The Heresy Begins

So, I am up early morning and decide to check my emails and what's this at the top of the pile???

Heresy

(I hope that link works seeing as I am on my phone)

It looks like the Galaxy will Burn, or at least FW are going to give the Horus Heresy a crack and throw out some rules! I am VERY excited about this, and I know I would happily start a heresy era army, and I know a few others which will hope for Xeno Heresy era armies aswell.

What are your ideas and thoughts on this?

Big Batch of 40K FAQs released!

Morning all,

For those not in the loop, there's been a big FAQ release by GW yesterday, covering pretty much every codex. There's some, like the Necron one, that are pretty intensive, but for the smaller ones, I'll try and do a summary of major changes or rules clarifications that we've debated at the club.

I'll add download links as well for you. Here goes...

5th Edition Rulebook FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- Clarification on "Gets Hot" and re-rolls. It only happens if the result of the re-roll is a 1.
- They've changed some wording on multiple grenades to "Can a unit with multiple grenades"

Q: Can a unit with multiple grenades that have an effect
when launching an assault, or being assaulted, use one
of each of them in the same Assault phase? (p36)
A: Yes. Note that a model can still only use one type of
grenade when attacking a vehicle.

- Clarification on the hole of a blast marker regarding vehicles and half strength. If the hole is even partially over the hull of the vehicle, it's at full strength.
- Vehicles that start in Difficult Terrain still count as having moved if they fail their Dangerous Terrain test and immobilise themselves (although it doesn't specify how far they count as moving).
- Immobilised vehicles that moved at cruising speed in it's previous movement are hit automatically in the assault phase.
- Vehicles fire points cannot be used to draw line of sight for special wargear or rules by models inside.
- Transport vehicles destroyed in a movement phase where they have moved flat out, models inside are removed as casualties (clarification on this one from the last argued-to-death FAQ)
- You can't benefit from Furious Charge when using Counter Attack, but also, they can't have Defensive Grenades used against them.

Apocalypse FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- The requirements for controlling an objective are now the same as in the 40K main rulebook. So therefore, you need troops to hold an objective.

Apocalypse Reloaded FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- Army and stratagem specific stuff.

Blood Angels FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- 10 Man combat squads coming on from reserve can choose to come on from or deep strike at different locations
- Combat squadding Scouts can infiltrate from 2 different locations, but only count as 1 deployment, not 2 units.
- Vanguard Vets can't use heroic intervention when deploying by Deep Strike from a Storm Raven.
- Blood Lance does not need to roll to hit.
- Sanguinary Novitiate in Honour Guard units can't take Honour Guard upgrades.

Chaos Daemons FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- The Masque only rolls 1D6 for Pavane movement on ALL the units she targets.
- If there isn't space for a Chaos Spawn on the board from Boon of Mutation, move models the minimum distance required to place it.

Dark Angels FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- Clarification on Ravenwing Combat Squads:

Page 27 – Ravenwing Combat Squads, second paragraph
Change to “Much like Combat squads, the squadron’s
Attack Bike and Land Speeder are purchased together
with the squadron and then deployed at the same time
as the squadron’s bikes, but from then on, they always
operate as completely independent units of one model.”

- Same Combat squad clarifications on normal infantry as per Blood Angels.
- Mind Worm psychic power needs to roll to hit.

Dark Eldar FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- Wyches don't get a Dodge (4+ Inv) save from exploding vehicles in close combat.
- If you have a Djinn Blade and another Close Combat Weapon and choose not to use the Djinn Blade, you can't get the 2 extra bonus attacks.
- Djinn Blades can be combo'ed with another CCW or Pistol to get an extra 1 attack, as per usual.
- Flickerfields cannot be used against failed Dangerous Terrain tests.

Eldar FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- Runes of Warding, Runes of Witnessing and Defend wording changes.
- Farseer and a Unit of Warlocks as a HQ form 2 separate units.
- The roll to prevent Perils of the Warp cannot be re-rolled using Fortune.
- Striking Scorpion Exarchs choosing to attack with Scorpion Claw don't get the +1 strength from the Scorpion Chainsword.
- Eldritch Storm needs to roll to hit (using the blast rules I assume)
- Mind War does NOT need to roll to hit.
- Dire Avenger Exarchs with 2 Avenger Shuriken Catapults fire 5 shots with Bladestorm.
- Chainsabres and Powerblades do not count as a pair of close combat weapons.
- Vehicles with Star Engines cannot ram or tank shock in the shooting phase.

Grey Knights FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- Change to Servitor "Mindlock" wording.
- Combat Squad clarifications same as Blood Angels.
- Units deep striking due to "Summoning" psychic power, landing within 6" of a Mystic don't scatter.
- Turbo Penetrator Rolls add D3 per 6 rolled.
- Nemesis Force Halberds still get the +2 Initiative even if their weilders Initiative is reduced or set to a fixed value.

Imperial Guard FAQ
- DOWNLOAD 
- Change to Mindlock Wording on Servitors.
- Dozer Blades re-roll Dangerous Terrain checks.
- Infantry Platoon wording change:

Infantry Platoon, second sentence
Change to “Each Infantry Platoon is deployed in place
of a single unit in missions that limit the number units
that can be deployed. In addition when making a
reserve or outflanking roll, roll once for the whole
Infantry Platoon. Any units in reserve that are
embarked upon a non-dedicated transport are instead
rolled for separately.”

- Company Command Squads are worth 1 Kill Point.
- Techpriests can only make 1 repair roll attempt per turn.
- Techpriests can try and repair a vehicle they're embarked inside.
- Penal Custodians gain the effect from the squads special rule, however, Independent Characters don't.
- Psyker Battle Squads can now use Weaken Resolve on targets locked in Close Combat.
- If a Manticore that suffers a Weapon Destroyed result, all it's remaining Storm Eagle Rockets are destroyed (if the other player chooses that weapon of course).
- Ministorum Priests and Techpriests CAN be taken as the Mandatory HQ choice.

Necron FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- Scarab Swarms can only be added in coherency with swarms that have not been spawned this turn.
- Same with the Ghost Ark Repair Barge rule.
- Command Barge sweep attacks can't be stopped by cover.
- Entropic Strike is as I said, roll to hit, roll for strike, roll to penetrate against the reduced armour value.
- Loads more...

Ork FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- Trukks that suffer Kaboom result now do leave an area of difficult terrain.
- Snikrot can't use his Ambush special rule if he's embarked in a Vehicle.

Space Marine FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- Mindlock servitor clarification again.
- Clarification on Calgar's God of War rule.
- Same clarification on Combat Squads as Blood Angels.

Space Wolves FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- Thunderclap does not scatter.
- You don't need to roll to hit with Jaws.

Tyranids FAQ
- DOWNLOAD
- Shadow in the Warp, Synapse Creature, Instictive Behaviour and Shield Wall wording change.
- Lictor Broods have to be placed in coherency with each other when they deploy.
- Every non-vehicle model in a unit that assaults a Venomthrope has to take a Dangerous Terrain test (I'm guessing people were arguing it's only the ones that make the assault move, or are in B2B)
- Enemy Models initiative is not reduced to 1 for assaulting through the Spore Cloud
- Tyrant Guard with a Hive Tyrant = 1 Kill Point.
- Units cannot take any cover saves, aside from being inside Area Terrain, from a Hive Guard impaler cannon
- Tervigon clarification about when the bonuses and range applies from Brood Progenitor.
- Spore Mines that arrive via deep strike, enemies must keep 1" away.
- Independent Characters can join a unit of Termagants and benefit from the Brood Progenitor rule, but if the Tervigon is killed, the Independent Character takes the damage also.
- Lash Whips Clarification for Force Halberds.
- Walkers and Acid Blood clarification.

Phew... That took a while to get through. Enjoy and feel free to rejoice, complain and debate!

Cheers,
SB

Rules Debate: Necrons "Entropic Strike"

Morning folks,

I was planning on writing up my initial thoughts on the new Necron codex after my first game last night, then logged on to find BOLS talking about Scarabs and the "Entropic Strike" special rule.

This cropped up in my game last night, and I thought I'd discuss my point of view on it and how we handled it. On the flip side, if other MAWS members could read this and make a decision, we can add it our MAWS FAQ, until an actual FAQ is released.

So here's the quote from BOLS today:

Entropic Strike Timing
Now Entropic Strike is nasty, no one is disputing that.  The real question comes down to exactly HOW NASTY did Matthew Ward intend for it to be.  Here is the key rule quote in question:

"For each hit a vehicle or model suffers with this special rule, roll a D6. For each result of 4+, it immediately loses 1 point of armor value from all facings.  If a vehicle is reduced to Armour 0 on any facing, it is immediately destroyed"

So the million dollar question is: Exactly when does the reduced armour values go into effect - before, or after you roll for penetrations on the initial set of hits inflicted in assault?

Here is an example.  An innocent Land Raider is sleeping peacefully in a meadow when 4 bases of Scarabs slam into it.  They inflict 20 automatic hits (it was sleeping peacefully remember), ten of which activate the Entropic Strike ability on a 4+.  Do you:
a) Resolve the 20 hits at S:3+ D6 vs AV:14 (the Land Raider will live), then it's AV is immediately lowered to 4/4/4
b) Resolve the 20 hits at S:3+D6 vs AV:4 (the Land Raider is toast)

Either of these is possible based on whether Ward intends Entropic Strike to either a) weaken units so they will be crippled and easily picked off by later units, or b) be bloodcurdling to all vehicles in the game. Luckily this is an easy black and white decision, that needs to be FAQed one way or the other.

 Now. Here's the way I see it.

Step 1. You roll to hit the vehicle in question.
Step 2. Out of those "To Hit" rolls, roll that number and find out how many Entropic Strikes were successful (4+)
Step 3. "For each result of a 4+, it IMMEDIATELY loses 1 point of armour value from all facings". Quoted directly from the rule.
Step 4. Roll to penetrate against this lower amount with all the "To Hit" dice that succeeded.

True it's harsh if you're the one who didn't move your Land Raider or deal with the Scarabs when you had chance, but the key word there is "immediately".

The argument for me there is when exactly does the Entropic Strike get rolled for. To me, it's pretty straight forward, as soon as it's hit by an Entropic Strike, you roll to see whether the E.S. activates and then go on the modified armour.

It's not a case of "When does the reduced armour value kick in?", the real question is "When do you roll for Entropic Strike?", which - to me - is straight after a vehicle takes a hit from a Scarab base. If you've activated the Entropic Strike, then the vehicle immediately loses the armour values.

What do MAWS folk think about this?

Cheers,
SB

Rules Generalisation

As you may have been aware there was a poll about the Generalisation of Rules. I put this up as reading through the Grey Knights new codex and comparing it to the old one I noticed they are now standard marines with flashy weapons.

Now to expand after seeing it was almost a 50/50 split between against and for, so lets look at each sides argument quickly (please add anything I miss in the comments).

Firstly lets look at the argument FOR rules generalisation. This obviously makes the game easier, if 50% of the armies run the stat line of a Space Marine (straight 4's) then it means people know what they are facing and what can kill them.

Rather than having various rules which allow an army to get back up (Feel no Pain, We Will be Back) and rolling them all into the standard Feel No Pain means everyone will know how it works as almost everyone can get the same rule through one upgrade.

Secondly the AGAINST argument. The statement of 50% of armies running a Marine stat line although makes it easier for people to know what they are facing also reduces the diversity and individuality of the game.

How many people want to line their men up against the same stat line with a few tweaks rather than an army that has to play completely differently because it is weaker with more men, or tougher but has less men?

Every new codex seems to bring the same toys with different names and upgrades to the table, almost everyone has a Monsterous Creature with a very similar stat line. Most armies can take a few units of 2+ saves, and power weapons.

Lastly which really ground me was the fact that Blood Angels got Blood Fists and Blood Strike Missiles, and Grey Knights got Doom Fists and Mind Strike Missiles, these were less rules than names, but surely they could be a bit more creative with their ideas in general.

P.S. This was a poorly written post just to get you thinking about the ideas of Generalisation (of Rules and Names) so... Enjoy.

Rules Arguments: How Far Is Too Far?

Morning all,

In my daily checking of wargames goings on whilst my PC chugs into gear, I noticed this rules debate on Bell of Lost Souls: Bell of Lost Souls - Astral Aim Conundrum

I'll quote it here directly:

Today's Conundrum: the Astral Aim Psychic power possessed by Grey Knight Purgation squads.  First the relevent rules snippet:

"...If the Psychic test is passed, the unit (and any accompanying character) can shoot at any enemy unit within range, even if they do not have line of sight to it, or it is outside the distance they can see in a night fight."

The Conundrum: Can a Purgation squad embarked in a vehicle which passes its Astral Aim test blaze away at targets as listed in the rule for the power, or not?  In general, how does Astral Aim interact with vehicles and fireports, if it does at all? 

The Case For:  Codex overrides core rulebook, and the psychic power clearly states "can shoot at any enemy unit within range" upon a psychic testing being passed.  Other rules restrictions on firing are ignored.  The second part of the listed sentence simply lists 2 common examples of restrictions that are ignored, not all the restrictions that are ignored (which the first half of the sentence covers).

The Case Against: The psychic power doesn't specifically override the firing restrictions listed in the firing port rules in the vehicle section of the core rules. If they wanted that ability, they would have listed it specifically.

 This is another one of those, personally, idiotic rules arguments that people seem to draft in from a silly discussion, then it spreads around the internet like wildfire with everyone and their mum trying to claim this at the next tournament or whatever else.

It's the Doom of Malan'tai situation all over again, where someone decides "Well, it doesn't say specifically it doesn't, so..." and then everyone jumps on it.

Personally, because a power says "ignores line of sight" or "all the unit" doesn't mean it bypasses any existing rules to do with vehicles. There's still only X number of guys who can fire from fire points from a Rhino / Razorback. And whilst it's comical to imagine 5 Grey Knights all sticking their bolters up through the sun-roof and firing, it's rules "debates" like this that really start to drag 40k down.

It's like this in the Imperial Guard book, as an order:

First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire

 ...If the order is successfully issued, the ordered unit immediately shoots at any visible target. If the enemy is up to 12" away, models firing Lasguns fire three shots, rather than just two... Etc.

So what I could interpret is that if I issue this order, the unit immediately shoots at a visible target, regardless of any maximum range because it doesn't say they follow normal rules for shooting. Just that they fire at any visible target.

Now I know that's clutching at straws as an example and probably a bad one... but surely is it not the same thing as saying that a Grey Knight power allows them to bypass the rules for fire points in vehicles?

I'm not trying to bash BOLS or any rules debates and such. I don't want to start getting into a flame war and targetting people / blogs.

It's more of a discussion to ask "How far is too far?" when it comes to rules debates.

Personally, I think the Grey Knight example above is massively clutching at straws and making an argument out of nothing. I've seen it before with the Doom, and at the end of the day, just had to rule it for ourselves at MAWS.

However, when you go out into the "real world" people don't always agree.

So how far have you seen the rules debated? Ever came up with a crazy debate or conunudrum yourself?

Peace,
SB

[Poll] Generalisation of the Rules

Morning all,

Just wanted to draw attention to the poll that's  been put up asking the question "Is generalisation of the rules the way forwards?" and get people discussing it here.

It depends as well in what we deem the generalisation and the rules. For me, it comes in the form of army selection within a codex.

Personally, the last era of codexes from I'd say, Orks onwards, have really tried to stick with a formula of WYSIWYG with models and equipment, rather than the days of "My Khorne Lord has this, this and this magic item that you can't see - Oh, and he counts as a Daemon Prince".

I like being able to look across the board at an army and (proxying, count-as etc. etc. aside) that I'm facing a Carnifex that has X number of wounds and Y armour save. Rather than "He's got WHAT upgrades?!" or a Daemon Prince who, Mark aside, I can know what he has and is capable of doing.

This trend got bucked a bit with the Dark Eldar codex (from my own knowledge) with the amount of Arcane Wargear that's knocking about, stuff I've no idea how I'd make to show on a model without him having a spare base beside him to store it all on.

I'm all for generalisation in terms of speeding up the game, player awareness and such, but I do feel it can lose some of the charm in character building and also some set piece moments within the game. It's what I liked about LOTR:SBG for a while, was that you could do all the crazy heroic things that are read about in the books but that's where a player narrative comes into it, I guess.

What do you guys reckon - both in terms of codexes and the rules in general?

Peace,
SB