Calculating Points Values For Hypothetical Models / Units

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Darkprincess
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Calculating Points Values For Hypothetical Models / Units

Post by Darkprincess »

Hi guys;

Bit of a weird question here, but I'll ask it anyway...

Basically I want to know how points costs for models and unit etc are worked out. I know that aoS doesn't use points values but proper Warhammer Fantasy (as well as 40K) does, and I'm curious as to how these figures are arrived at. Is it just a case of someone at GW just plucking an arbitary number out of the air, or is there some kind of methodology at work?

The reason I'm asking this is because, as many of you know, I enjoy inventing new armies, races etc - some filling in gaps that GW never wrote lists for, and some derived from other sources (D&D, for example, as in the case of my ongoing Drow development), and I'd like to have a relatively simple method of working out suitable points values for the models. Now in the case of my Drow, I basically took the Druchii points values and tweaked them here and there, which is fair enough as they are very similar armies with similar unit types.

The problems start when I am trying to come up with points costs for armies that don't have a direct equivalent in Warhammer Fantasy (or even 40K) which could be used as a potential starting point.

Let's take a hypothetical example - say I was to write up a Myconid army list, taking the various creature types from D&D and making Warhammer-compatible versions of them, and let's say that I had already devised the various unit types, lord and hero choices, options, items, war machines and so on, but didn't already have points values attached to them. Is there any sensible way, for example, to derive a points cost from their statline?

eg. Let's say that a basic Myconid Warrior (such a model would likely be your standard rank & file core troops choice) would have a statline something like this;

M4, WS4, BS3, S3, T4, W1, I4, A1, Ld5

How would you go about calculating a sensible points value for such a model? Could this be derived from its stats, or is the preferred method just to take a random number? Or maybe to start at, say, 10, and then compare its stats with equivalent models in other armies and tweak the number until it "feels about right"?

I've often wondered how GW works this out.
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Re: Calculating Points Values For Hypothetical Models / Unit

Post by Calisson »

I recall reading here on D.net a conversation on that issue ages ago, something like around 2010...
Basically, it was mentioned that initially, there was such an algorythm, which has even been described in some old White Dwarf issue (you surely remember, once upon a time White Dwarf had interesting articles).
But after the initial point cost had been established, edition after edition, it had been adjusted and the initial model was lost.
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Re: Calculating Points Values For Hypothetical Models / Unit

Post by Darkprincess »

Wow that was a quick reply, thanks :)

Yeah I can remember when White Dwarf was a proper magazine, not just a GW catalogue (and a hugely over-priced one at that - but then again, it is GW...)

I don't recall ever reading that article though. Perhaps someone in here could let me know what issue of WD it was in, thanks :)
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Re: Calculating Points Values For Hypothetical Models / Unit

Post by Amboadine »

I remember reading it but really couldnt tell you which issue other than, way, way back.
If you have access to the 3e rulebook it might be possible to figure it out as you could customise your heroes in stages of +5 bonuses to the stats from 5 to 25 additional increments across the stats. Each with a points value assigned.
I will see if I can dig mine out this evening and take a look.

I think the balance was really lost once the influx of special rules for everyone started.
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Re: Calculating Points Values For Hypothetical Models / Unit

Post by Daeron »

I second that, Amboadine. There are many ways to attribute points to models. One is an RPG-like cost system where every upgrade from a baseline costs X points per model. But... Such systems don't capture synergy and tend to break between different types of models. IE: +1 WS doesn't cost the same on an infantry model with 1 attack or a dragon with multiple attacks.
Special rules tend to mix up such values anyhow. Perhaps special rules could be calculated as a percentage of the base model.

I tried to look into point cost systems, not just for WFB but for AoS as well... And I've seen a few posts on how they're trying to achieve it for 9th Age. There's a few approaches to it, but one important discriminator between the different systems: are you willing (and committed) to updating the costs and units?
If this is going to be a single release with limited playtesting and then no changes are allowed, then you need a very solid methodology and it's worth investing in it. But if you're willing to correct the document after a few months of gaming, then ballpark figures are sufficient and you get to spend more time on the design of the unit ... or playing with it ;)

For a good ballpark figure, I'd recommend these steps:
- With such a large catalogue of models, try to find one or two comparable models from the core armybooks and use their cost as a base reference
- Slightly overcost the model. It takes only one overpowered unit to break an army, but it takes a lot of unusable units to make an army unusable as a whole.
- If it isn't broken, don't improve for a few months.

From a theory point, this is an interesting problem though. I wonder if we could reverse engineer such a system by using the existing army books as input. I'm guessing we can, but there is an inherent weakness: by using armybooks as input, you're kind of assuming GW had the point costs right. Now I'm not saying they were completely wrong... but .... well... they weren't perfect either ;)
If you want some statistical analysis, let me know. That's right up my alley, and I could use another pet project ;)
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Re: Calculating Points Values For Hypothetical Models / Unit

Post by Shadowspite »

Amboadine wrote:I think the balance was really lost once the influx of special rules for everyone started.

Yeah. Any algorithm for calculating points cost from numerical attributes only is doomed to failure. You could theoretically come up with an algorithm that takes special abilities into account, by calculating the average in-game numerical effects of said abilities, but I would be amazed if GW ever actually bothered doing that. It's way more work than it's worth.

GW have stated explicitly in the past that individual units' points aren't calculated as a balancing mechanism between different armies, but only within their own army. Then each army is balanced as a whole against the others.

So any algorithm made for one army would not necessarily apply to any other army. 100 points of night goblin is not meant to be equivalent to 100 points of dwarf hammerer. How it works instead is that 1000 points of legal orc and goblin army is equivalent to 1000 points of legal dwarf army.

For example, let's say a hypothetical draft of a new DE army book has witch elves costing 10 points each. They do some playtesting and find witch elves are too good relative to other similar units like corsairs and bleakswords. So they up their points cost to 12 points each. More playtesting, and now they find 200 points or so of witches performs roughly as well as 200 or so points of corsairs or bleakswords. So that fixes witches at 12 points per model.

Now, they do some more playtesting and find DEs perform poorly against several other armies. Rather than going back and rejigging individual DE unit costs, they globally lower all DE costs by 1 point per model. So witch elves end up at 11 points per model, but corsairs and bleakswords are also 1 point cheaper than they were before, so internal balance is maintained.

Internal and external balance are adjusted entirely independently.

They also sometimes want a particular unit/model to have a specific points cost, regardless of other factors. In that case, they add/remove/tweak individual attributes and special rules. To continue our witch elves example, say Gav Thorpe has this deep belief that witch elves should cost 13 points per model because that's Khaine's sacred number or some such rubbish. So, instead of changing their points value, they would give witch elves an extra attack or a special rule that makes them fight better, then fiddle about with it until they feel right for 13 points per model.

A unit can also be balanced by being 'too cheap' for how good it is, but limited in numbers by being a 0-1 unit or a Rare choice or whatever. Or, conversely, by being overcosted but common, the army's basic main unit type that everyone has to take, balanced out by the rest of that army being a bit on the strong side. Or by synergy with other units. Or by having some unique quality so that they're worth taking even if they cost 'too many' points, because they can do something nothing else in that army can do (the obvious example here is spellcasters - they have awful stats but no matter how expensive they are, you need one to fend off enemy spells if nothing else).
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Re: Calculating Points Values For Hypothetical Models / Unit

Post by Calisson »

In 9th Age, they went through the process of pricing the units in a balanced way. Funnily, in order to give MSU a chance, they ended up with different pricing per model, usually lower for the first ones belonging to the minimum size, and higher for the following models. Proof that the equation, if any, cannot be limited to the price of a single model, but has to take into account the synergies.
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Re: Calculating Points Values For Hypothetical Models / Unit

Post by Darkprincess »

This is turning into quite an interesting discussion, considering it started with what I thought was quite a simple question :)

One thing has certainly come from all of this though - that it's a whole lot more complicated than it first appears to be.

Answering a couple of the points that were raised by Daeron, if I may, first of all, the armies that I've come up with over the years are primarily just one-offs, created for the pure fun of developing lists, but of course if something proves not to be working right in practice, then I'm more than happy to let it be tweaked in order to mske it better. Nothing can ever be set in stone I think as there are just too many variables, not least of which is the way that different players would be likely to approach the list in order to build their own army from it.

We don't get enough games on a regular basis to be able to properly playtest this stuff, but when we have tried out some of my insane army projects, we've generally just played it small-scale, with the minimum number of models per unit as specified in the list (for example, a core unit might be 10+ models, in which case we would field 10 models in that unit for basic playtesting - later on, if it seems to work right, we may attempt a larger game. Obviously with an army created from scratch (such as some of the D&D adaptations I've come up with), this can get a bit confusing at times since most of the time all the models will be proxied from our existing armies (My DE standing in for Drow, for example, though that particular one isn't so bad as they're similar enough anyway)

On your second point about potentially reverse engineering the old army lists to come up with some sort of rough formula (it wouldn't need to be accurate - just ballpark, something to use as a starting point for future army creation), this might indeed be a fun project, and not one that I'd even considered (Normally I just take the nearest equivalent unit type in other armies and take their points costs as a starting point but that really isn't a great way to do it I think. There has to be a better way, so if you're prepared to put your time into playing with this idea, I'd be very interested to see what comes out of it :)

I seem to be better at coming up with ideas for armies and units etc, than I am at working out all the numbers for them :)

I did some digging through old documents this morning and I found this. Not sure where this came from, but I believe it was the formula used for 1st edition 40K, so probably not ideal for Warhammer Fantasy, but it's an interesting read, though not always 100% clear in that you'd have to go some to end up with an expensive model using this system (expensive enough for the Points Value Modifiers to come into play anyway - somewhere there would have to be a table of additional stuff to make up the values of other stuff, unless this was only for basic core-type troops);


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The stats were all based on a basic human costing 5pts. Any deviation from the basic human stat costs/saves points.

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Int Cl WP
0.25 0.5 0.25 1 1 4 0.25 4 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25

For a marine, this gave a value of 8 pts (+0.5, +0.25, +1, +0.25, +0.25, +0.25, +0.25, +0.25 = +3 to the basic human 5). Added to this, power armour cost 6pts and a bolter cost 2 pts, so in 1st edition, a marine cost 16 pts- not far from it's current cost (although the stats and equipment has altered- power armour now upped to 3+, toughness upped to 4, Intelligence, Cool and will power discarded)

If the base points exceed 10, then this value is then multiplied by the factor shown below

For example, a human minor hero was
M WS BS S T W I A Ld Int Cl WP
4 5 5 4 4 2 5 2 8 8 8 8
Which comes it at 18 pts, after applying the modifier he/she became 36pts without equipment.

PV Modifier
11-15 x 1.5
16-20 x 2
21-30 x 3
31-40 x 4
41-50 x 5

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A bit of searching online turned up this article on DakkaDakka;
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/po ... 02022.page

There is an excel script to download there which claims to be pretty good (40K again sadly though, but maybe adaptable for fantasy) but for some reason it won't open on my system - I'll have to try again later.

There has to be a way to do this calculation though - probably not accurately or balanced, but it must be possible somehow...
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Re: Calculating Points Values For Hypothetical Models / Unit

Post by Calisson »

The Excel sheet works fine. It is for 40k Space Marines indeed.
It calculates tons of stats in addition to the pts cost. No time nor appetite to investigate.
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Re: Calculating Points Values For Hypothetical Models / Unit

Post by Vulcan »

Of course, such a linear calculation doesn't work all that well in WFB. S4 gains beneifts beyond S1-3 in that it reduces armor. S7 is big because it wounds T5 monsters on a 2+. Strength in general has a bigger impact on models with high WS and A. And a model with low I may find out it doesn't matter how much S it has because it's usually dead before it ever gets to swing.

So just costing S properly by formula is a complex process. Now repeat that for all the other stats...
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Re: Calculating Points Values For Hypothetical Models / Unit

Post by direweasel »

Yeah, I was always told the 5 points for a human with a sword as a baseline, and then work up or down from there. I'm pretty sure there's ample fudging that happens beyond that point though.
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Re: Calculating Points Values For Hypothetical Models / Unit

Post by Darkprincess »

OK, I've been doing a bit of work and research on this over the past couple of weeks, and I thought I'd update you on my initial findings and thoughts;

I must give a shout out to the guys on the Miniwargaming Youtube channel who have come up with a mechanism for making AoS playable by introducing a points system, and the way I'm doing this here is based on their work, so kudos to you guys... The way they've done it is thus;

Take the model's Wounds, add the number of Attacks and multiply the result by the Bravery. This appears to work reasonably well for infantry or cavalry models. For monsters and war machines, add a x2 multiplier at the end. For models with D6 attacks (the example they used was a Doomwheel), take the average on the high side, so for D6 that would be 4 so use 4 as the number of attacks.



Now by using this algorithm, and replacing the Bravery stat with Leadership a basic Witch Elf comes out at a rather expensive 16 points (1 wound plus 1 attack, multiplied by 8 Ld). However, if we were to do the calculation by simply adding all three together rather than multiplying W+A by the Ld, then the result would come out at 10 (W + A + Ld) which is the same as the official cost in the 7th Edition DE book, although they were 13 points in 6th edition.

Based on this, a Hag comes out at 11 points rather than the official 20, but that's OK as the Hag is a command upgrade anyway, so at this point, the numbers are working properly if we use the algorithm to generate a basic points cost and then do the upgrades as per the normal method (ie. +10 for the champion, +5 for the musician and +10 for the standard bearer)


OK, let's see how a few other DE units work out;

DE Warriors are coming out expensive at 10 points (their W, A and Ld are the same as the Witch Elves) whereas (in 7th edition) they are 6 points each, with a +6, +3, +6 command upgrade table. However, in 6th edition, they are 9 points each, with the usual 10-5-10 command group, which is a bit closer, although still a point too high.

OK, we could (at the risk of slightly overcomplicating it) add a modifier for the unit type, thus;

Since the Witch Elves (a Special Choice in 6th and 7th - not sure about 8th as I don't have the book) came out at the correct points cost based on W+A+Ld, we will say that there is no modifier for Special Choices, so this becomes the baseline.

Now if we apply a -1 modifier for Core Units, the DE Warrior points cost comes out at a correct (for 6th edition) 9 points.


Modifiers:

Lords: x3
Heroes: x2
Core: -1
Special: +2
Rare: x2 (not really used in the examples below, though it would fix some units break break others)

Monsters: x2
War Machines: x2
Swarm: x2
Skirmishers: +1
Undead: +1
Scouts: +1
Flyer: +3
Cavalry: +2




Testing The Concept
OK then, here's how the basic method applies to Dark Elves (6th Edition). Note that I haven't included Lord or Hero units in this as yet - they are complex with lots of special rules and I'm trying to establish a basline method here. Once I get this reasonably accurate, I'll be happy to look at these unit types too.


Core Units:

Dark Elf Warrior

W+A+Ld=10 -1 (Core Modifier) = 9. This comes out correct for 6th Edition

Corsair
W+A+Ld=10 -1 (Core Modifier) = 9. This is one point too low (Should be 10 points) which is strange because Corsairs and Warriors have exactly the same stats). Presumably the Sea Dragon Cloak adds that extra point. If we say the cloak is a shield (see below), then on a warrior this costs +1 so that comes out right at 10 points. So far, so good...

Dark Riders
Rider - W+A+Ld=10
Mount - W+A+Ld=7
So add these together to get 17. -1 for being core, we get 16 where the official cost is 18. Maybe they get a +2 for being cavalry, which would again get the numbers correct.


Special Units:

Shades

W+A+Ld=10. Official cost is 14. +1 for being skirmishers still comes up 3 short. You could add another +1 for being scouts but it's still 2 points shy of its target. Perhaps, instead of dispensing with the zero-modifier for Special, we could add a +2, which would then bring the numbers into line with the book.

Witch Elves
W+A+Ld=10. Should be 13. No modifier for Special. You could add +1 for poisoned attacks but would still be short. Adding a +2 for Special would put this correct though.

Cold One Chariot
Crew are not given wound stats in 6h edition (neither are the two cold ones), so A+Ld=9
Chariot has 4 wounds
Cold Ones 1 attack but no Ld, so;

there are two crew so 9x2=18 plus 4 wounds (for the chariot) +1 (cold one attack) comes out at a measly 23 points whereas it should be 95 points, so it's tough to see what's going on here. Of course the chariot has a 4+ atmour save, so if we multiply our result by 4, we get 23x4=92 points which is in the ballpark, but adds an extra degree of complexity) If we take armour saves into account, then the +1 for a sea dragon cloak would only work on the corsair if we add it to the basic points value after the core modifier has been applied, rather than multiply it. Of course if we use armour saves as a multiplier, as in the case of the chariot here, then the corsair comes out at the accurate 10 points before the -1 core modifier is applied. Of course we could dispense with the -1 modifier, but then the basic Warrior costs the same as the corsair, since they have the same stats. Even if we consider the other stats such as WS and BS etc, whichever way you cut it, the DE Warrior and the Corsair have exactly the same statline - the only difference is the cloak. Of course if you consider the sea dragon cloak to be a shield (Corsairs cannot take shields in 6th, but warriors can, at +1 per model), then the numbers work out correctly, with the corsair costing one point more than the basic DE warrior
So given that our chariot worked out at 92 points and that we have a +2 for Special, then we're once again within one point of the official cost. So if we take the final points cost and multiply it by the armour save, then in this case at least, we are coming out very close to the actual cost (I would suggest that getting within 5-10% is an acceptable margin of error)

Cold One Knights
Rider:W+A+Ld=10 (seriously all the DE elves have the same stats)
Mount:W+A+Ld=5, so adding these together we get 15. Now using a 2x multiplier for the armour save, it comes out at 30 points. Then add the +2 for special and we're just three points (10%-ish) over the official figure, then +2 for Cavalry, giving 34.

Executioners
W+A+Ld=10
+2 for Special = 12. Actual figure is 11

Harpies
W+A+Ld=8
+2 for Special = 10. Actual figure should be 13, so let's add a +3 for being a flying unit to get the points right.


Rare Units:
Based on the work done by the guys at Miniwargaming, I'm going to apply a x2 modifier to monsters, war machines and Rare Choince infantry units, so let's see how this works out;

War Hydra
Hydra - W+A+Ld=17
Apprentice - W+A+Ld=10
There are two apprentices, so we'll add their points together to get 20m, then add the 17 for the Hydra to come out at 37 points, instead of the required 220. OK, it's a monster, so we'll apply our x2 multiplier, and we still only get 74. We could modify this by adding a x3 multiplier for it being a rare unit, which would then give us a nice 222 points, which is almost spot-on, but then this will screw up the points calculation for other rare units such as the Black Guard. So let's stick to the armour saves method once again. If the War Hydra had a 3+ armour save then we could use that x3 multiplier. Of course with a 4+ this screws the pooch as it brings the cost up to 296 points. It's fairly difficult to work out exactly what's going on here - I think it's reasonable to be able to come up with a broad formula for calculating the points costs of core and special infantry or cavalry units.

Black Guard
W+A+Ld = 11. x2 for being Rare Infantry = 22. Official cost in 6th edition is 16 points, so this comes out way overpriced. Maybe Black Guard don't belong in the Rare Choices anyway...





OK then, let's look at a couple of other armies and see how the algorithm holds up;


Case Study #1 - Skaven


Core:


Clanrats: Official cost in 6th edition = 5 points. Using my formula = 7 points, with -1 for being Core = 6. You could add a Horde Unit modifier to this in that units of 20+ models get a -1 for being a horde. That would bring the cost to the correct 5 points.

Stormvermin: Official = 8 points. Calculated = 7 points, with -1 for core = 6. You could add +1 for heavy armour bringing it back to 7, although heavy armour is usually +2 iirc, which would correct it again.

Rat Swarm: Official = 45 points per base. Calculated = 40 points (W+A+Ld=20 x2 for being a swarm) +1 for skirmishers = 41 points

Giant Rats: Official = 30 points/pack. Rats = W+A+Ld = 5. Packmaster = W+A+Ld = 7. Add these together to get 12. This doesn't work. Of course a pack consists of 6 rats at 5 points which gives the required 30 points, but then you end up with 37 if you add in the cost of the packmaster. It's a Mixed Unit so maybe you could add a couple of points penalty for that, or you could simply ignore the packmaster and get the right result. This one isn't working quite right, and don't forget the -1 for being Core. Then adding the packmaster would give 36.

Night Runners: Official = 5 points. Calculated = 7 (W+A+Ld=7, -1 for core, +1 for skirmishers)=7

Clanrat Slaves: Official = 2 points. Calculated = 3 points (W+A+Ld=4, -1 for being core). How about we add a -1 modifier for being expendable? - that would bring the cost into line with the book. Bear in mind that this would also apply to the Rat Swarms above, bringing their cost to 40 points instead of the canonical 45

Poisoned Wind Globadiers: Official = 10 points. Calculated = 7 (W+A+Ld=7, -1 for core, +1 for skirmishers). We could give a +1 for poisoned attacks, bringing it up to 8. Or maybe a +3 instead to get it back to 10, but this would make the Witch Elves 2 points overpriced, so for now, we'll settle for these guys being a tad cheap)


Special Units:

Gutter Runners:
Official = 12 points. Calculated = 13 (W+A+Ld=9, +1 for skirmishers, +1 for scouts, +2 for special = 13)

Jezzails: Official = 20 points. Calculated = 20 (W+A+Ld = 8, +1 for skirmishers = 9. There are two skaven per base so we double the result, giving 18, then add the +2 modifier for being Special. Note that we're only adding the +2 once as the unit is on a single base :)

Plague Monks: Official = 6 points. Calculated = 9 (W+A+Ld=7, +2 for Special). So this one comes out as a quite a bit (50%) overpriced. Maybe I'm missing something here.

Rat Ogres: Official = 50 points. Calculated = W+A+Ld (Rat Ogre) = 11. W+A+Ld (Packmaster) = 7 =18. +2 for being special = 20. We could use the x2 Monster multiplier to bring it up to 40 points but it's still way short of what it needs to be.


Rare Units:

Plague Censer Bearers: Official = 17 points. Calculated = 16 points. W+A+Ld = 7, +1 for skirmishers = 8. x2 for being Rare Infantry = 16. I'm not going to look at the Warp Lightning Cannon at the moment as it has a complex attack method which is currently outside the scope of this article.

Findings from the Skaven Test Case
OK, in conclusion, the system has worked reasonably well for the Skaven, especially in terms of basic infantry-style units. It starts to break down with mixed and otherwise more complex unit types, but on the whole, in most cases, I've been able to get pretty close to the actual points cost using this calculation. Of course it doesn't really take account of varying WS and BS between units, but this would of course, make it much more complicated, although that is something that I would like to look into at some point.





OK, on to our other test case army, this time, Tomb Kings. Once again, I'm going to leave out the Lords and Heroes and just concentrate on the rest, to keep things reasonably simple;

Case Study #2 - Tomb Kings
Note: I'm going to give a +1 for being Undead and for "it came from below"


Core Units:

Skeleton Warriors:
Official = 8 points
Calculated = 5 (W+A+Ld = 5, +1 for being Undead, -1 for being core)

Skeleton Light Horsemen: Official = 14 points. Calculated = 16 points (Rider W+A+Ld = 7, Mount W+A+Ld = 7 = 14, +1 (undead) -1 (core), +2 (cavalry) =16

Tomb Swarm: Official = 45 points. Calculated = 43 points (W+A+Ld = 20, x2 for being a swarm, +1 for poisoned attacks, +1 for skirmishers, +1 for undead, +1 for It Came From Below), -1 for Core = 43)

Skeleton Heavy Horsemen: Official = 16 points. Calculated = 16 points. Mount: W+A+Ld = 7, Rider W+A+Ld = 7 = 14, +1 for undead, -1 for core, +2 (cav). Note that this makes the heavy cav the same price as the light cav, so something needs tweaking. The only difference in the units is that the light cav have bows and no shields or armour, while the heavy cav have light armour and shields. If we add +1 for each of these then the points cost for heavy cav would be two points more than the light cav, as it should be, but still both units two points too high.

Chariot: Official = 40 points. Calculated = 30 points (W+A+Ld = 6 +1 (undead) = 7, -1 (core) = 6 x5 (AS) = 30. Chariot has 3 wounds and 5+ AS. Crew have one attack each as does the steed. Nothing has and Ld.


Special Units:

Tomb Guard:
Official = 12 points. Calculated = 13 (W+A+Ld = 10, +2 (special) +1 (undead). These guys have light armour and shields, so if we were to allow the extra two points for this as suggested above, these would now be three points overcosted.

Ushabti: Official = 65 points. Calculated = 36 points W+A+Ld = 16, +1 for undead, +2 for Special, x2 for Monster (well, it's on a 40mm base) = 36. Once again, the system breaks down once you get away from basic infantry models. More investigation is needed here.

Carrion: Official = 24 points. Calculated = 28 points. (W+A+Ld = 8 +2 (special), +1 (undead), +3 (flyer), x2 (monster) = 28

Tomb Scorpion: Official = 85 points. Calculated = 20 (W+A+Ld = 16, +1 (undead), +1 (It came from below), +1, poisoned attacks, +1 (magic resistance), +2 (special), +1 (killing blow)
= 23 x2 (monster) = 46. Still only just over halfway to the proper cost, even with extra points added for magic resistance and killing blow). Maybe this is something to do with armour saves again... Perhaps the x2 Rare Modifier would fix this (although it would screw up stuff that relies on the AS for its points)


Rare Units:

Screaming Skull Catapult:
Official = 90 points. Calculated = 42 points. Catapult has W3, skeletons have W1, A1, Ld3. so 3x skellies at 5 each = 15 +3 for the catapult wounds = 18. +1 per skellie for being undead = 21, x2 for being a war machine = 42. Even a x2 for Rare Choices would still come up 6 points short (and would seriously mess up so of the rare units in other armies)

Conclusion
OK, in conclusion, the system is working for core and special units (infantry and probably cavalry too), but once you get into monsters, machines and other weird stuff, it starts to come apart a bit. Perhaps there's an alternative algorithm for wotking out those type of units, but on the whole, I think this method works well enough to generate ballpark points values for invented and/or customised units.

I'm going to do much more work on this, as I feel there is something here, but it's going to need a bit of fine tuning...
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