Post by daboss on Jun 13, 2013 13:00:44 GMT
Thing is it is entirely inconsistent. Fluffwise the thunderhawk is 26.6 meters long. It's 19 inches on the tabletop is about right for that.
Consider also that the models for an astartes and a guardsman are about the same height when space marines are supposed to tower over their unaugmented counterparts.
I wish that the scale were predictable and/or representative in any reliable fashion but it just isn't. Ultimately I am ok with that, if tanks and flyers were as big as they should be they would dominate the table. I kind of like that the infantry are not quite so dwarfed by them as they probably should be.
The sizes of things on the tabletop are really just a vague approximation at best.
I believe that the size is used more for equality. For example, if the Space Marine model was kept at its normal size, the eldar and IG would look like squats if it was supposed to be fluff proportionate. The shorter armies would be able to have better cover advantages (which would happen in real life), but it would upset some gamers. I do not mind the vehicle sizing but if they were proportionate, a Land Raider would take up a good chunk of any deployment zone.
As for the game rules, I hate flyer spam. While I have always loved the principle of blitzkrieg-style assaults, with air support hitting hard points for fast infantry, I find that people use primarily flyers, and that is just taking away from warhammer. I have yet to see a chaos competitive list that does not field over 2 heldrakes. Very few Necron lists are not composed of full flyer-transports and doomsday cannons (which are so annoying to fight). I started at the beginning of fifth, and that is where I had the most fun. Back when the Land Raider or a monolith is what brought fear to opponents. Not when walkers as tall as stompas or so many fighters dominated the field that there was almost no room to place infantry because of all the flying bases.
I have never had the problem with allies. My gaming group has never really used them. I have only used them when I needed just a point filler, in that case it was guard meltavet squad, psyker, and chimera. I dont really care for the system, it just makes things complicated. If there is going to be two armies, just do a 2v2 game.