Codex: Homeworld Gems (New! Improved! Steven Universe Crossover)

It's a shame you've recieved a poor reaction here from this, but taking two polarising subjects (that is to say, SU and homebrew) and fusing them together isn't going to result in a great reaction.

Nonetheless, I know next to nothing about SU, but I can still make some constructive criticism with regards to your homebrew rules. I'm going to say first that I don't particularly like Google Docs for navigating this sort of format but I gather it's what you're working in. At some point you might want to switch to some sort of word processor to make navigation easier for people trying to read your work.

Overall I think you've done well in terms of points but there are some things that are questionable in my mind. I don't see why Your sapphire prophet is so high in cost. I assume that's in part to account for the mastery level 2, but if you disregard that the difference between it and the nearest HQ character is +15 points for +3 initiative and -1 WS/BS which doesn't make much sense. I honestly think it would not be out of place to drop the Sapphire Prophet's base points cost by 20 points.

I'm not sure I personally agree with the mechanics of the Shard Platoon either. They're dirt cheap and fearless, and they lose their ObSec handicap as soon as you attach anything to them. Personally, I would contend for the sake of balance that you should make fearless an upgrade either as something one model takes as gear (which would lead to options for hard countering, which is good for balance), or as a +x points per model upgrade (which would lead to list building compromises which would be seen as more fair by opposing players).

I also think your dedicated transport is a little too good for it's points. It's got a very, very good weapon loadout, it's highly mobile (particularly when you consider Warp Pads and Deep Strike) and is capable of getting out of trouble by going into ongoing reserves. The only downside to it is the armour value (which is admittedly quite weak) but it's definitely frightening on paper. I would consider something along the lines of a small base points hike or requiring the base weapons to be purchased rather than starting as a set of 4 already. I also think your current max price is incorrect, since 100 (for the vehicle) + 40 (for the four rockets) + 20 (for the laser) == 160.

And now for a bunch of little things:

  • Dedicated Transports on your HQ is unnecessary. You have those transports as Fast Attack choices and on just about every other unit.
  • Warp Pad Network is very good for it's points on paper and having no limit is broken from a balance perspective. You might want to consider putting a conditional limit on it such as 0-4 Warp Pads per HQ in the detachment for balance reasons.
  • The wording for your second warlord trait should be changed, using the word "unlimited" is poor from a mechanics and player perception perspective. You should consider replacing the first sentence with "Blessings cast by the Warlord that can target friendly units may do so for any friendly unit within line of sight regardless of range.".
  • For the sake of balance the "Minimize" psychic power should probably specify "to a minimum of Ballistic Skill 1".
  • The "Replicator Wand" probably doesn't need to be 75 points. It's only particularly useful on a select few units and even then it's only useful while the bearer is alive. You could easily drop it to 60 points.
  • I can't immediately identify anything that improves Invulnerable Saves or the chance of successful rolls in your rules anywhere which strikes me as an odd choice. Since 4++ inv. save is a common thing within your rules, perhaps you should add a simple relic to improve invuln saves by 1 (3++ chance of success is 66%) or make them rerollable (4++ rerollable chance of success is 75%) or something to that effect.

And for one final point I'd like to suggest, you could probably make the rules more rules-like by dropping the use of gender pronouns. Most GW rules are written to use the term or "The model" or just "They" depending on the context so seeing gendered pronouns sticks out from a literature perspective.

/r/Warhammer40k Thread Link - docs.google.com