Chronocade Campaign Rules (Use these with HoR rules)

[The Supreme Emissary]

www.dropbox.com/s/dx3m06c371zbln2/Kill%20Team%20Roster.pdf?dl=0

Use the Kill Team Roster Sheet to more easily track your entire Force.
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The Chronocade campaign will feature a tweaked version of the HoR rules to allow players to complete a campaign in a reasonable amount of time.

Game Sizes 200-500

Universal Rosters
All Forces/Teams feature 1 Leader. If the Leader dies it can be temporarily replaced by a specialist. 
All Forces/Teams feature up to 5 Specialists.
All Forces can include up to 5 Groups. Each group can consist of up to 5 models meaning normally a force can have up to 25 core models.
Squads are core groups that are fielded as one unit and have a minimum model count. The maximum model count for the squad is double the minimum number (so a group that comes in groups of 5 can be maxed out at 10). A Squad counts as one group no matter what its size.
Artillery counts as a group including a weapon and a selection of gunners. Artillery counts as one group, no matter how many models it has.

Transports
All transports have a reduced point cost of -50p. This may make some transport models free. The excess points cannot be applied to other models. All Teams are allowed 1 Transport.
Transports  cannot have a combined armor value greater than 34. Drop Pods are the Exception.

Walkers
Light walkers are available to some factions and have their own damage table and maintenance costs.

Artillery and Gunners
If an artillery groups weapon is destroyed, the gunners may continue to act normally. if the gunners are killed or incapacitated the weapon remains in place. Other non-vehicle non-squad models can replace lost gunners in battle. Dead gunners must be fully replaced before the artillery group can be fielded again.

Allied Teams - HoR features a rule for Inquisition models being taken by other imperium forces, but lets take it a step further.
Any force can add models from another faction they are battle Brothers with.
Up to 1 Specialist, 1 Core Group (including squad types) and 1 transport can be taken from an allied faction, taking up their appropriate slots on your Force list.
- All Imperium factions are battle brothers
- All Eldar factions are battle brothers
- Chaos marines and daemons are battle brothers

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Bases
A player's Base adds certain features on and off the battlefield. The HoR rules make for a terribly drawn out process so use the following rules instead:

Base Upgrades - All Upgrades require Requisition Points to purchase and some come with a maintenance cost to keep using. Some Upgrades can only be accessed by players with a certain level of Renown.

RN 0 RP0 Tanglewire - up to 3 6" barricades/fences can be placed anywhere on the table. they cannot be destroyed and have no maintenance costs. (physical models)

RN 5 RP 5 Comms Relay - improves your reserve rolls, adds a comms relay to the field, acts as cover and can be destroyed. (Physical model)
+ RP 5 Target Designator - At the beginning of a game, mark a single enemy model. All of your models get a +1 to hit that model.

RN 10 RP 5 (not including upgrade points) Defense Turret - An automated sentry (BS2 fires at closest enemy) featuring a heavy weapon from that factions codex (cheapest option). The turret can be upgraded to a different weapon by spending the listed points difference. it can also be upgraded to Twin-Linked by paying for a second identical weapon (only needs to be done once, but further upgrades need to cover both weapons). it acts as cover and can be destroyed. (physical models)
* A Force can include up to 2 Turrets, each is paid for and upgraded separately

RN 15 RP 5 Shield Projector - Place a 25mm base anywhere in your deployment zone. any model fully within 3" (7"diameter circle) gains a 5++ invul save. doesn't act as cover, can be destroyed.
+ RP 2 Psi-shield - upgrade to shield generator. models covered by the shield get +1 to deny the witch.
* A Force can have up to 2 Shield Projectors. each is purchased separately (physical model)

RN 20 RP 10 Medical Facilities - Core and Special Injury Chart rolls +1.

RN 25 RP 10 Vehicle Hangar - Vehicle Damage chart rolls +1.

Base Equipment require RP to purchase and upgrade. The Turrets are upgraded using regular points. Base equipment does not take up any points on your Team List. Any destroyed equipment is replaced for the next game if you pay its maintenance cost. The maintenance costs of base equipment is its RP cost divided by 5 (1 or 2, tangle wire is free)

Destructible models count as having 1 HP and an AV of 10
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Legendary Weapons - HoR developed a generation system to create melee or ranged weapons that are potentially garbage or potentially devastating. In the normal rules players compete during missions for the rare chance to produce such gear. With how wild the quality can vary between results, these can be very frustrating quests compared to even the best possible results.
So instead, all players will get one chance during each narrative mission step to roll for a legendary weapon if/when they win a game in that step. The bigger the campaign, the more chances players get and the better the chance for a worthwhile result.
So, with one campaign step every week, every player who wins a game gets one chance owe week to roll for a Legendary Weapon.
Legendary Weapons can be given to leaders and specialists. They do not replace other weapons. They may be traded freely among these models. If one of these models dies, there's a chance heir legendary weapon is lost forever, or stolen by the enemy player. 
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Game and Board size - Kill Team games are played on a smaller 4'x4' table. saves space considering their vastly smaller points. The table can be effectively shrunk further to make better use of limited terrain pieces, which are meant to be relatively densely packed.
Games start at 200 points and increase by 50 points for each narrative step up to 500 points (meaning 7 event missions)
Tables are built on 2-4 boards depending on the point size of the game.
200-250 2 boards
300-350 3 boards long ways
400-500 4 board square
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Renown - After each game, everyone gains experience that unlocks access to battle honors and base equipment.
After a win, gain 1 renown. If you lose, you gain none.

Bigger rewards - the Requisition Point rewards are used to buy new models and upgrades. The rate of acquisition in HoRs rules makes collecting them a long and arduous process for a casual group like the one at Chronocade. So lets speed things up a bit.

Everyone starts their Force with 250 points. That's more than they can field in their first game but it gives them a backup core to keep them in the game if they lose.
Use all the achievement and reward rules featured in the HoR campaign rules and any mission rewards as listed.

All players receive RP rewards for playing a game.
- Point value of game 200-250 2RP / 300-350 3RP / 400-450 4RP / 500 5RP. Winners receive the full points. Ties split the rewards evenly among all players that haven't been routed, rounding down. 
- Gain 1RP for each opponent in the game.
- Difference in Renown may add or subtract RP. Add or subtract 1 RP from your rewards for each point of Renown difference between you and your opponent. In the case of multiple opponents only adjust for the highest and lowest Renown players.

[The Supreme Emissary]

Thoughts on Transports, Artillery and Walkers
Some HoR lists include walkers and artillery selected from codexes. Transports are found in their respective codexes.
So here's a list on available units and any thoughts. I don't have every codex so folks will have to fill in the blanks.

Sororitas
? Penitent Engine 80p CAV32 - An open-topped walker with a 6++, Rage, Dreadnought CCW and heavy Flamers
Sororitas Rhino 40p CAV32 - Like a marine Rhino but comes with a 6++ invul save and some different upgrades that are sisters specific
Immolator 60p CAV32 - Like a marine Rhino but comes with a different selection of free weapon turrets and the 6++
Repressor 75p CAV32 - An expanded Rhino that comes with a dozer blade and additional fire points as well as a heavy flamer

Skitarii
Dragoon 45p CAV33 - an open-topped walker that can take either a taser lance or a sniper rifle, very fast and comes with a cover save
Ironstrider 55p CAV33 - Equipped with a twin-linked cognis precision heavy weapon
* both are specialists and can take a maximum of 2 models in any combination.

Imperial Guard
Scout Sentinel 35p CAV30 - Specialists, can take up to 2. Chicken walkers that can feature heavy weapons
Chimera
? Solar Rapier Battery - like the marine version but with guardsmen gunners

Marines
? Dreadnought / Venerable 100p CAV34 - Heavy Support walker
Rhino 35p CAV32 - basic metal box, allows 2 shooters, seats 10
Razorback 55p CAV32 - Support transport with a TL heavy weapon, seats 6
! Drop Pod 35p CAV36 - A deep striking transport that seats 10. after dropping it uses its sentry turret
Land Speeder Storm 45p CAV30 - a skimmer that can seat up to 5 Scouts
? Thunderfire Cannon 100p - 4 shot barrage artillery that comes with a tech marine
? Rapier Gun Battery 40p - An artillery gun with 2 marine gunners. Can equip a Quad bolter, Laser destroyer, Quad Mortar or graviton cannon

Eldar
Vauls Wrath Support Weapon 30p 2 gunners - Artillery that can be upgraded with 2 different weapons. Counts as Core, max of 2
War Walker 45p CAV30 - Special, max 2. can be equipped with heavy weapons
Raider 55p CAV30 - seats 10, open-topped fast skimmer
Venom 55p CAV30 - Seats 5, open topped fast skimmer that comes with an invul save and splinter cannons
Wave Serpent 115p CAV 34 - seats 12, can come with all kinds of special gear making a very fast and survivable vehicle
Falcon 125p CAV 34 - Seats 6, comes with heavier weapon options
Starweaver 70p CAV30 - Seats 6, open-topped skimmer
? Tantalus 215p CAV34 - Seats16, a large open-topped skimmer with a pair of heavy weapons

Chaos
Chaos Rhino - same as regular Rhino
? Helbrute 105p CAV43 - a corrupted Dreadnought
? Defiler 195p CAV34 - A monstrous walker loaded with all kinds of Heavy weapons
? Forgefiend 175p CAV34 - a living machine with ranged weapons
? Maulerfiend 125p CAV34 - A living siege wrecker

Orks
Mek Gun 18p 2 gunners - A cheap artillery team with a variety of guns to choose from and can take additional crew
Killa Can 50p CAV32 - Special, max 2. A can is a flimsy walker with a choice of different weapon types
? Deff Dreads

Tyranids
The Tyrannocyte is a transport like a drop pod but is also a monstrous creature, barring it from use.

Tau

Necrons


The most dangerous walkers are the non-open-topped versions, like the dreadnought, defiler and Forgefiend. However their high points cost prevents them from being taken in earlier games. The relative points compared to infantry like terminators or elder with D-weapons  or even melta troops at those point levels, when placed in a close quarters environment give advantage to the infantry. 

Reducing the CAV limit to 33 like the GW KT rules, that eliminates all the big stuff. It takes away all transports from regular Eldar, which may be the toughest transports on the list.

The two listed Artillery pieces are the Eldar Vaul, which features a Destroyer weapon option and the cheap Ork Mek Gun. So why these and not the others that fall in between?
The Thunderfire cannon fires 4 barrage shots that can ignore cover. it makes a great threat even against spread out models and can smash those still in hiding. and coming with a 50p value tech marine makes for a great points value, but a weapon  platform that can tip the balance very quickly. So not allowing that can be understandable.
The Rapier Gun Batteries have a selection of weapons with single linear focus.
A quad bolter - a 4 shot twin-linked heavy bolter. Roughly equivalent to a bolter Centurion, but cheaper and easier to kill.
Quad Lascannon - 2 shot twin-linked lascannon. Like a land raiders side cannon, arguably less dangerous than two iron striders with cognis lascannons.
Laser Destroyer - a 3 shot ordnance twin-linked lascannon. A powerful and slow lascannon that is wasted on transports. Better if used against medium walkers or larger vehicles.
Quad Mortar - a 4 shot barrage designed to pin down its targets. Similar to the thunder fire cannon but with a 12" blind spot and less versatility. This unit would have to stay on the very back corner of a table, well out of normal reach for enemy forces, but the blasts risk catching allies very easily.
Graviton Cannon - slows units down over a large area and has haywire. An area control weapon. not as lethal as other weapon choices, but slowing multiple enemies down can offer a lot of situational advantage on a small board. 

The only walkers featured are light types, Killa Kans, Ironstriders, Sentinels and Eldar War Walkers. 
The Sororitas Penitent engine is missing from that list. 
Medium walkers like Dreadnoughts, Helbrutes and Deff Dreads while still under the CAV limit offer powerful defences and heavy weapons that can make them very hard to deal with except by other walkers, artillery, special weapon troops or melee focused specialists. 
Large walkers are very expensive and come with powerful weapons, making them as hard to deal with as Monstrous Creatures. Monstrous creatures are not allowed due to their overwhelming power in an infantry focused game. 

In a 500 point game, there is more room to allow for these bigger models. But they become behemoths on the table as well as huge point sinks, making it that much easier to rout the player if they go down. Though taking them down can be much more difficult than equivalent infantry. Or not! depending on how troops are equipped.

Some of the most usable artillery models are imperial guard and ork made by Forgeworld, making them a rare sight.
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Walker and Artillery models that should/could be added. 
Sororitas Penitent Engine (open-topped walker)
Guard field Guns, similar to heavy weapons teams
Rapier Batteries. Quad bolter or Quad Laser versions only. Barrage weapons are nasty, but there are some single shot weapons already included in HoR. 

What if Artillery was limited to 50p max each? I don't know the points values, but the powerful and cheap guard artillery seems to break things.  
What if walkers were limited to 100p max each? that'd allow dreadnoughts but deny Helbrutes. not really fair. probably best left alone. 
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Also, looking at point costs. some of these big options require so many points to acquire that it may be impossible for a player to gain them in the time frame of the campaign.

For Example, the Dark Eldar Tantalus, which fits the requirements for transports and can be filled with troops relatively easily. It costs 215 points, minus 50 points for the transport discount and its still 165 points.
You won't be able to use your starting points budget for such a vehicle. And with every 1 RP being traded in for 5 upgrade points for models and war gear, you'd have to consistently win a dozen games or more just to cover the cost of the vehicle itself, not including replacement models.

So at that point, what thet means is a 100 point model would cost 20RP not counting maintenance and upgrade costs. While you COULD get those points in time, you may never have the resources you need to make full use of them.

[The Supreme Emissary]

Sentry Turret Examples

Spend RP to build an automated turret. All sentry turrets are BS2 and automatically shoot at the closest enemy. Use the cheapest option from your respective Heavy Weapons wargear lists, or equivalent.

Space Marines
Heavy Bolter 10p / Heavy Flamer 10p / Multi-melta 10p
(all 3 are 10p, you can choose which one you want when you create your turret and swap between them for no additional points)
Missile Launcher 15p (Krak or Frag) /Plasma Cannon 15p
+5p upgrade each
Lascannon 20p /Assault Cannon 20p/ Gav-cannon 20p
+10p upgrade each

THen you can make the turret twin-linked by purchasing a second weapon of the same type currently equipped.
If you do so, further upgrades must include the point costs for both weapons.

Tyranid Bio-cannons
Barbed Strangler 10p
Venom Cannon 10p
Stranglehorn Cannon 15p
Heavy Venom Cannon 20p

Eldar
Shuriken Cannon 15p
Scatter Laser 15p
Bright Lance 20p
Starcannon 20p
Eldar Missile Launcher 30p

Dark Eldar
Haywire Blaster 10p
Heat Lance 10p
Splinter Cannon 15p
Dark Lance 20p

Tau
Burst Cannon 10p R18" S5 AP5 H4
Missile Pod 15p R36" S7 AP4 H2

[The Supreme Emissary]

There has been a broadly recognized problem with the HoR rules in the 'first win advantage'. Being that if a player wins their first game they tend to stay at a considerable points advantage compared to their other opponents. In some cases it becomes better to disband their army and start from scratch.
Combined with the decidedly slow RP gain built into the rules leaves players lagging so far behind that the winners may switch to a different list just to keep having fun.

For this campaign i've made adjustments to shorten the campaign time, increase the battle rewards considerably and added a 'resupply' mission specifically for players that need the support.
Hand out points at each narrative step has also been used, but i don't like that idea so much. There is a slight difference in getting ahead in points and just keeping up. with every week seeing a 50 point increase in game size, every player needs at least 10RP just to keep up, and that assumes no losses, which there will be.

SO! One idea i'm considering is increasing the starting budget from 250 to 500 points. Theoretically, this means players build their starting FORCE to resemble their final team, even though they won't be able to field them all in the beginning. This also means players will have plenty of replacement models already paid for in the beginning, allowing them to spend their initial points on base upgrades and allowing plenty of room for flexible shuffling.

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The HoR rules assume an unlimited FORCE pool but a limited TEAM roster. There's a typo i'm currently investigating, but an unlimited Force roster means that you can use your spare points to build backup leaders and spare vehicles.

By having a limited Force pool that resembles your final Team Roster you are eventually left with fewer back ups and veteran groups get harder to reinforce.
So it may in fact be better to use the original HoR force and team rosters.

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It also occurred to me that by giving transports a -50p discount, free transports like Rhinos and Drop Pods no longer have a maintenance cost, allowing you to always field these transports at full capacity no matter what. however most of these vehicles are flimsy and don't offer a great deal of advantage beyond being a shield.
transports that get past the 50p cost start to see synergistic advantages like the Dark Eldar skimmers, Razorbacks or an upgraded Land Speeder Storm.

[The Supreme Emissary]

Chronocade Campaign Tweaks

Alrighty so here's the active list of Chronocade tweaks. Use the HoR rules with the following amendments

Starting Point budget 500p
Game Sizes: 200-500p
Transport Discount: All transports cost -50p. This affects their maintenance costs.
No Legendary Heroes

Tables are built on 2-4 boards depending on the point size of the game.
200-250 2 boards
300-350 3 boards long ways
400-500 4 board square

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Force Size: 1 Leader, 5 Special, 5 Core Groups, 1 Transport
Team Configuration requires 1 Leader and at least 1 Core group for any game.
Transports can be taken and fielded at any time. They can be replaced with a different vehicle by purchasing a new transport in between games.

Squads: Squads count as 1 Group no matter how many models are in the squad. A squad has a minimum model count to be fielded in their unit profile. A single squad can include up to 2x that many models but only needs the minimum amount to be fielded.
Ex: a squad of Chaos cultists come in sets of 5 to start and to be fielded. up to 5 more can be added and it still counts as a single group. As long as the squad has 5+ models in it, it can be fielded in battle.

Legendary Weapons: Any player can attempt to roll for a legendary weapon once during each narrative step after winning the campaign mission (not side missions) for that step.
i.e. once per week if they win the event mission. They can play that mission as many times as they want but they can only roll for a legendary weapon once.

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Base Upgrades: Ignore the HoR list and use the following
RN 0 RP0
Tanglewire - up to 3 6" barricades/fences can be placed anywhere on the table. they cannot be destroyed and have no maintenance costs. (physical models)
Tanglewire counts as dangerous terrain and offers a 6+ cover save.

RN 0 RP 5
Comms Relay - improves your reserve rolls, adds a comms relay to the field, acts as cover and can be destroyed. (Physical model)
+ RP 5 Target Designator - At the beginning of a game, mark a single enemy model. All of your models get a +1 to hit that model.

RN 0 RP 5 each (not including upgrade points)
Defense Turret - An automated sentry (BS2 fires at closest enemy at end of shooting phase) featuring a heavy weapon from that factions codex (cheapest option). The turret can be upgraded to a different weapon by spending the listed points difference. it can also be upgraded to Twin-Linked by paying for a second identical weapon (only needs to be done once, but further upgrades need to cover both weapons). it acts as cover and can be destroyed. (physical models)
* A Force can include up to 2 Turrets, each is paid for and upgraded separately

RN 0 RP 5 each
Shield Projector - Place a 25mm base anywhere in your deployment zone. any model fully within 3" (7"diameter circle) gains a 5++ invul save. doesn't act as cover, can be destroyed.
+ RP 2 Psi-shield - upgrade to shield generator. models covered by the shield get +1 to deny the witch.
* A Force can have up to 2 Shield Projectors. each is purchased separately (physical model)

RN 5 RP 10
Medical Facilities - Core and Special Injury Chart rolls +1.

RN 10 RP 10
Vehicle Hangar - Vehicle Damage chart rolls +1.

Base Equipment require RP to purchase and upgrade. The Turrets are upgraded using regular points. Base equipment does not take up any points or slots on your Team List. Any destroyed equipment is replaced for the next game if you pay its maintenance cost.
The maintenance costs of base equipment is its RP cost divided by 5 (1 or 2, tangle wire is free)

Destructible models count as BS2 T7 W2 Sv3+ and offer a 4+cover save.
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Rewards: RP rewards have been increased. Include the HoR campaign achievements and any RP rewards from missions along with the following.
Renown - Win a battle to get 1RN.
RP - Requisition points are how you pay your maintenance costs and replace/upgrade your models between games. 1RP = 5 budget points
- Point value of game 200-250 = 2RP / 300-350 = 3RP / 400-450 = 4RP / 500 = 5RP. Winners receive the full points. Ties split the rewards evenly among all players that haven't been routed, rounding up.
- Gain 1RP for each opponent in the game.
- Add more RP for playing a higher RN opponent. Add 1RP for each Renown higher your opponent is. In the case of multiple opponents, only count the highest renown player.

[erikv]

James, here are those modified Tau rules you wanted. Let me know if you think any of these need adjusting. I have looked through several of the marine HoR rule sets and have done my best to match up certain items limitations and point values to match. Point reductions with certain pieces of wargear are duplicated as closely as possible. My new suggestions are means of incorporating rules from the Tau codex in a similar manner to how psyker powers and other unit bonuses were implemented. For lack of specific models to fill the role, they are limited to leader only wargear.


Crisis Shas’vre

- Crisis Suits may be taken as core


Crisis Suits may remove one or both flamers for a point reduction of 5 points per flamer.


All drone costs are reduced to 10 points per model


Missile Drones can be taken for war gear on Crisis and Stealth Suits


Any model equipped with a pulse carbine may purchase an EMP launcher upgrade for 5 points


Fire Warrior groups spend Markerlight tokens as though they were squads


Iridium Battlesuit armor cost reduced from 25 points to 15 points and may be taken by any crisis suit.


Shield Generator cost reduced from 25 points to 20 points


Stimulant Injector cost reduced from 15 points to 10 points


For every five Fire Warriors you take in your team, one may replace their pulse rifle with:

- Ion Rifle – 10 pts

- Rail Rifle – 15 pts



New Tau Equipment



Pulse Accelerator – 15 points (Leader only)
All pulse weapons within 12” of the bearer increase their maximum range by 6”


Power of the Ethereals – 10 points (Leader only)
Grants the bearer the power of the Ethereals elemental truth, inspiring those around him to feats above and beyond what is normally considered possible. The bearer selects from one of four powers to invoke at the start of the game. The Bearer and all Tau models within 12” benefit from the power. If the bearer is killed, the power ends immediately.


- Calm of Tides: All models have Stubborn

- Storm of Fire: All models fire an extra shot with pulse weapons when firing at a target within half the weapon’s maximum range.

- Sense of Stone: All models have the Feel No Pain (6+) special rule

- Zephyr’s Grace: All models can fire Snap Shots after running


EMP Launcher w/ Pulse Carbine

- 18” S4 AP- Haywire, One Use Only

- 5 pts

[The Supreme Emissary]

Gameplay Adjustments
Some changes were made from the HoR rules for the ChronoCampaign. Most were improvements but some caused some confusion.  Here's what we have so far...

Force Organization
HoR Force rules allow for an unlimited list of models provided the player has the points for them. They can be of any type and core models can be grouped in any combination.
HoR Team rules allow a faction list to only include so many models of a given type on the table at a time. Must include 1 leader and at least one Core or counts as Core model.
HoR Transport rules allow for one and only one transport after a certain base upgrade has been achieved to exist in the Force.

Cc Force rules allow for 1 Leader, 5 Specailists, and up to 5 Groups of core models
Cc Team rules allow any models in the Force to be fielded. Still requires 1 leader and at least one Core Group or counts-as-core specialist model. 
Cc Transport rules allow players to bring 1 transport at a 50p discount from the beginning. 

Using HoR rules you can build a Force that has several different team builds to deal with certain enemies builds. 
Cc rules focus your efforts on making the one list that most reflects your collection or preferred tactics.
Storing backups with points that could be better spent upgrading your existing units is not an effective use of time or points. That's what you do in 40K, you build a large force and divide sections to different tactics. Kill Team is one force, one goal, one mission and you win some and you lose some. This is a casual format, the point is to have fun and with the adjusted rewards system a player that loses isn't left toddling behind as in the HoR rules.

TERMINATORS
Terminators have been a big pain and with the new SM codex they're getting cheaper. The changes to the Cc rules have caused some issues with Terminator Leaders counting terminators as Core models.
1- This is supposed to mean that while you buy terminators as individual specialist models, bringing a terminator leader allows you to bring one terminator specialist to count as Core for the model tax.
2- This does not mean that terminators are now grouped as core nor do they take injuries as core models.

HoR list limitations allow marine factions 3-4 specialists.
This means in practice that there shouldn't be more than about 5 terminators on the table for any player. 
Grey Knights can take Terminators as Core naturally and can therefore be grouped and be all terminators. 
HoR rules allow Grey Knights players to make teams entirely out of terminators. 
Cc rules only allow for up to 6 terminator models (including the leader) and can constitute an entire Team. Grey Knights being the exception, able to field all terminators.

For everyone but GKs this means that they have to trade out specialist slots of apothecaries and veterans in order to bring terminators. 
That means that Grey Knights are as they are supposed to be, very powerful. Terminators are fearsome for a reason and remain so. The problem is in KT the total number of non-terminators that can match them are relatively low.
So what is the best way to beat terminators? power fists and similar, melta, dark elder blasters, any S8 AP2 or better weapons can instant kill a terminator if they can get past the invul save. in KT though there is still the down-but-not-out rules that keep an already tough terminator plodding along. 
1d4chan has a lot of specific tactics that can help with dealing with terminators 
1d4chan HoR review

Alternative Promotions
The loss of a leader model is no small thing, which is why replacements are so important.
A specialist can be temporarily promoted to being the Leader until a replacement leader model can be purchased.
Sometimes this can take a very long time, especially when the leader is very expensive.
On the one hand, that's the price you pay when you have a big point boss.
On the other hand there is precedent to some faster alternatives.
Ex. paying  the price difference one may promote a terminator to a terminator sergeant. Or similarly a centurion to a centurion sgt. Or since centurions are just wearing an additional suit of armor, they should be easier to add on than swapping out into terminator armor.
There's not always going to be an obvious or possible upgrade and some promotions may be more expensive than others, but it offers a cheaper option than starting over from scratch.

Alternatively, having a backup Leader waiting in the wings isn't a bad idea either.
HoR allows as many leader models as you want whereas Cc only allows one. Having a Second-in-Command slot might be a good idea. 
An allied leader tends to be so disparate in their special rules as to over complicate things.

AV33
GW limits vehicles to a combined armor value of 33. HoR expanded that to 34 for transports with the exception of drop pods. The only models this helps are Eldar wave serpents and falcons which are arguably the most dangerous vehicles allowed in KT.
A more reasonable alternative forces them to rely on Dark elder venoms and raiders or a Harlequin Starweaver. At that point the SM Drop Pod becomes the toughest vehicle and the Razerback/Immolator arguable the most dangerous (just by themselves) for their point costs.