Second Sphere

This is a weird thought that has occured to me whilst readin the unit Types section of the 6th Edition rulebook.

To start:

Quote from: Warhammer 40k, 6th Edition Rulebook, Page 47"Jump" is not a classification in and of itself. instead, you'll find it occurs before another Category, commonly infantry, sometimes Monstrous Creatures and perhaps, rarely, other things.

Now its that last part that intrigued me, as it implies that theoretically every other non-vehicle unit type, obviously exluding Jet Peck and Jetbike units, can gain the boons and banes of Jump Infantry.

First application:
Jump Bikes
This is a unit type between Bike and Jetbike, and in a strange way, makes more sense then Space Marines having Jetbikes. The Imperium may be advanced, but aside from the odd old piece of Wargear, would Jetbikes really become something army wide?

Pros of this combination:
- Deep Strike, Relentless, Jink, and Hammer of Wrath
- Re-rollable assault range.
- bypassing intervening models.
- Turbo-boost

Cons:
- Heavily affected by terrain
- Potential pts cost to include in the army.
- modeling

Think of that, whilst I explain the second application:
Jump Artillery
This, in terms of appearence, would make sense for Eldar Heavy Weapons Platforms.

Pros:
- Greater movement should enemy forces come too close.
- Deep Striking Artillery

Cons:
- fluff justification
- cost (both pts and

Wargamer and I have been discussing, and this opens up some truly brilliant potential combinations for houseruling! I've had a unit on the backburner for a homebrew dex since 5th edition, and Jump Bikes (not jump jetbikes) winds up suiting what I had in mind brilliantly.

Thanks for pointing this out; if I could dispense Karma, you'd definitely get one from me!

Okay, let's just go through what this means...

Jump Bikes get very little bonus to movement; they are already able to move 12", and are not slowed by terrain. Aside from being able to reduce the amount of DT tests, or to bounce over an ally, the Jump Bike is left looking rather lacklustre compared to Jetbikes.

Moreover, it seems there's no way to 'jump' as part of a Turbo Boost, further limiting them compared to Jetbikes.

However, there is one area I think they will do well; Jump Assaults. Re-rollable charge distance, combined with a 12" move, means a Jump Bike can cover a lot of ground and hit hard where needed. Deep Strike is, I feel, not really that great given how fast Bikes are anyway, not to mention that as Relentless models you probably want them using their dakka from the get-go.

Personally, I think there's a few, much cooler applications... Jump Cavalry, and Jump Beasts.

I know that they don't get huge boosts mechanically, but the image of something like Exodites riding Pterodactyl mounts is just to cool not to do!

That and we all know it's going to happen in the next BT codex. "What? Space Wolves got Wolf Cavalry? Sod that! We're getting Flying Horses! Trololololol!"

I honestly forgot about Beasts and Cavalry.

Are you working on an Eldar Exodite fan-dex Wargamer? I'd like to see what you've got so far if you are :D

I doupt BT will get Flying Horses. That would imply they're similar to Bretonians, which doesn't quite work in my mind. anyway, the idea of a Space Marine atop a Wolf/Horse is rediculous in any respect. I was tempted at one point to do a Canis Wolfborn army, but I would have kept Canis as the sole Mounted Marine.

In a tangent, the new/different way of combining Unit Type, means Dark Eldar should get a greater number of options for their Beastmasters. What they have now is hardly the sum total of what a dedicted Dark Eldar Beastmaster could control.

Dark Eldar having "Jump Beasts" would indeed be quite fitting. Some types of Daemon would suit it as well.

As for an Exodite fan-dex... I do have that "Minor Races" project for a reason. ;)

Quote from: Wargamer on August 11, 2012, 07:52:39 PM
...but the image of something like Exodites riding Pterodactyl mounts is just to cool not to do!

That and we all know it's going to happen in the next BT codex. "What? Space Wolves got Wolf Cavalry? Sod that! We're getting Flying Horses! Trololololol!"

I would think that these would work better under a (Flying) category that was a sorely missed opportunity in this rulebook.  Thank of Scourges, Swooping Hawks, Gargoyles, Shrikes, and Vespid, who would be better off as Infantry (Flying) instead of Infantry (Jump).  In your example above, they would be Cavalry (Flying).

Just something else to get your juices flowing...