The Big D

So.... Theres a lot of hate kicking around the internet at the moment. Off the back of LVO many blog posts and comments have abused the rerollable 2++ lists out there. But GW have introduced an easy counter to this yet the tournaments don't want to acknowledge it. So what would I do if I were GW? Find out after the break.
In essence sD is not broken, powerful yes but not broken. However a weapon is the sum of its states and not just strength. This, in my honest opinion, is the root issue, on a stompa getting across the table and punching stuff isn't that bad or broken. Even having ranged weapons wouldn't be all that bad so whats wrong...

Pie Plate
from http://www.thestrong.org/

Some time ago Apocalypse 40k  had a post regarding the 4th edd D weapons and how with the large templates they used it was a no brainer to take the D weapon over anything else, effectively making all other options redundant. 

While as I understand it they have reduced the Blast size to a large blast maximum (commonly know as a pie plate) the removal of partials still means that it's very difficult to avoid scoring lots of hits on troops and clipping vehicles is enough to explode them. So why take anything else as D weapon is an all comers weapon.

Obviously flyers can't be hit by them so thats one thing you have to worry about. But in a 1.5k list if 900pts is spent on your revenant you still have 600 for some anti air and scoring, not to shabby and enough backup for your Deathstar titan.

Basically (assuming I'm right about removal of sD apoc templates) it was a step in the right direction but not far enough. sD should be about concentrated firepower blowing up individual targets with a maximum of a small blast. By doing so, as discussed on Apocalypse 40k, you force a choice between the sD or a significantly larger template. It would make the choice for instance between sonic Lances or Pulsars one of roles as opposed to the no brainer Pulsars all the way balancing things up a little. 

Likewise the necron helstorm template should be s7 AP 2 and have a normal template for the sD effect potentially with Torrant to keep a little of the range.

The sD weapons are still one hell of a threat and worth the points currently charged, but are a solid counter to 2++ re-roles and a healthy fear of air and deepstriking AT. If targeting the large footprint of a super heavy scatter shouldn't be an issue but the lower hits per blast template means you'll need to concentrate more to ensure total annihilation of infantry.

All in all as we begin to pick up these type of units in our games I'll be suggesting the house rule for now. But maybe just maybe a tournament organiser might see this and consider this as an option. Keep sD and please don't go for s10 ap1 but by all means apply a simple fix because The D Rocks.

Tenacious D

As always comments are welcome and I would love to hear feedback.