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A newcomers introduction and questions

Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 2:38 pm
by GenNikolaj
Hey there!

I've just started playing WH40k: Armageddon and I must say- it's hell of a ride. As a huge fan of the whole Warhammer 40.000 universe and as a semi- veteran wargamer (thousands of hours in the startegy genre, hundreds in turn- based grand strategy) I'm really enjoying this take on my favorite tabletop, especially after so many years since a proper computer adaptation of Epic ruleset (by "proper" I, by any means, do NOT state it's a computer tabletop, which is kinda obvious, Final Liberation, anyone? :D). But yet I have more than a few questions about the mechanics, which at first seemed like a simplified Panzer Corps, and than turned to be something Cthulhish I can't really comprehend.


First of all- the requisition. How is it really earned? I can't find a proper template, one mission I get a good surplus to repair my forces, another one I don't have anything to spare.
Second- unlocking units and unit slots. In this case I compared the campaign and stand-alone versions of "Hades Trap" scenario. The stand-alone, for example, grants me with a Macharius, which I can't get at this stage of campaign. Is unlocking affected by my score, path etc. or is it just that the scenario loadouts are meant to be that different?
Third- faction markers. There are, in various locations on the map, hexes that bear the ownership mark, yet have no value to the specific scenario. Are they just there for fun or do they grant anything? At firts I thought that thay are meant to be captured as a part of Unity of Command and Panzer Corps-like "Deceisive Victory", but than I noticed there is no such thing in this game.
And fourth (the last one)- in Panzer Corps there was a clear designation of weapons better against infantry, armor etc. Here I only have the armor piercing value, which (combined with the power of expierience and logical thinking, as well as the knowledge about WH40k) lead to conclusions that, for example, Punnisher Cannons aren't that great against fully armed Stompas :P Is there any way I didn't notice that gives the real insight into combat mechanics?

Thanks for all the help and hey- see you on the PBEM++ :P

Re: A newcomers introduction and questions

Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 3:19 pm
by nexusno2000
Requisition is fixed for each scenario. Think of it as your 40k points allowance if you will. I don't like it, but there you go.
Slots are also fixed by scenario; so your points + slots are what you have to play with (no points are lost of upgrading or downgrading).
Units are unlocked based upon scenario. There are 'upgrade thresholds' during the tutorial, at the beginning of each act, and mid-way through acts 2 and 3. So most of the time you get no new units, then you get lots of new ones (of which only a handful are worthwhile to take).
Faction markers: no effect.
Weapons modelling: the weapon modelling is extremely...odd...battle cannons, for example, are utterly useless since they get very few shots with semi-decent dam (but no pen). That said rapid-fire, low-mid damage weapons are best for infantry. For heavily armored targets you need higher dam and/or pen.

Once you get the hang of the game it sort of works - and can be quite entertaining.

Re: A newcomers introduction and questions

Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 3:31 pm
by GenNikolaj
Ah, so the number of shots should be percieved as a simple damage multiplier?

Re: A newcomers introduction and questions

Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 3:40 pm
by Xadie
First of all- the requisition. How is it really earned? I can't find a proper template, one mission I get a good surplus to repair my forces, another one I don't have anything to spare.
As far as i know you receive a specifically set amount of requisition points for each scenario. With that you auto-pay for all possible repairs on your core army and the rest is for you to spend.
Second- unlocking units and unit slots. In this case I compared the campaign and stand-alone versions of "Hades Trap" scenario. The stand-alone, for example, grants me with a Macharius, which I can't get at this stage of campaign. Is unlocking affected by my score, path etc. or is it just that the scenario loadouts are meant to be that different?
The unlock-progression is VERY "rough" in the campaign. A long time you unlock nothing then you get like 8 new tank variants etc. Like the amount of requisition points the units you can purchase is predefined for each scenario.

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Third- faction markers. There are, in various locations on the map, hexes that bear the ownership mark, yet have no value to the specific scenario. Are they just there for fun or do they grant anything? At firts I thought that thay are meant to be captured as a part of Unity of Command and Panzer Corps-like "Deceisive Victory", but than I noticed there is no such thing in this game. 
I think you gain Glory by conquering those owner-ship tiles that are not part of the win condition. So you can push your score higher with those, even though they don't have any influence on the outcome of the scenario.
And fourth (the last one)- in Panzer Corps there was a clear designation of weapons better against infantry, armor etc. Here I only have the armor piercing value, which (combined with the power of expierience and logical thinking, as well as the knowledge about WH40k) lead to conclusions that, for example, Punnisher Cannons aren't that great against fully armed Stompas :P Is there any way I didn't notice that gives the real insight into combat mechanics?
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, without lamenting to much about lack of weapon traits (just check out viewtopic.php?f=235&t=54937 ), you should get a good idea of how everything works by just clicking on the various stats and reading their tooltips. Basically at the moment weapons are very much defined by their strength, armor penetration and number of shots. Basic hitchance is (50+(weapon.strength - target.defence * (100 - weapon.armorpenetration)) which gets further modified by weapon accuracy, its accuracy per hex distance to target, attacker accuracy, cover of target and line of sight obstruction (unsure about that one) between attacker and target. Each Weapon shots its set number of shots multiplied by the size of the squad if in range.
Usually a resolved hit is one damage. So a high number of shots mean a high damage potential. High strength and/or penetration make realizing the potential more likely, depending on target defense.

You should note that if the weapon.strength is 50 points smaller than target defense (assuming amorpenetration of the weapon is 0 and target hexfield doesn't grant a defense penalty) the weapon won't be able to put a scratch on the target, regardless of how many times you shoot.

Re: A newcomers introduction and questions

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 5:37 am
by GenNikolaj
The math is quite insightful, thanks :)

Ah, I forgot. What are the mines for??? They don't do any damage, are visible and get atacked by infantry. That's nonsence...

Re: A newcomers introduction and questions

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 10:54 am
by Xadie
GenNikolaj wrote:The math is quite insightful, thanks :)

Ah, I forgot. What are the mines for??? They don't do any damage, are visible and get atacked by infantry. That's nonsence...
yup. For now they're basically roadblocks against the AI - because they love to attack those.