Welcome aboard, Guardmen!

Nice to be aboard!  Dice gods were fairly kind outside of Wounds, where they were very stingy, but that doesn't mean anything in the long run.

Glad to be part of the Team at any rate.

Howdy! I'll be your NCO apparently!

Well got my 40 but otherwise very average across the board. Can't complain there.

Just getting a 40 is pretty good!  Nicely done!

I managed to get 40 in the end by leaning on my Regiment bonus, but it's still a fairly auspicious sign.

The real question is BS, WP, or Fel I suppose everything else is 30 otherwise. So nothing will be bad.

Hello people, glad to be here! I'm the "big guy" of the group. Since it is super late over here and I work tomorrow I will probably fix my character on Monday :)

Hello, I honestly didn't expect to get in since Henry's a big guy already, but I guess Slab will be another big guy?

Heavy and ogryn one is definitely the bigger guy.

Slab would defer to Henry in most things though. I just hope he isn't upset that I might be infringing on the big guy narrative space (honestly didn't see his character before submitting mine).

FWIW I'm planning to go Bulwark and then possibly Bone'Ead.

Not worth much for a long while. I'm just glad I have an Ogryn to slap my saddle on if my horse dies.

Hello everyone :)

Hello!

Hey @GM how married are you to that sheet. For a specific complaint, it's terrible. No reason for characteristics to be bound in boxes when a simple column does the job 10x clearer and can be edited trivially without messing up the format.

In reply to Crazy Aces (msg # 13):

Feel free to sub out whatever you want: those sheets are for your benefit, so if some other format is more legible then by all means use that instead ;)

Cool Cool,

How is it going to work with some people in a Chimichanga and some people mounted? Like I've built a mount before that can keep up with a Chupacabra but a regular war horse can't very easily. I suppose with a decent Technomat check we could fit horses in a Cheesefritata...

*Waves* hello, hello! seems like im one of the few normal guardsmen of the bunch so far :P Plan to be your designated marksman, for all your ranged head-popping needs, or possibly an artillery officer if the fancy strikes me *giggles*

In reply to Auberon Halfvek (msg # 16):

I am also just a regular old soldier.. Who gets to yell orders at people..

Also don't rely on me to shoot anything, I am liable to miss it.. Unless its really dang big of a target.

Yep, Sergeants work for a living same as you. More importantly you are in the O23rd. You are a marksman in a penal cowboy regiment, who you calling weird?

EDIT: Don't suppose that tech priest is going to want to pull double duty as a Squad Logistics Officer?
This message was last edited by the player at 05:13, Sun 18 Dec 2022.

In my defence there, its the only one with a sharpshooters doctrine, so it does make some sense for me xD

But COWBOYS! Penal Space Cowboys! Obviously we wear bandanas around our faces to keep the dust from clogging the transmitters on our explosive collars and popping out heads prematurly. Clearly our built in micro beads need to have a tell tale feed back when ever they enter a local net work (twanga twanga twang!). To which other members of the unit tap their mic three times as a response to let the new comer know they have friends near by (dun dun dun).

Our armor doesn't have a helmet so that we can wear our too-awesome-to-die cowboy hats!

In any case back to the age old question. Does Resistance (Fear) apply to Pinning tests?

I imagine Slab will just hang onto the back of the Chimera and enjoy the breeze

In reply to Crazy Aces (msg # 20):

I'd personally say no.. As Fear is a distinct test of its own.

Seen it go both ways. Took Nerves of Steel for way too many XP anyway.

I still need to do my exp.

not sure what I should get with mine, to be honest...

I'm back from my nap, one moment...

Cavalry have the advantage of sprinting to make up for their lower base speed.  They also don't suffer any penalties for moving and attacking in the same turn, other than a limited pool of actions; passengers in a vehicle can each use their full complement of actions, but if the vehicle moved at all then EVERYONE in the vehicle takes -10/-20 to all attacks during normal tactical movement, or -40 when going Floor It!

The Chimera also only holds enough fuel for about 12 hours of continuous operation, something that will come into play.

Also, while Resistance (Fear) doesn't directly apply to pinning tests for my interpretation of the rules, it's probably for the best; otherwise, you might end up being force to roll on the Shock table every time you get pinned down.

Hmm, looks like I'm probably going to have to double as the bus driver.  That's fine though, it's something I can work towards.

By the way, how does one expand your kit?  I know there's logistics tests and all that, but the whole system of getting more stuff has always kind of flummoxed me.  Especially since as an Enginseer, I'm extremely gear dependent in a lot of ways.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:55, Sun 18 Dec 2022.

Well if Slab is planning om going Bulwark it would seem that he is mostly going to be in close combat with a melee weapon and Henry can then use his big guns and be the heavy on the other end. Otherwise I could change it up and pick another career so there's not too much overlap.

In reply to Slab (msg # 25):

I would recommend getting proficiency in low-tech weapons, if possible.

What if I go for Sanctioned Psyker instead? We could use one of those :)

Don't we get Weapon Proficiency (Primitive) by default? Otherwise sure, I'll pick that up right away.

Anyone here know which OW book has the stats for the axe?

Sanctioned Psyker is very poorly supported in Only War.  Which is to say "The only things you've got are what's in the core book and otherwise you can get fucked".  Unlike literally everyone else, you have no possible Advanced Specialties to move into.

And even if you decide that's fine, it takes an absurd amount of XP before they really start getting crazy, and until then, you're fairly squishy and provide small benefits at best  to the team.

Gunners are just fine, fire that dakka!
This message was last edited by the player at 12:10, Sun 18 Dec 2022.

Ironically, Ogryn are one of the only classes in Only War that don't start with it.  Thankfully they can still Grapple and crush their enemies without it, but it does make them a little inaccurate early on.


As for the axe stats, it should be on pg 119 of Hammer of the Emperor.  1d10+1 R dmg, Pen 0, Unbalanced, one-handed.

Henry, I'm fine with whatever you decide.  If you would rather go Psyker, more power to ya.  I would say, though,  that if anyone else wants to fill the Heavy Gunner role, we could definitely use one.

I mean Morgana is right though, Psykers can be rough, I just dont want too much overlap. Can I get ya an answer tomorrow after work when I actually have the books in front of me? :)

It's kind of a shame because the sample Sanctioned Psyker looks pretty neat to me.

Yeah, Psykers have zero support outside of the core book, and take thousands of XP before they really come into their own, it's a big investment with limited returns until you're getting into 5,000+ experience brackets, where they then start getting increasingly potent, but they never quite reach the point of outcompeting conventional guardsmen.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:45, Sun 18 Dec 2022.

Psykers are just their own reward I guess. FFG had a hell of a time balancing them in all their games; on DH they were gods, in RT they were anemic (though backed by the ridiculously high stats RT characters can get), in DW they were gods again, in BC they were somehow even stronger, and in OW they seem to have wanted to do away with it entirely except psykers are obligatory.

I wouldn't worry about Psyker not having advanced specialties. It will be decades before we get enough XP for that to matter. You get your +5 to a stat and be happy with it. You have all the Aptitudes that are really important anyway. Especially if you are a psychic cowboy and get Ballistic Skill added in.

Hmmm. If you don't I might since we have to sergeants. For that matter if you do I'll swap to Heavy since the optimal party is all heavies and a tech priest to buy them Auto cannons.


I always recommend Nerves of Steel. Especially as melee. You can't attack if you are forced into cover. If you aren't making a Pinning test every round the SG is taking it easy on you. Past that Dodge at least the first rank means you might outlive the 15 hour estimate.


Lol, we all are gear dependent were guardsmen, we all suck. You roll a logistics test (or someone on the squad does) and you get the item if you pass. It's very "mother may I" by default because you get to roll as many times as the SG let's you. I was saying the Tech Priest should be the designated buyer because you can get Commerce to subsidize the roll.

Medics, Tech-Priests and to some extent Operators tend to be best for getting items for their squads.. Because it often involves Intelligence based tests.. Which should be something they're good at.

Hi all. Late arrival here.

Very familiar with all the other 40k systems but this is actually my first time playing Only War. Stat rolls seem to have turned out shockingly solidly though, so that's something of a good omen at least.

Only a int test of you roll Commerce to buff it. A Tech Priest, Psyker,and Medic can spend 1000 XP to have capped commerce. Which is pretty cheap.

Welcome teneff.

Huzzah we got a smarty pants Doc!

I got myself Hardy with my starting exp(and a toughness increase to hit that 40 toughness)

In reply to Henry Payne (msg # 36):

Take your time, I'm in no rush, yet.

So... 2900 all told to get Warp Speed. But Jesus fuck will things die if you hit with a burst weapon.

Psykers are D&D wizards, plinking with their crossbow until they unlock the good powers...

It's been a while, so I had forgotten just how much of a slog it can be to fill in character sheets for these systems. Making decent enough progress but it sure takes some time.

Edit: Just checking, but are Gatekeepers definitely meant to have Slabshields?
This message was last edited by the player at 17:04, Sun 18 Dec 2022.

Is it? There are vastly fewer choices for a OW character than most other systems. XP has near unlimited versatility, but everything else is decided for you pretty much.

I mean manually filling in the character sheets on RPOL itself.

Ah. Ya, I don't do that. Do it all offline in a document or a spreadsheet then copy paste the whole thing.

AM said earlier you don't have to do the formatting from the sheet if you don't want.

Definitely taking an Augur Array for one of my free Cybernetics, but what should the other be...

I mean, Cranial Implants are always a good look, but it doesn't really feel right for what amounts to being a basically conscripted field engineer to have access to the Best Stuff, which those definitely qualify as.  A Servo Arm could be fun though.

Also, dug out an old image I had commissioned for an RP that never panned out, might as well re-use character designs when I can :)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:59, Sun 18 Dec 2022.

It's pretty much the best thing, I knew those were in there somewhere, that's why tech priests are the best buyers since they can get the extra Int or whatever from the implant.

MIU Weapon is also pretty amazing for fighting, better than a ballistic mechadendrite.

EDIT: To address the narrative complaint. It's a computer in your head. You could always RP that it wasn't your choice to have it installed and maybe have some of your behaviors be influenced by it. Like maybe you can't directly complain about commanding officers or something.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:21, Sun 18 Dec 2022.

Both the Gatekeepers and the Night Raiders should have a Light Slab-shield in their kit.  The narrative idea is that, being Combat engineers, they use them for shock assaults/breaching maneuvers and then drop them wherever they need a static defense position.  However, because of their low reinforcement count, High Command has been combining them with the Night Raiders, and have had enough equipment left over to standardize the shield between the two.  That way, if the Gatekeepers have to abandon a defensive line, they can replace their shields with ones from fallen Night Raiders in the field.

Thanks for the clarification, and I appreciate the narrative side of things too :)

hmmmm to spend all 600 XP to get stealth sniper, or to go for the more orthodox "put points into BS, AGI and a T1 talent"

Stealth sniper gives you maybe 2 or 3 free shots? End of the day we all have to open fire at some point.

I stand by "You aren't hitting anything if you are pinned" and "You can't shoot if you're dead" so I always go for defense and willpower first. Ag + Dodge if you can get BS with it, then cool.

Granted I suppose you can always rely on the SG to let you reroll at average party XP for your replacement after you fail to dodge a rocket or something but you still aren't going to kill an ork while pinned.

EDIT: For myself I deprioritized Dodge because we use a different mechanic while mounted and we have Sniper rifles all around.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:52, Mon 19 Dec 2022.

Well, them being aware if your positions does not make them aware of mine, I planned to go into a little bit of indipendant operative style play, and I have the ambush talent for free, so stealth sniper basically hands extra free damage because of them being unaware of me.

Ideally they will be focused on the ogryn riding the Chimichanga full of shield bearing guardsmen regardless of their knowledge of our position.

In reply to Auberon Halfvek (msg # 57):

I am probably only getting a 1 round boost of my Ambush talent.. The round I come running into melee during a ambush and skewer someone on the good old Hunting Lance :D

Or carve em up with the Chainsword

Having us req you a hunting lance?

I got two of them, they where a option for regimental starting kit. The others being a Shotgun or Rippergun.. But as my BS is horrendous, I took the two Lance's to stab folks with.

Oh right you have the tons of options and Ogryn Weapons for some reason.

In reply to Crazy Aces (msg # 58):

Ambush does specify unaware, so they can't really know my position at all, hopefully my shots can get lost in the chaos of battle with the help of my stealth

Sure... That is predicated on Ambush being worth optimizing.

What if Slab held up a chimera door painted in cameleoline so people could hide behind it in between Ambush attacks?

man, my bad luck continues, as it seems

I Swear I'm cursed
This message was last edited by the player at 07:29, Mon 19 Dec 2022.

anyway, my character sheet is more or less complete, I'm ready to die for the emperor! (expediently, as it would seem, with my stats)

I'm pretty much done myself, except maybe to list out weapons and such.

Okay!  Since almost everyone is ready, and I haven't had any more RTJ requests, I will go ahead and close up applications and get you all in-character and rolling in some *SpongeBob rainbow hands* EXPOSITION!  Gimme just a few hours...

Okay, I got a quick and dirty intro sequence up as our first in-character thread, and dropped some setting info/lore in the Planet: Sisk thread.  Feel free to check it out!

Edit: We had one more last- minute applicant, so you're getting a Commissar!   I've closed applications, so this will be our group for the long haul.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:48, Mon 19 Dec 2022.

After some thinking I'll swap to Sanctioned Psyker.

In reply to Henry Payne (msg # 71):

Cool!  I'll swap your tags.  Let me know if you need any help filling in details, I'll be around for a few more hours.

I did all the rolling and entered it once I calculated the + and - from Regiment and such, I will finish the sheet tomorrow :)

So that frees up the Heavy slot for me....

Everyone has trash flavored heavies but still.

In reply to Crazy Aces (msg # 74):

Yeah, if you want it you're welcome to switch.

Ok. I have the sheet built already. Background stand up either way.

Hmm, what ye mean with this?

Heavy seems like a fun one to try out sometime.

Favored, not flavored. No good regimental favored weapons to get for free.

Autocannon's are decent no?

Ya, I saw that and forgot about it. I'll have to have you get me one. Autocannon isn't Decent, it is best boy. Litterally the only gun anyone needs. Really the sharpshooter taking heavy weapon proficiency is the actual best move.

Really it's that Space Cowboys favored weapons sucks. Because it is a default heavy choice. So we basically don't have one.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:32, Mon 19 Dec 2022.

Hey everybody. You thought you could get away without Big Brother watching over your shoulder. Think again!

Welcome!

I wonder what psychic powers I'm gonna go with...

In reply to Crazy Aces (msg # 80):

Stubber isn't bad..

But I think its a option for Heavy Gunner to begin with.. Upside should be easy to get replacement bits then.

Also welcome to our Commissar

Not bad, other than being only Full Auto and being otherwise only a few points of damage over a typical main weapon. The Heavy Weapon companion advance makes that first way better but still you aren't going to get 8 DOS on an attack so the fire rate is irrelevant other than you have to reload it every 10 rounds.

Autocannon on the other hand is the idea weapon 300m range tied with a Las Cannon for longest range. Single shot for hitting things, Semi-3 so you can lay down suppressing fire. Damage only a few points short of a missile launcher firing off Krak Missiles. The only weapon that comes close is the two Autocannons strapped together pretending to be a storm bolter.

I literally brainstormed a regiment with Autocannons in everyone's starting Kit. It's only 300 for proficiency, worst case. It's still worth firing Supressing fire even with a -20 for non-proficiency.

In reply to Crazy Aces (msg # 84):

Fair enough..

If nothing else you should be able to operate the weapons on the Chimera effectively.

Sure. Your unit also gets a bonus to requisition an Autocannon. So it's still in reach. Statistically there should be a fair few laying on the ground.

In reply to Crazy Aces (msg # 86):

Course, we can always see if we can get one at some point.

I'd mostly want to get some actual armour at some point.

Oh the Six/Twelve then? :p

Think it's called something like that.

In reply to Henry Payne (msg # 82):

Pretty much any discipline works.  Pyromancy gives a lot of useful attacks, since the Flame condition is an amazing means of incapacitating tough opponents who might be immune to pinning, and Molten Beam would eventually help fill the anti-armor niche.

You could also get a lot of use out of Divination, since bearly every power in that discipline is useful in one way or another to the entire squad.

What kind of role do YOU want to fill with your powers?

Biomancy has a single target removal and a heal that both fit in the build with PR3. Also Warp Speed after everyone has their fancy second jobs.

Telekinesis is just generically all round useful. I like Pyromancy personally, but understand you will be pigeonholed into le blowshitup man, which is still cool.

I am always partial to Telekinesis.. But I just like the ability to yeet things at my enemies really...

As people have pointed out he will simple be worse at blowing things up than the rest of us. Like molten beam is just worse than a Melta gun, sure we need to get our hands on a Melta gun first but that's a dozen requisition rolls from now vs 1900XP he's blowing to do it.

Telepathy has all the mind control and a lot of non-combat uses. But I still vouch for Biomancy, Enfeeble is too cheap and too good (maybe not on Orks except the last couple in a squad), Endurance is magical healing.

EDIT: Also Smite is better than Spontaneous Combustion or Assail. Cuz Psychic Barrage.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:00, Tue 20 Dec 2022.

I'm probably gonna go with either Biomancy since he is part of a Close Assault Regiment and it fits or with Telekinesis and some Telepathy :)

Good morning!  Time for your daily shitpost:

Average Only War Tank Crew vs Typical Eldar Ghost Titan

You're welcome.

And the sheet is basically done, yay!

wow, reroll my low WS score of 26 and end up with a 24. Dying over here.

Ouch.. So you'll be the opposite of me then.. Suck in melee, but a good shot?

And then I rolled nearly max for Insanity. 24 on a max of 25.

I've seen things...

Seems it might end up that way, but then I won't have to worry about missing with my summary executions...

Were we rolling straight down? I assumed not when he said it was reroll lowest.

I went with the way the book describes it, which is roll down for each stat one after the other in order. At least the way I read it.

"Assign the results add you see fit"
In the CC thread

I did a roll and assign myself and took a entire mulligan instead of re-roll.

To say nothing for the fact that straight rolling is very quirky but fundamentally bad design. Adding to the fact that forcing players to play a character that isn't good at what they want to do MIGHT work at a table but in a PbP it is just another reason for people not to post.

Even best case it drive "Die until I get to play the character I want" as a very degenerative play style.

Thank you, I missed that!

In reply to Crazy Aces (msg # 105):

I can tell you from experience even in a table it doesn't really work.

I mean it sorta did eventually work out for my last played 40k RPG in a table group.. But I had to turn away from the idea I started with and then it wasn't till Rank 7/8 and to much exp into WS and BS that I finally didn't suck so bad at those..

And that I had enough Insanity to just not deal with my shit low WP, because I just ignored Fear 3 due to a lack of sanity.

Where as something simple like buying a plasma gun or not investing in dodge could have gotten you a whole new character!

It works if you buy in and don't have any expectations. Like I've done D&D rolling straight down and it was fun. We just knew what we were getting into.

But for this we said what we wanted to play beforehand. That is already too much investment for straight stats to work.

In reply to Crazy Aces (msg # 108):

Yep.. I was going to be playing the RT in that group and luckily I didn't mess up my Fellowship roll there...

But I wanted to go with a somewhat Xenophile character, envisioned a agile melee character.. Only to truly roll shit on my WS... So by the end with a fancy as Best Quality Power Sword and maxed out WS I was passable in melee..

I did eventually drop that campaign for a multitude of reasons though, part because due to life happening we lost a player, replacement came in and due to plot stuff he became Warrant Holder instead of my char.. He promptly overshadowed my Char a lot in being a good socialite and commander.

Every wish list for items I ever sent to the GM always included an Eldar Powersword or Eldar Mirrorswords.. Never got any, not even when we where trecking through a Cursed Eldar Craftworld and came across dead Space Shark Terminators.... Instead I got a Ghost Blade..

In the end it wasn't worth it for me due to costs of getting to the table and the cost in missed work hours when money was tight.

feeling sick right now, flu probably. So will be a few days before I can post again

That blows. Hope you feel better soon

Wow, I just realized, even after reading through all of these posts twice, that Aleksandra and Zephyr have nearly the same last name. I'm so blind lol. I was putting together my first in game post and was looking up Zephyr's name to comment on her and smacked my head on the desk.

Today.. On I just realised something with a still somewhat fever addled brain.. Fun bit I missed this entirely as well.

Changed it on the Bellisamar Ellis island...

A joyous Sanguinala, one and all!

Seconded!  Bless you all, and for anyone travelling today may the light of the Astronomicon guide you safely home.

Merry christmas all

Anyone have big plans for the new year?

My wife's birthday is this weekend, so I have a hard time making plans.  However, once New Years is over I should be able to start cranking out the posts.

Awesome, happy new year all.

Happy new year!

I hope everyone had a safe and good New Year's Eve.

Just hung out at home for the night with the family because my oldest son was sick. Still a great way to end out the year.

So. I've lived more than 15 hours. This is a problem. Stuff needs to shoot at my space cowboy.

I can fix that for you...

I can't be relied on shooting you... Is stabbing accepted?

Strictly speaking. I'm mostly ok with the Commissar saying the wrong thing to the penal legionnaires and them executing each other. No GM post in almost 2 weeks, some activity might get his attention.

Guess not.

I have a feeling this is a case of GM gone poof.

Could be. They logged on last time we were posting, but didn't post anything in response.

I rmailed him to see if he was alive. Nothing yet.