40k by the Numbers (Codex Style)
Since I have far too much time on my hands and little to occupy my mind, I decided to engage in what, at first, seemed like a completely useless exercise: seeing how many points I could possibly cram into a Warhammer 40k army. My rules were simple; for a given army codex, I would attempt to fill the Force Organization chart with the most expensive combination of units possible, in order to find out the most expensive army one could field according the the standard unit limitations. In addition to the boredom this would cause in any normal mind, it's also pretty worthless; past 3000 points, Warhammer 40k uses the Apocalypse rules, which abandon the Force Organization chart. But oddly enough, I was able to get something useful out of this whole mess, as you'll see.
First, for the uninitiated, let me break down what the Force Organization chart is. Each army in 40k is divided into five types of units: HQ, Troops, Elites, Fast Attack, and Heavy Support. Every army begins with at least one HQ choice and at least two Troops units. You can have a maximum of two HQs, six Troops, and three each of Elites, Fast Attack, and Heavy Support. My exercise attempted to fill each of these slots with the most expensive option, or the option that would allow more expensive units to be taken in other spots. To save time and sanity, I only worked out the armies I play and am likely to face (that is, the ones my friends play). The results are as follows:
Maximum possible point values:
Orks: 11251
Codex Space Marines: 11075
Dark Angels: 9070
Blood Angels: 7645
Necrons: 5215
Some of these results are surprising. Given the generally low point cost of Ork units, it was unexpected to see them at the top of the heap. Likewise, with individual Necron and Blood Angels units being comparatively expensive, one wouldn't imagine them to be so low on the chart. As it turns out, the base cost per unit has very little to do with how many points one can cram into the Force Organization chart. Each army is designed to have units that are cheap but plentiful, or expensive but few; it tends to balance out across the board. Instead of cost, this exercise measures something slightly more interesting: versatility.
The word can have several meanings, so let me clarify; by versatility, I do not mean the overall effectiveness of units in different situations. A look at the results shows that's clearly not the case, since Orks favor assault pretty heavily, and yet find themselves at the top of the pile. Instead, I'm referring to the versatility of the codex, not the army. The more options available to the player, the more points can be spent on the rank and file. Effectively, these results show the relative variety of armies that can be built with each codex. Naturally, higher point value games will allow more variety, simply by offering more options. But below a certain point threshold, every army for a given codex starts to look the same. The above list provides an idea of where that threshold is. Even at 500 points, every Necron army looks 92% identical (that's an exact figure, by the way; at 460 points, every Necron army is the same). By contrast, Orks need to be dropped down to 115 points to enforce total army regularity. Since any army the Orks would be facing is bound to have a higher limit, the Orks will always have options to play with.
There is one other factor incorporated into the results: special rules for unit selection. Often, these special rules serve to increase the points you can cram into the Force Organization chart. They are closely tied to the above notion of versatility; if you can take an Elite unit as a Troops selection, for instance, you increase the variety of possible armies the codex allows. The Space Marines and Dark Angels have a fair few of these rules. The Codex Marines got their astonishing total largely because Marneus Calgar allows three Honour Guard squads to be taken, each of which clocked in at around 800 points. The Dark Angels pushed ahead in the pack by virtue of Ravenwing Attack Squadrons, which were used in place of less expensive Troop choices, and because of their ability to field a Techmarine (with options) for every Elite and Heavy Support vehicle. And the Orks owe their victory here to the Nobz, each unit of which cost over 1000 points (and two of them filled Troop selections). The major exception in this category was the Blood Angels. Their big special selection rule involves Death Company, which in a high-point game is largely free.
Remember, the totals reached above do not reflect the optimal army for each codex; only the most expensive. But they're still useful in comparing the relative variety of armies possible within each codex. In the future, I may expand this list to include all the Warhammer 40k codexes; a complete evaluation might be useful to someone who is new to the game and choosing an army for the first time.
Then again, I might just read a book or something.
-Sam
First, for the uninitiated, let me break down what the Force Organization chart is. Each army in 40k is divided into five types of units: HQ, Troops, Elites, Fast Attack, and Heavy Support. Every army begins with at least one HQ choice and at least two Troops units. You can have a maximum of two HQs, six Troops, and three each of Elites, Fast Attack, and Heavy Support. My exercise attempted to fill each of these slots with the most expensive option, or the option that would allow more expensive units to be taken in other spots. To save time and sanity, I only worked out the armies I play and am likely to face (that is, the ones my friends play). The results are as follows:
Maximum possible point values:
Orks: 11251
Codex Space Marines: 11075
Dark Angels: 9070
Blood Angels: 7645
Necrons: 5215
Some of these results are surprising. Given the generally low point cost of Ork units, it was unexpected to see them at the top of the heap. Likewise, with individual Necron and Blood Angels units being comparatively expensive, one wouldn't imagine them to be so low on the chart. As it turns out, the base cost per unit has very little to do with how many points one can cram into the Force Organization chart. Each army is designed to have units that are cheap but plentiful, or expensive but few; it tends to balance out across the board. Instead of cost, this exercise measures something slightly more interesting: versatility.
The word can have several meanings, so let me clarify; by versatility, I do not mean the overall effectiveness of units in different situations. A look at the results shows that's clearly not the case, since Orks favor assault pretty heavily, and yet find themselves at the top of the pile. Instead, I'm referring to the versatility of the codex, not the army. The more options available to the player, the more points can be spent on the rank and file. Effectively, these results show the relative variety of armies that can be built with each codex. Naturally, higher point value games will allow more variety, simply by offering more options. But below a certain point threshold, every army for a given codex starts to look the same. The above list provides an idea of where that threshold is. Even at 500 points, every Necron army looks 92% identical (that's an exact figure, by the way; at 460 points, every Necron army is the same). By contrast, Orks need to be dropped down to 115 points to enforce total army regularity. Since any army the Orks would be facing is bound to have a higher limit, the Orks will always have options to play with.
There is one other factor incorporated into the results: special rules for unit selection. Often, these special rules serve to increase the points you can cram into the Force Organization chart. They are closely tied to the above notion of versatility; if you can take an Elite unit as a Troops selection, for instance, you increase the variety of possible armies the codex allows. The Space Marines and Dark Angels have a fair few of these rules. The Codex Marines got their astonishing total largely because Marneus Calgar allows three Honour Guard squads to be taken, each of which clocked in at around 800 points. The Dark Angels pushed ahead in the pack by virtue of Ravenwing Attack Squadrons, which were used in place of less expensive Troop choices, and because of their ability to field a Techmarine (with options) for every Elite and Heavy Support vehicle. And the Orks owe their victory here to the Nobz, each unit of which cost over 1000 points (and two of them filled Troop selections). The major exception in this category was the Blood Angels. Their big special selection rule involves Death Company, which in a high-point game is largely free.
Remember, the totals reached above do not reflect the optimal army for each codex; only the most expensive. But they're still useful in comparing the relative variety of armies possible within each codex. In the future, I may expand this list to include all the Warhammer 40k codexes; a complete evaluation might be useful to someone who is new to the game and choosing an army for the first time.
Then again, I might just read a book or something.
-Sam