Let the Galaxy Burn!

[Commodore]

I know there is already a Warhammer 40k mod in the works and has been for years now, but I figured I'd make a sort of "holdover" mod until the real 40k mod gets released someday.

My mod will take place on a galactic scale using this map of the 40k galaxy. It will have 17 civs, basic tech tree at release that will hopefully get fleshed out in future updates, and different victory conditions for each civ.

As of this posting, I have completed the map, downloaded all the unit graphics I will be using, and calculated basic unit stats for about 60% of the units I am going to have. I have also begun work on implementing the game mechanics for the mod and adding wonders and improvements.

The 17 civs that will be present in the mod are as follows:

Imperium of Man: (divided into 6 different civs for gameplay reasons)

Segmentum Solar
Segmentum Obscurus
Segmentum Tempestus
Segmentum Pacificus
Ultima Segmentum
Adeptus Astartes

Forces of Chaos: (not allied with each other to allow for infighting)

Chaos Undivided
Cult of Khorne
Cult of Tzeentch
Cult of Slaanesh
Cult of Nurgle

Xenos Threats:

Eldar Craftworlds
Dark Eldar Kabals
Necron Tomb Worlds
Tyranid Hive Fleets
Tau Empire
Ork Domains

Once I've finalized the unit lists for each civ I will post those as well. Also any suggestions or help from my fellow CFC modders is always welcome.

 

[CorvusFortis]

Nice idea. But what about units and LH which are not yet done, such as eldar or necron?

 

[Commodore]

Nice idea. But what about units and LH which are not yet done, such as eldar or necron?

Leaderheads will just be non-animated pictures. As for units, I will use "placeholder" units that look similar enough until the actual units get made. Not an ideal solution, but it will work for the time being (especially since I have zero unit making or animated leaderhead creating ability).

And who knows, maybe this mod will inspire some unit makers to create some Eldar or Necron units.

 

[Elite]

sounds cool, if I knew how to make units, I might try Necrons.

 

[Commodore]

First Update!

I have finalized the unit list for the Imperial civs (excluding the Adeptus Astartes). The Segmentum civs mostly have the same units but there are some slight variations to add a little variety. Also, not all of these units will be buildable. Some will be auto-produced through improvements/wonders and some will be pre-placed but they will be the only ones you get for the entire game.

Segmentum Obscurus:

Bane Wolf
Baneblade
Basilisk
Chimera
Command Squad
Commissar
Conscript
Death Cult Assassin
Deathstrike Missile Launcher
Devil Dog
Griffon
Guardsman
Heavy Weapons Team
Hellhound
Hydra
Leman Russ
Leman Russ Eradicator
Leman Russ Executioner
Leman Russ Exterminator
Leman Russ Punisher
Leman Russ Vanquisher
Manticore
Medusa
Ministorum Priest
Ogryn
Penal Legion
Primaris Psyker
Ratling
Sentinel
Storm Trooper
Techpriest Enginseer
Titan Legion
Veteran

Segmentum Pacificus:

Bane Wolf
Baneblade
Basilisk
Chimera
Command Squad
Commissar
Conscript
Death Cult Assassin
Deathstrike Missile Launcher
Devil Dog
Guardsman
Heavy Weapons Team
Hellhound
Leman Russ
Leman Russ Executioner
Leman Russ Exterminator
Leman Russ Punisher
Leman Russ Vanquisher
Ministorum Priest
Ogryn
Penal Legion
Primaris Psyker
Sentinel
Storm Trooper
Techpriest Enginseer
Titan Legion
Veteran

Segmentum Solar:

Bane Wolf
Banebalde
Basilisk
Battle Sister
Callidus Assassin
Chimera
Colossus
Command Squad
Commissar
Conscript
Culexus Assassin
Death Cult Assassin
Deathstrike Missile Launcher
Devil Dog
Eversor Assassin
Grey Knight Strike Squad
Griffon
Guardsman
Heavy Weapons Team
Hellhound
Hydra
Inquisitor Lord
Leman Russ
Leman Russ Demolisher
Leman Russ Executioner
Leman Russ Exterminator
Leman Russ Punisher
Manticore
Ministorum Priest
Ogryn
Penal Legion
Primaris Psyker
Sentinel
Storm Trooper
Techpriest Enginseer
Titan Legion
Veteran
Vindicare Assassin

Segmentum Tempestus:

Bane Wolf
Baneblade
Basilisk
Battle Sister
Chimera
Command Squad
Commissar
Conscript
Death Cult Assassin
Deathstrike Missile Launcher
Devil Dog
Guardsman
Heavy Weapons Team
Hellhound
Leman Russ
Leman Russ Executioner
Leman Russ Exterminator
Leman Russ Punisher
Leman Russ Vanquisher
Manticore
Medusa
Ministorum Priest
Ogryn
Penal Legion
Primaris Psyker
Rough Rider
Sentinel
Storm Trooper
Techpriest Enginseer
Titan Legion
Veteran

Ultima Segmentum:

Bane Wolf
Baneblade
Basilisk
Chimera
Command Squad
Commissar
Conscript
Death Cult Assassin
Deathstrike Missile Launcher
Deathwatch Kill-Team
Devil Dog
Guardsman
Heavy Weapons Team
Hellhound
Hydra
Leman Russ
Leman Russ Demolisher
Leman Russ Executioner
Leman Russ Exterminator
Leman Russ Punisher
Leman Russ Vanquisher
Manticore
Medusa
Ministorum Priest
Ogryn
Penal Legion
Primaris Psyker
Rough Rider
Sentinel
Storm Trooper
Techpriest Enginseer
Titan Legion
Veteran

 

[LMR]

And who knows, maybe this mod will inspire some unit makers to create some Eldar or Necron units.

*cough*

 

[Commodore]

*cough*

Oh believe me I know you have been amazing when it comes to the creation of Warhammer 40k units. I know your focus right now though is Chaos and I figure you will get around to the other factions eventually.

As a fellow modder with interest in 40k, what do you think of the Imperial unit list? After thinking about it some more I might take out a few of the Leman Russ variants since some of them seem redundant.

 

[LMR]

Yeah, looks good. I was a bit worried that there were so many units, but I missed the bit that said some would be auto produced and preplaced.

As for the russes, you could add something special for each to make them a bit different: collateral damage, stealth attack vs armour or infantry, extra/limited range, lethal bombardment etc

 

[Commodore]

Ugh! My first setback in the mod. The 'formula' I have been using to calculate unit stats has proven to be very flawed. It seemed to be working out fine until I got to the Orks. The stats were just wrong; like a Boyz Squad being way more powerful than a Warboss. So now I have to develop a new formula and rework all the units.

 

[LMR]

What was the formula? I'm curious cos I've tried before too

 

[Commodore]

What was the formula? I'm curious cos I've tried before too

I was using their stats from their respective codices as their baseline stats with WS, S, BS, I, and A for their attack and T, W, LD, and any Armor Save or Invulnerable Save for their defense. Then I would take any wargear options or special rules the unit had to modify the attack and defense values accordingly. For vehicles their defense was the average of their front, side, and rear armor while their attack was their ballistic strength combined with the strength and armor penetration values of their weapons.

Like I said, it was all working pretty well until I got to the Orks. That formula was producing some pretty wonky results for them.

EDIT: I am trying a new formula now that is the same as the old one, just with an added step. After the A/D values have been calculated I will adjust them further based on what type of unit it is in the codex. HQs will not be adjusted at all, Elites will have their A/D divided by 2, Heavy Supports will be divided by 3, Fast Attack by 4, and Troops by 5. All vehicles will be counted as Heavy Support even if the codex lists it as a Fast Attack though.

 

[Commodore]

I give up for now trying to determine unit stats. Everything I have been trying just is not working out. All the new formulas I come up with either lead to seriously over-powered units or all units ending up with basically the same stats with little variation between them.

I think now I'll take a break from units and start working on governments. The main purpose governments are going to serve in this mod will be to determine how large a military you can reasonably sustain and how easy other civs can culture flip your cities. For example: the non-Astartes Imperial civs will be highly susceptible to culture flip from the Chaos factions and the Tau Empire while it will be near impossible for the Orks or Necrons to culture flip the Imperials (or anyone else for that matter).

 

[Commodore]

New update: First off, progress updates for this mod will come every Saturday until release from now on.

I finally found a formula for unit stats I am happy with so far, so I can get back to work putting the units into the mod. I have also finalized the basic map the game will be played on; no resources have been placed yet and the "cities" are still unmodified, but the basics are done.

The new dilemma I'm having is whether or not to include special character units for each faction. These would be pre-placed one-of-a-kind "hero" units such as Kharn the Betrayer, Commissar Yarrick, Old One Eye, etc. So what do you guys think? Special characters or no?

 

[Elite]

I like the idea of special characters, being able to influence battles wherever they go.

 

[Commodore]

Update: Things are moving along pretty smoothly. I have added all of the Chaos civs' units into the mod and they are all working so far. I have decided to develop one civ at a time rather than doing all the units at once, then improvements, etc. So the next step now is going to be the adding of improvements and wonders for the Chaos civs.

On the issue of special characters: I have decided to add them, but they will not be in the initial release of the mod. This is because I want to focus on getting this mod made and make sure the basics of it work before I start adding all kinds of special features to it.

Tech Tree: I have started working a bit on the tech tree and I have decided to take a similar approach to it as NavyDawg's Space Opera mod with each era representing a different category of tech to develop. The four "eras" will be Administratum (Infrastructure), Ministorum (Culture), Munitorum (Ground Forces), Navis Nobilite (Naval/Air Forces).

 

[CorvusFortis]

Ministorum (Culture)

The whole era just for culture buildings? Isn't it too much?

 

[Commodore]

The whole era just for culture buildings? Isn't it too much?

Not just buildings, anything to do with culture will fall under this era. Anything that increases happiness will fall under this era as well.

Here is a breakdown of what each era will contain:

Infrastructure- Anything that increases productivity or income*. This will also include some "planet specialization" structures as well.

*Income related things will be split between infrastructure and culture.

Culture- Anything that increases culture or happiness, as well as some income related things as well.

Ground Forces- Will give you access to more advanced ground units as well as any military related improvements/wonders, such as improvements that auto-produce ground units or increase defensive bonuses against ground attack.

Naval/Air Force- Will give access to naval vessels and fighters as well as any naval improvements or improvements that increase defense against sea bombardment/air attack.

 

[Commodore]

Update: Sorry for the slightly late update, but It was the first week of NCAA Football and I spent all day watching football with my father. I am proud to report that my Ohio State Buckeyes handled Navy pretty well; although they gave us a good fight most of the game.

Anyway, on to the mod news: As I'm sure some of you have seen, I had quite a bit of difficulty trying to get teleportation to work. Well, I got it to work with the help of Quintillius and Blue Monkey (thanks guys). So I thought I would talk about how teleportation is going to be used in the mod.

Right now teleportation is going to serve the purpose of daemon summoning for the Chaos factions. I thought that appropriate since teleportation takes health away from the telepad unit and daemon summoning could be construed as being taxing enough on the summoner to weaken them. As of right now, the units that can summon daemons are: Chaos Lord, Chaos Lieutenant, Chaos Sorcerer Lord, Chaos Sorcerer, and any of the Greater Daemons. The Chaos Lord/Sorcerer Lord and Greater Daemons can summon both Lesser Daemons and Greater Daemons while the Chaos Lieutenant and Sorcerer can only summon Lesser Daemons. The telepad range also varies for the different summoning units as well. The telepad ranges are currently as such:

Chaos Lord/Sorcerer Lord: 50(25)
Greater Daemons: 100(50)
Chaos Lieutenant/Sorcerer: 25(13?)

The first number is the telepad range in the editor and the number in parentheses is the actual range since a teleportable unit must be within half of the telepad's range to be able to teleport. There is a question mark for the Chaos Lieutenant/Sorcerer because I am not sure if the game will round up or round down when it divides 25 in half.

One final update note: I know in 40k lore Daemon Princes can be dedicated to any Chaos God and they are mortals who have ascended to daemonhood; but for the purposes of this mod only Chaos Undivided has Daemon Princes. This is because I decided the Daemon Prince will serve the role of Greater Daemon for Chaos Undivided with the Fury serving as their Lesser Daemon.

 

[LMR]

Regarding daemon princes, it'll be the same in the 40K mod

 

[Commodore]

Update: This will be a short update since I'm tired and angry that my Buckeyes lost to Va. Tech.

I have completed a preliminary tech tree for the mod. Nothing complex or all that great, but it will get the job done for the initial release. Most of this week was spent on that because I couldn't decide whether I wanted a generic tech tree or unique tech trees for each faction/culture group. I decided on a generic tech tree for now.

Friday I made all the leaderheads and put them in the mod as well. Don't get too excited about that though because they are just single frame stills and not animated. Somehow though, that almost works better in a Warhammer 40k setting in my opinion, so I would probably stick with that even if I knew how to make animated leaderheads. They are all working fine except the Space Marine one, it is having some transparency issues. Nothing I shouldn't be able to solve easily though.

Below is a current list of civilization rulers, let me know if you think they are good or if there's someone else you'd put in:

Adeptus Astartes: Marneus Calgar
Chaos Undivided: Abbadon the Despoiler
Cult of Khorne: Angron
Cult of Nurgle: Mortarion
Cult of Slaanesh: Fulgrim
Cult of Tzeentch: Magnus the Red
Dark Eldar Kabals: Asdrubael Vect
Eldar Craftworlds: Eldrad Ulthran
Necron Tomb Worlds: Szarekh
Ork Domains: Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka
Segmentum Obscurus: Lord Commander Drang
Segmentum Pacificus: Lord Commander Invisticone
Segmentum Solar: Lord Commander Jaxon
Ultima Segmentum: Lord Commander Sebiascor Ebongrave
Tau Empire: Aun'va
Tyranid Hive Fleets: Hive Mind