It really was fascinating to read in the "Grim dark universe" of Warhammer 40k, that on these battle fields, you seem to have the ability to remove figures from the table using non-lethal means, just as effectively as if you had killed them with lethal weapons. If you wanted to imagine that all around you, off camera, armies are slaughtering each other with abandon, you can still do that, but this particular scenario has rules of engagement that involve the taking of prisoners (which in the case of the good guys, could even lead to future scenarios as you try to rescue your brothers before they break under interrogation). Still "honor the brave officers who fell in the line of duty... giving the last full measure of devotion to peace and the law" is pretty dramatic too.
Right, you want to keep the peace, subdue the suspects (for questioning) and recover equipment (valuable to national security and even recovering special tech for R&D) and provide propaganda for the state ("justice is served," the enemy are savage but we are civilized, "law and order").
So I've branched off now... from preserving the unique character, flavor and nostalgia for the German edition... to adapting the "idea" of transforming it from a slaughter fest to a kind of "round up the perps" police action logic of that version.
I was thinking the Bolt pistol doesn't have to fire explosive rounds that rip open enemies and kill them. They could fire Pepper Balls that cause pain and disorientation (less lethal to disable the target for capture). The Autocannon could be a stronger version of this with higher capacity/rate of fire.
The Plasma gun is a kind of flame thrower, but instead it could fire a high density foam that is both an irritant and an immobilizing agent.
The Rocket Launcher instead of firing a rocket tipped with a warhead that shreds its targets, it could be a kind of multi-sensory disruption payload that hits the targeted crowd with bright lights, sounds, and stunning force to knock them down (and knock out machinery).
The ability to swap out ammo is another easy conversion. The bolters have clips for the pepper ball type ammo, but also EMP type rounds that can be used against mechanical targets.
The little "bayonets" on the end of the bolters could be a couple of things. One I thought they could be like an injector of paralyzing agents or like a tazer (stabbing doesn't sever arteries and cause death, but provide a contact point for applying less than lethal electrical shock). Or it could be an actual blade (perhaps a vibro-blade) that would not be used to kill, but in the specialized hands of of the expertly trained GSG, to slice open armor, creating breaches into which the nerve agents can more easily be introduced.
The melee combat does involve fisticuffs and butt stroking (the technical name for "clubbing the dude with your weapon," I'm serious), but with the use of martial arts meant to subdue rather than kill. For example the "Axe and bolter" combo is the Axe being used (either with the flat as a bludgeoning instrument or the blade to open up breaches in the armor, or destroy the enemy's weapon) in conjunction with the bolter for the stun/nerve agent introduction. The "boxing glove and sword" combo works a similar way... enough force to knock the fight out of the enemy and bang up their armor but not to crush them into a pile of scrap and cut them into julien fries with the blade as in the standard version.
The Eldar Shuriken Catapult/Cannon is easily converted by imagining instead of little throwing stars that cut the target to ribbons like tiny razor blades, but more like barbed projectiles that affix to biological targets to apply tazer type effects. The weapons can also be re-tuned for mechanical targets, to penetrate machinery and apply small EMP style effects to disable the systems (but not enough to permanently damage the CPU/memory unit for later retrieval for processing at the station).
Adding a little mechanic of the Space Marines, Eldar passing over the enemies to capture them (tag and bag for teleportation back to the mother ship) could be added to complete the conversion. The GSG are equipped with high tech cuffs (plenty of pairs, whether you have two hands or four!), gags (for bitey Orks!
). Tag the enemy with a transporter dart so they can be beamed out. These darts require the target to be fairly still explaining why they can't just dart everybody and teleport them out without a fight. I also imaging the humor of a Dreadnought being led away in chains with its "head down." Now the Tarantulas might require some more thought, but I could imagine it as some kind of riot control gun that is just a higher capacity/rate of fire version of one of the other weapons. Like a super heavy webber or hot sticky foam dispenser.
You could also incorporate bounty hunters in this, wherein they get a higher reward for captures rather than kills (which might unfortunately happen in the course of a battle as they resist arrest).
I'm bringing you in!
Posted: January 20th, 2022, 4:06 pm
