House Rules?

[Nuadha]

Played my first game today. My opponent and I talked after the game and we were thinking we would like a house rule that figures generally had to shoot at the nearest opponent, unless they are shooting at a creature with a larger size base. I was thinking that you could still choose to shoot at the next nearest guy, but it would require a DIS check, which would allow characters a better chance to ignore the regular joes and shoot at the Warlord or whatever. What do folks here think and are there are any house rules for the game you like and suggest?

[Castlebuilder]

The core rules are desingned to be as simple as possible without a lot of restrictions. That being said, they are also very flexible and can adapt to house rules such as the one you propose very easily. If that is how your group wants to play it, it should work just fine.

[jdripley]

My opinion here, but this is my take on archery in general:

 

The attack values (RAV) on archers, generally speaking, are fairly low to begin with. 3 or 4 is a common number for a regular soldier with a bow. The vaunted Vale Archers of the elves only have a RAV of 3. Most elites or leaders that I would consider to be real threats on the battlefield have DVs of 11-13, meaning that somewhere around one in 10, maybe 2 in 10 arrows will actually land. That makes the "important targets" pretty tough to take down with arrows. Regular soldiers without shields are perfect targets for archers. Anything with a DV of 9 is hit half the time with RAV 3.

 

In general I initially try to use archers to thin the ranks of the regular soldiers of my opponent - and typically that means shooting the closest enemy models, as most players lead their charges with regular soldiers. So it is less of a house rule issue and more of a realization that within a turn or two those enemies will be in melee, and I'd better try to make my few shots count as they come running in!

 

Later in the game as models begin getting really messed up, if I've managed to keep some of my archers alive, I like to use them to finish off weakened enemy models. At that point I will absolutely go after a leader or elite with an archer, but that's usually the first time I'll try it in a game.

[Ddot]

As long as you keep in mind that "house rules" are just that, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

One thing to consider is that "must shoot closest target" could become a way to cheese out of the "declare then measure" core rule- in other words, a way to get some pre- measuring in; ie, declaring a target that is probably a little furthur out, then checking to see if he "must" shoot a target that is actually closer and measuring a few distances. Heck, it could even happen unintentionaly. So I'm not a fan , but if you and your friends can live with that, go for it.