40K Physics: The Rhino Conundrum, a Corollary

Um.  Yeah.

Suppose I'd better explain the title.

(And be warned, this so-called 'article' - and the term is used only loosely here - wanders more than even the normal offering from Brent's Empty Digital Headache.)

Lately I've been working on a series of articles: first up is Daemons 2012, looking at evolving the list to face today's modern armies; then, following Brian's suggestion and our mutual aid society for Adepticon, I started work on the Generalist Necron Reviews.

(Brian:  It would have been easier to suggest a list, I know!)

The Daemons articles made fairly good progress, the ultimate goal being fine-tuning them and shipping them off to Kirby to complete a long-delayed promise.

(Kirby:  The dice are awesome!  Now I need some Kirby objective markers...)

(Sigh.)



Since blogging is all about links, links, mutual *SELF-EDIT*, and more links, here are the aforementioned articles in all there glory.

Can Daemons Be Updated for 2012??
Daemons 2012 Part II
Daemons 2012 Part III
Daemons 2012 Part IV
Necrons Generalist Review Part I
Necrons Generalist Review Part II

(Go ahead.  Read them.  We'll be waiting right here.)

* * * 

(Any day now.)

* * *

(Finally!)

The physics reference pays tribute to the book I'm currently reading, A Universe from Nothing by Lawrence M. Krauss... and a finer book on theoretical physics and cosmology I have not read!  Wonderful, mind blowing stuff, and all you sci-fi types should have a go.

I've always admired physics and envied physicists.

Why?  Here's all the highbrow concepts I could want... but I don't have the language to really appreciate it!  Translators have to dumb themselves down then finger-paint complex quadratics in stoneage stick-figures all whilst petting my stupid, dumb head.

I resent the *SELF-EDIT* out of it I do.

(If you think I take forever to get to the point, check out the intro of OffTopical Episode 28, Fine, Brent's Episode.  iTunes keyword OffTopical or, for those few who like direct feeds, follow this link.)

* * * 

So a comment on Part II of the Necron series highlighted something we should have known but didn't...

Link here!

...an Annihilation Barge's Tesla Destructor, with its AP of '-', has a -1 on the Penetrating Hit Chart against vehicles!

Honestly, we completely overlooked that in our playtesting of the 'Cron 'Dex recently.  Both the Client Pimp in Question and the Artist Formerly Known as Farseer Tim have used the Barge and we all missed it until recently.

The former finally figured it out; you can be he would have done so weeks ago if somebody was using it against him!

So in the conversation about the equivalency of the Annihilation Barge and the Rifleman Dread, you have to take into consideration the twin-linked Autocannons positive AP value.  The Barge is more survivable with greater freedom of movement, while the Rifleman has longer range.  The Barge can be upgraded with a Gauss Cannon, while the Rifleman can fight in close assault - albeit not so well.  The Barge is cheaper; the Rifleman more expensive.

The Barge has an effective AV of 13, while the Rifleman's Autocannon does not suffer from an additional -1...

It's pointless to quibble since they're not in the same race, much less the same army; for all practical purposes, they're fairly equivalent.  The negative modifier on the Destructor doesn't change much due to the Rhino Conundrum.

* * *

The Rhino Conundrum asks, "Why is a Rhino so useful when its so easy to destroy?"

Solving it out across multiple Codices revealed a new paradigm 40K physicists called 5th Edition, because the answer is, "It isn't."

If anyone is interested, we can solve out the Rhino Conundrum to demonstrate the point, but given its proof in observational evidence, I'm fairly certain we can all move on.

So here's the If-Then Statement; let's examine it for any truth...

One's primary goal in the shooting phase should be to shake or stun a vehicle before changing targets.

Mmm... just looking at this theory demonstrates it needs more work - a tightening up, if you will.  But since I'm due at work in, oh, twenty minutes, let's wrap this thing up in a bow and drop it on an unsuspecting Blogosphere.

The If-Then proposed establishes the practical usefulness of the Tesla Destructor, canceling out its AP '-'.  

Yes?  No?  Maybe so?