 + 0.15) = 275. Here I've rounded down to a 50 point increase, since it tests well at 300 points.
Elite_Chimera (280 points)
Abilities: Extra Guard Armor (30), Frag Ammo (10), Full Throttle (40)
Reasoning: It gains a mean bolter that's pretty effective against things like Nob Sluggas, but one you can only fire once, isn't used for reaction fire and is irrelevant vs individuals, which is why we can get it as a minor ability.
Extra Guard Armor estimates to (1 + 0.1 + 0.04) * 200 = 228, which I've rounded up to a 30 point cost (though it then barely pays for armor above 100, which protects against armor reduction). Then I've kind of let Full Throttle cost what was left, it struggled a bit at 300 points, but 280 seems fine.
Elite_Scion_Sword (280 points)
Abilities: Veterans (30), Momentum (20), Refractor Field (30)
FSCost 20 260 280
Cost 20 260 280
Reasoning: I wasn't keen on this without including ranged defense as that's a lot of what gets to them too. In testing it seemed about right, their offense is good enough to manage at higher cost.
Elite_Hellhound (240 points)
Abilities: Compressor (20), Camo Netting (10), Machine Spirit Ritual (10)
FSCost 20 220 240
Cost 20 220 240
Reasoning: It was fun to get compressor on this in campaigns and since it reduces the range, it's affordable at 20 points.
Camo Netting estimates to 200 * (1 + 0.1) = 220, though it should get a discount for not protecting against melee, which matters a bit more than usual when it also needs to get closer to fire.
I then let Machine Spirit Ritual be covered by this discount, counting both as 10 point minor abilities since both are at risk of being irellevant in melee, especially against fast melee units (and it's shorter range makes this a bit more of a problem, though it helps lower the cost).
Elite_GuardsmanPlasma (140 points)
Abilities: Medi-Pack (30), Mechanized (10)
FSCost -60 200 140
Cost -60 200 140
BallisticProtection 10 30 40
Reasoning: No changes aside from giving it the same bonuses the unupgraded version got. It's neat that it's the most affordable healer, distinct with a good ranged attack (though also the most vulnerable).
Elite_GuardsmanFlamer (120 points)
Abilities: Toxic Mix (70), Mechanized (10)
FSCost -80 200 120
Cost -80 200 120
Reasoning: The reduction to ballistic protection that toxic mix brings does help, but I don't think it's beyond 70. The biggest units are still pretty hard nuts after, at least from the front.
I also kind of regretted taking compressor for them in a campaign, as 2 range is kind of prohibitively short. I'd rather have something like Mechanized, so they can serve as a neat chimera upgrade - not as general-purpose-useful as upgraded plasmagunners, but mean when a good situation arises.
Elite_GuardsmanLasgun (100 points)
Abilities: Camo Gear (10), Bait (20), Crack Shot (10)
FSCost -20 120 100
Cost -20 120 100
Reasoning: I added a bit of damage too, so that it's more likely that you'll see a benefit from the added cost – they're still at risk of getting wiped out by most things.
Bait is good, but not necessarily mean, or at least it's against the rarer units where it matters most. So it's occasionally mean, but often just good. At 100 points, it sits well next to the plasmagunners, letting you choose between anti armor with a smoke grenade or decent lasgunners with bait.
Chaos Elite_LordOfSkulls (950 points)
FSCost -550 1500 950
Cost -550 1500 950
HitPoints -850 1500 650
1ST_APEffective[0] -5 50 45
Reasoning: At 950 points and a slightly reduced gun, it does for chaos kind of what the knight warden does for the astra militarum. It even contrasts nicely to the 800 point soulgrinder below, with this being more cumbersome, but still packing a much greater ranged punch, whereas the soulgrinder is faster and has a much more forgiving minimum range, but doesn't shoot as hard.
Like this, it fits well in 1500 point matches and the spot it occupies between 800 and 1200 points seems to be cost efficient. I think of the standard LordofSkulls as punching a bit above it's weight, perhaps in that it's more restrictive in what will work against it than most, so this likewise is probably a little more mean than 950 points typically would be. But if you do have something like a 4x lascannon Land Raider, losing a just over a 3rd of the unupgradeds hp could very well be significant.
Elite_SoulgrinderAlt (800 points)
HeavyArmour 1 80 81
Armour[0] 1 80 81
Armour[1] 2 65 67
Armour[2] 2 65 67
Armour[3] 1 55 56
1ST_APEffective[0] 5 35 40
Reasoning: It's missing 23 hp relative to standard scaling, which doesn't seem like much, but it's actually noticable. Since I don't mind modifying stats, I set it at +1 armor for front and rear, which is still slightly below standard scaled durability, but +2 side armor is slightly above standard durability, so it kind of evens out. The extra side armor also seems appropriate to fill the role of an above-knight sized beef.
The extra armor piercing to it's gun let's it keep a tempo appropriate for it's cost, gives some nice variation from hp-only scaling and makes it feel distinct from it's unupgraded version, while keeping it's excellent melee attack the same.
Elite_Soulgrinder (625 points)
1ST_APEffective[0] 5 35 40
Reasoning: Similarly to the other upgraded Soulgrinder, +5 armor piercing to it's harvestor cannon helps it keep pace with the AI and even minor ranged increases are pretty neat, on a faction where such is in short supply.
This variant may also prefer it's ranged attack over melee, if it can get a shot at the rear of a big unit, so it directly increases it's maximum effectiveness there.
Elite_HeraldOfTzeentch (500)
FSCost -25 525 500
Cost -25 525 500
AP 2 32 34
BallisticProtection 10 50 60
HeavyArmour 10 5 15
Armour[0] 10 5 15
Armour[1] 10 5 15
Armour[2] 10 5 15
Armour[3] 10 5 15
HitPoints 40 360 400
1ST_Range 2 8 10
1ST_Damage 10 50 60
1ST_TileDamage 5 5 10
1ST_Shock 3 7 10
1ST_APEffective[0] 3 87 90
1ST_ReactionRange 1 2 3
Reasoning: Instead of scaling durability like +1% cost for every 2% hp, it's armor and hp is scaled to ”enough that it will matter aganst typical foes”, like the menace of player controlled land speeders.
Like this, a full strength landspeeder strike took it down to about 25% hp (without major crits, only a few shots were above normal, so it seemed pretty standard to me). So you may survive 1 mean strike and can ignore smaller threats a bit, if you really need to.
With these changes and the reduced ability cooldowns, it was still a bit of a struggle to lift 525 points, I found it easier to judge against a ”500 point soulgrinder sized mess”. For this it needs to start doing some damage when the abilities are down, so I upgraded base damage by 10 (+20%) and armor piercing by 3.
As the only artillery-like unit, an extra 2 range and +1 reaction range helps it fill a further spot in that role. +2 movement gives extra diagonal movement (but not straight movement), which both makes it distinct and let's it be changed in many small ways, that just might matter.
Elite_Bloodcrusher (400 points)
Morale 10 150 160
HeavyArmour 3 45 48
Armour[0] 3 45 48
Armour[1] 3 45 48
Armour[2] 3 45 48
Armour[3] 3 45 48
2ND_Damage 5 70 75
2ND_TileDamage 5 30 35
Reasoning: A slight continuation of the unupgradeds +2 heavy armor to +3 tests right and a step up in damage also seems to fit, as does a bit of morale at 400 points.
It was tough, but the value of it's hp goes down a bit as it increases, perhaps because the rate at which they can replenish them remains the same. Though fixed with just 1 extra heavy armor and a slightly better attack keeps pace with it's cost.
Elite_PlagueDrone (375 points)
1ST_Range 1 4 5
1ST_TileDamage 10 5 15
1ST_APEffective[0] 10 15 25
Reasoning: It puts up a fair bit of pressure in durability, but ends up with a weak spot in terms of morale – I thought about reducing this weakness, but decided it was probably for the best that it's there.
Upgrading it's secondary attack is not enough to have you prefer it over melee, but if you have to use it, it's at least a little better. Perhaps the vileness of it's stomach acid became more potent, so that even armor would stand less in it's way.
Elite_HeraldOfKhorne (325 points)
2ND_APEffective[0] 5 90 95
Reasoning: He can kind of handle the cost as is, but I thought it should continue further along the lines of ”few, but mean attacks”. Having to worry less about failing the armor piercing roll should be enough to keep pace with it's cost.
Elite_FiendOfSlannesh (235 points)
FSCost 10 225 235
Cost 10 225 235
HitPoints 140 600 740
2ND_Damage 10 50 60
2ND_APEffective[0] 5 65 70
Reasoning: As the largest Slannesh unit, it seemed fitting to scale it up a little further and 235 points also occupies an empty region between 225 and 250. At this price point, it should be able to support a scaled up offense as well and it tests well like this.
Elite_Bloodletter (225 points)
Morale 10 140 150
BallisticProtection 5 65 70
Reasoning: Additional hp didn't seem as helpful as it needs to be, so I added 5 ballistic protection. Later it seemed like morale was a little low for the cost, even with it's killing boost, so a small boost seemed right there.
Elite_Flamers (225 points)
AP 4 24 28
HitPoints 15 105 120
Reasoning: As a vulnerable unit, it's gotten more hp than normal for the cost, as there is a high risk that it might not matter otherwise. Many units still have a good chance to kill them in the same number of actions, sometimes making the points spent on hp go to waste.
The unupgraded often dies after having attacked, but if it could hit enough units, it might still be worth it. Less so at higher costs though, so I added extra movement to help ensure that the package gets delivered. It may also allow a safer position when preparing to attack and it's pretty fun as well.
Elite_HeraldOfNurgle (225 points)
2ND_APEffective[0] 10 50 60
Reasoning: It's durability is very effective, but it's slow attack becomes a bit of a weakness at this cost. +5 ap was not enough to make a difference on an individual unit, but 10 is enough to keep an appropriate pace for it's cost.
Elite_PinkHorrors (215 points)
FSCost -10 225 215
Cost -10 225 215
HitPoints 15 105 120
1ST_Range 1 7 8
1ST_Shock 1 5 6
1ST_APEffective[0] 5 35 40
1ST_WeaponPower[0] 5 75 80
Reasoning: As one of the few truly ranged units, I though it should differ more than usual. As a vulnerable unit, it's hp is scaled above what it's cost normally would allow, though units like the dreadnought may still blow right past the added hp in the same number of actions.
Still, it is enough that it can be less concerned about space marine bolters and the added range makes it distinct from the unupgraded one. I toyed with 45 and 50 armor piercing, but it became too general purpose useful and I opted for smaller, but broader buffs instead. That it changes in many ways also seems appropriate for a Tzeentch unit, as long as the cost is fair.
At 215 points, it also offers a step below the 225 point units, similarly to how the FiendOfSlannesh sits 10 points above.
Elite_Plaguebearer (200 points)
Morale 20 120 140
Reasoning: Other units near 200 points tend to sit above 120 morale, so adding 20 makes it perform more like it's peers – it is something it's going to need more often at this durability and improving offense didn't seem right in testing, so morale seemed like a good way to keep it largely the same, while letting it's 200 points stay in the fight long enough. It may also be lore appropriate, just look at how happy it is.
Elite_Seeker (185 points)
FSCost -15 200 185
Cost -15 200 185
Reasoning: It's the unupgraded scaled to roughly +25% cost for +50% hp, but rounded down to 185, further expanding on the cost decrease the unupgraded one has.
At 185 points, it also covers a gap in 5-point cost units, sitting between 135 and 215.
Elite_ChaosSpawn1 (150 points)
CombatSkill 10 47 57
HitPoints 225 675 900
2ND_Damage 15 60 75
2ND_TileDamage 10 30 40
2ND_APEffective[0] 20 25 45
Reasoning: Scaled to standard +25% cost for +50% hp, but with +10 armor piercing over the unupgraded version, as others at this price point sits at 40 – 45 armor piercing.
As an individual unit (that attacks at most 1 other unit, leading to retaliation), it needs the higher of that range, so 45 armor piercing it is. It works a little like a lower cost alternative to a Herald of Nurgle.
Elite_ChaosSpawn3 (135 points)
New Ability: Disruptive Song
FSCost -15 150 135
Cost -15 150 135
HitPoints 90 675 765
Actions 1 2 3
2ND_APEffective[0] 25 25 50
Reasoning: I scaled it to +35% cost, as it was too close to the 120 point chaos spawn. It remains capable offensively so bonus hp only is fine for it. At 135 points, it sits nicely between 120 and 150 points and offers another spot that combines with 5 point cost deviations.
Elite_ChaosSpawn2 (115 points)
New Ability: Ephemeral Shield
FSCost -35 150 115
Cost -35 150 115
2ND_Shock 5 5 10
Reasoning: standard scaling to (nearly) +25% cost fits, giving a cheap way to combine with others that use the smallest of cost deviations (5 points) and since it has an ability that runs off hp, it remains effective at resisting ranged damage.
I also thought it appropriate to let it increase further in shock and reaching a full 10 means there should be little going to waste there.
Elite_Demonette (75 points)
BallisticProtection 5 30 35
Reasoning: They're not tough, so adding 5 ballistic protection helps the added hp matter a bit more.
Elite_Screamers (50 points)
2ND_APEffective[0] 5 15 20
Reasoning: A small stepup in ap helps a bit against things like space marines and seems appropriate for the cost.
Last edited by BrotherNabor on Mon Mar 23, 2026 2:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Unit Design
The mods changes favour overall upgrades to offense and defense, rarely just one or the other. If only offense improves, the added cost becomes a risk in that the points are lost if the unit dies, before you got enough value from it. If only defense improves, there seems to come problems with tempo, that is to say, how quickly you tend to be able to eliminate enemies.
An example is the Deffkopter Mega-Blasta, which has pretty low defense. Without investment insurance in the form of defense, any upgrade faces the problem that several situations leads to the units immeadiate death and instant loss of points spent on upgrades. Like when the dreadnought spots one at the edge of it's range and handily manages to shoot it down anyway.
The Deffkopter Mega-Blasta got Sneaky Gitz to dodge some shots, Grot Rigger to recover from light fire and a Frag Stikkbomb to keep damage on par and also because it has a neat animation for throwing grenades.
As an exaggerated example of tempo loss as a result of only improving defense - if you upscaled only the hit points of a 40 point slugga boyz squad to 500 points, you would have slugga boyz with 10800 hp. Take 3 of them as your 1500 point army, and you sit at 3 very tough slugga boy squads, but the attack power of only 3 standard 40 point squads.
This army would be terrible at killing units with any speed, which matters a fair bit against the AI, with it's overwhelming army points.
The same problem happens to a smaller degree for chaos, where all except the Herald of Tzeentch got additional hp and nothing else. This is why I argue that they need other improvements besides hp, to remain effective. Though usually, a small step up seems enough, like upping the Soulgrinders Harvestor cannon to 40 armor piercing from 35. It's used in retaliation and enough in general, that even a small change both makes it noticeably better and fixes tempo loss, while preserving the balance of it's already very capable melee attack. Even a small ranged stepup is also very neat for a faction, where ranged attacks are in short supply.
Ability Costs
I've grouped abilities into minor, good and mean abilities, with some abilites landing in between. Defining a standard helps to categorize abilities in terms of how easy it is to apply and how good it is when it applies, which can help decide how much an ability should cost.
As abilities get placed in relation to each other, it also becomes easier to evaluate new abilities in general, by comparing their effectiveness to abilities with known costs.
Minor ability – 10 points
Nice to have, but often there are significant limitations to when you can use it or how good it is.
Example: Tasty Squig, the smallest heal with the longest cooldown, that only works on yourself. It's fun to have, but nothing that saves you against the strong stuff.
Good ability – 20 points
Pretty good when you can use it and often it doesn't take much to get in a situation where it applies.
Example: Supa-Choppa, hits pretty good when it does, but you still need to get close and it's not necessarily mean - it doesn't lead to reliably fighting terminators or anything, though it does help.
Mean ability – 40 points and above
40 points is where it starts to get mean, perhaps it applies a very consistent and effective boost, perhaps it's a hard hitting ability with a cooldown, but for all it tends to be easy for them to come into play and should affect the units performance or use quite a bit.
Example: Hellfire Ammo (50 points), it increases damage against all units, is often added to units with good range so it applies easily and it's mean against infantry and even backshots on tough units.
Defensive abilities follow the guidelines described for estimation, so their costs are more fluid as it depends on the units base cost and how much the durability increases. Although their cost varies, it's usually easiest to estimate these first, since you have a calculable approximation to start with.
Estimation
To estimate defensive upgrades, I see that chaos units are scaled at a 25% cost increase for a 50% increase in hp.
This can then be generalized as:
newHp = oldHp * ((newCost / oldCost – 1) * 2 + 1)
to scale units up to other costs as needed.
Cover upgrades can then be estimated similarly, as a cover bonus of 20% is at most as good as a 20% increase in hp (sometimes, not getting hit by a knight sized thermal cannon is better than extra hp, but for the most part, this holds very true). So calculating the corresponding costs as if it was an hp increase, gives an upper bound for the estimated cost of a cover ability. Though you can often apply a discount from there, since cover does not provide protection against melee.
For armor values, I use an approximation like so:
Armor cost approximation
Every 1% cost increase pays for +2 Ballistic Protection.
Every 1% cost increase pays for +1 Heavy Armor.
Example Cost Approximation
As an example, adding Extra Guard Armor to a 400 point punisher tank provides +30 Ballistic Protection and +10 heavy armor.
The tank already has 95 Ballistic Protection, so we should only count it as +5 Ballistic Protection (Ballistic Protection over 100 only comes into play against abilites that reduce Ballistic Protection, which is rare enough that you can disregard it – but if rounding up a cost is a small increase, you can justify paying for it with the small protection it gives against armor reduction).
I then write it as BaseUnitCost * (1 + HeavyArmorContribution + BallisticArmorContribution). Which here is 400 * (1 + 0.1 + 0.025) = 450. So an increase of 50 points, where 0.1 is the 10% increase that 10 heavy armor should give and 0.025 is the 2.5% increase that 5 ballistic protection should give.
Keep in mind that it's an approximation, so it still needs to be combined with testing, in this case I also added Upgraded Optics to it and the upgraded punisher tests well at 500 points, indicating that Upgraded Optics costs 50 points or less on it (I split it as 60 for the armor, 40 for optics).
Another point on armor approximation is that heavy armor gets increasingly good the higher it gets, above 85 side armor kind of breaks the rules of the game that other units adhere by. I guess it's not a linear increase in value, but approximation is pretty good at narrowing down where the cost should be and then testing the unit under similar scenarios, can reveal where the most accurate cost seems to be.
Testing
To evaluate units and their abilities, I use the unit(s) in a skirmish with default settings except:
Test Scenario
Style: Imperial Fortress (most commonly, occasionally others)
Scenario Type: Attrition
Player Points: 1500
Enemy Points: 1400
Enemy Side. Orks (most commonly, occasionally others)
Player Army List: Sandbox
Enemy Army List: Upgraded Units
Difficulty: Grim Darkness (maybe it should be standard, but I'll just forget to change it anyway)
Attrition is a great mode, because everything seems to matter in it, any damage, defense or speed upgrades or capabilities you have has ways to meaningfully impact the outcome and the AI seems pretty good at playing this mode too. It also has some nice consistency since the attackers tend to be similarly sized, with the greatest variance often coming from how big the big unit is and whether it's attacking or defending.
I play it as though you should be able to have a chance with many unit combinations, still lose frequently, but preferrably win more than you lose.
I would describe my testing as definetely trying to win and a good understanding of how a unit is used best, but it's also casual in that I often gamble and make mistakes as well.
Small mistakes often don't turn into a loss or anything as either it didn't matter so much or you noticed and were able to compensate before it went wrong. Large mistakes or failed gambles (like losing a 400+ unit in a bad way) often leads to a loss, but then it's also often clear to me why it did, so I don't end up blaming the cost and such. It can still be fun to try and salvage mistakes though (sometimes that small army you have left can just about capture a point in overtime).
The preferrable win is to eliminate all enemies, even if you need to gamble a bit with staying in overtime to do so, though staying in overtime to hunt down a few stragglers isn't necessary, if it's clear they would lose against your remaining forces. Here I may end it by capturing a point and still consider it a victory by elimination, as clearly that was the main reason it became a win.
Alternately, if something goes wrong or the big unit is too much for the forces you have, winning through capture points also counts, but less than elimination.
Bug Fixes Units that kept increasing it's melee damage every turn:
Upgraded Ork Boyz: Slugga
Upgraded Nobz: Slugga
Upgraded Bullgryns
Any unit that got an ability that increased base weapon damage during campaigns (like wolf neclace for terminators)
Abilities that did not apply it's damage increase: Da Best Ammo
Units that kept increasing it's shock damage every turn: Upgraded Flash Gitz
In the process of testing More Killier! (a melee ability), I noticed that the weapons damage kept increasing by 10 every round. So if it started at 50, next round it was 60, then 70 etc.
This turned out to be a general problem with abilities that increased weapon damage and the cause was found in StartTurn.BSF. Here, units are reset each turn and stat modifiers are then reapplied, but some stats weren't reset correctly, leading to continual increases.
The error was that some stats were treated as collections of stats, but were individual stats.
