40k General q+a
Here's some common problems and sollutions that I got from the Games-Workshop site.
Shooting
Answer: At one point, but not anymore. Sustained fire weapons
and the troops that use them, have to make decisions to keep themselves
alive. These decisions work during targetting and dishing out the extra
hits. Because of this, they obey the targetting rules just like everything
else, so that extra shots can't be dished out to targets that are harder
to hit than the original model. If you want to target a unit that is half
in hard cover and half in the open, and you want to be able to dish out
hits to all of them,
you have to shoot at the ones in hard cover, taking the -2 to hit modifier.
Also, extra shots must be allocated within the same unit, and not to models
from different units. Yes, sometimes this means a unit ends up extra dead.
This is explained in the Tyranid Special Rules in the Tyranid Codex pretty
well, as well as placing template weapons.
Answer: In the Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook it states that a model
on overwatch may shoot during the opposing player's movement phase, but
this really is an oversight on my part. I didn't take into account the other
ways targets might appear later in the turn, but it seems perfectly reasonable
for troops to wait and use overwatch fire at any point in your opponent's
turn.
However, except for movement, you cannot interupt your opponent while he
is performing an action. This means you can't wait until your opponent declares
his target for a particular model before opening fire. In the same vein,
you can't make an overwatch shot between your opponent making a successful
to hit roll and his roll to wound (since this is patently silly), or when
your opponent uses a psychic power. Basically, the only action you can actually
interrupt is movement (whether this is a normal move, run, charge or follow-up
move). If your opponent is performing some other action, you will have to
wait until it is finished before you can fire.
Another area of the rules which can cause disagreement is models turning
while on overwatch. Turning does not count as movement, so you can turn
models freely whilst they are on overwatch. A model on overwatch may turn
before it fires, unless it is shooting a move or fire weapon. This helps
keep those pesky Tyranid Gargoyles and Eldar Swooping Hawks and Warp Spider
Aspect Warriors from getting too cocky!
Answer: Good question. We'd guess that what you'd do is this:
if you're throwing a grenade down from the top of a tower or something,
you can measure the range from any level of the building. If you're throwing
towards something on the same level or higher up, measure the range from
the actual position of the model.
Answer: Yes, measure the range to where the models are starting
off from. It can be imagined that the troops are shooting at the flyers
as they take off and rise above the level of any intervening trees, buildings
hills, or other terrain.
Answer: Yes. A Vortex is still a template weapon, albeit a rather
strange and deadly one. Assassins are highly-trained killers, and aren't
put off by somebody collapsing dimensions nearby!
Answer: No, but I can understand the confusion over this one.
It's not terribly clear in the Lictor or flesh hooks descriptions in Codex
Tyranids (though, weirdly enough, it is clear in the biomorphs) and I got
it wrong in a recent battle report < sometimes I wonder how I sleep at
night!
Answer: Although this is not stated in the rules, common sense
dictates that the answer is no.
Answer: No, models which are partially obscured by intervening
cover gain the benefits of it as well, though models which are less than
half obscured by hard cover should only count a -1 to hit modifier, not
-2.
Answer: No.
Answer: Yes.
Close Combat
Answer: Yes.
Answer: Yes.
Answer: You get one parry per lightning claw, just like you get
one parry per sword if you're using swords. In the Wargear book the profile
shown is for one claw, not the pair. Ork power claws are far too clunky
to give their user a parry (anyway, an Ork would tell you that parrying
implies you're scared of getting hurt!). Bjorn gets a single parry for his
one lightning claw.
Psionics
Answer: This potential rules conflict arises because Ultimate
Force cannot be nullified in any way. However, the Daemonic Attack card
states that the power currently being used is automatically nullified. So
does this mean psykers using Ultimate Force are immune to the attack of
predatory daemons? Well, there is a way that both players can have the cake
and eat it. We've found that the best way to resolve this situation is to
work out the Daemonic Attack as normal, as stated on the card. However,
regardless of the psyker's fate, the power he was using goes ahead as normal,
since Ultimate Force cannot be nullified, even by a daemon. Yes, even if
he is killed, the psychic power still takes effect!
Answer: Yes you do. Also note that the warp flux dice roll can
never be reduced to less than 1D6, even if there are no psykers left in
the game at all.
Answer: 3"
Armour
Answer: This really depends on the kind of attack, so it needs
a bit of common sense and interpretation. Basically, if the psychic attack
is something which directly affects the target's mind or body (examples
would include Smite, Mind War and Brain Bursta) you can't dodge it. If a
psyker blasts the model with a physical bolt of energy (like Hellfire, Lightning
Arc, Destructor or Da Krunch) then the model can try and dodge it like any
other attack.
A good rule of the thumb to judge whether a psychic attack can be dodged
is to see if it has a Strength value or not. If it has a Strength value
it means it can probably be dodged! If you can't agree on an answer, resolve
the situation with the old roll a D6: 1-3 you can't dodge it this time,
4-6 you can. This doesn't set a precedent, roll each time the situation
crops up. Also remember that if the attack uses a template, a model which
dodges must be moved to the edge of the template. If this is impossible
(most
likely if the target is inside a bunker or other building) the attack cannot
be dodged and the model suffers the full effects. If there is only room
for them to partially dodge the blast, they will be hit on a D6 roll of
4, 5 or 6 like any other model not wholly covered by the blast marker.
Answer: The rules on displacer fields are rather unclear. Basically,
the field works by activating a miniature warp drive to move (displace)
the protected model out of the way of incoming shots and blows. This is
simple enough in theory (in terms of rules, not physics!), but the rules
imply that the protected model will be moved each time it is hit, which
is wrong.
Firstly, the field will only activate after the attacker has made a successful
roll to wound, not just hit. Secondly, in the case of a model being hit
by mutliple shots from a squad and/or sustained fire weapon firing at them,
the model would take all of its saving throws together and then displace
once (assuming the model wasn't killed and at least one saving throw was
made by the displacer field).
Blast Marker Weapons
Even if the saving throw is made, the field may not displace the protected
model completely out of danger if itŐs hit by weapons which affect
a template or blast marker. If the model doesn't displace far enough to
move it outside the template or blast marker it will still take the hit
just as if it had failed to save in the first place. If the model makes
it partially out of the area of effect the firer needs to roll a 4, 5 or
6 on a D6 to still catch the displacing model in the blast.
Flamers
Flamer shots will activate a displacer field and give a chance of saving
as normal. If the protected model successfully saves and displaces completely
out of the flamer template there is no chance of the model catching fire.
If the protected model fails to save or doesn't makes it out of the template
the model may catch fire. If the protected model catches fire the displacer
field offers no further protection against hits as the burning fuel has
got inside its protection radius.
Close Combat
In hand-to-hand combat a model with a displacer field rolls saving throws
as it gets hit but even if the model is fighting multiple opponents it only
displaces once after all of its combats that turn have been resolved.
Psychic Attacks
A displacer field offers protection against psychic attacks in much the
same way as being able to dodge, so it will give a saving throw against
those powers which make a direct, physical attack on the protected model.
See the question about Dodging
Answer: The test is only made when the Voltage Field makes a saving
throw. At that point the crackling field "flares" outwards and
you test to see if it overloads every other field within 4" of the
Tyranid model with the Voltage Field < on a 4 or more the field is destroyed.
If the Voltage Field makes multiple saves in the same turn make multiple
tests to see if it burns out nearby fields. If the Voltage Field fails a
saving throw there is no chance of it destroying fields nearby. Remember
that Tyranid fields are not affected by the Voltage Field.
Answer: No! Anything which increases a model's armour save can
never increase it to greater than 1+, under any circumstances whatsoever.
Eldar
Answer: He can only fire once, but the two Deathspinners allow
him to use the Fast Shot Exarch power (giving him two shots).
Answer: Yes they are, and so are Greater Daemons - treat them
as foot models.
Answer: No.
Orks
Answer: Two player turns.(the turn it is called upon and the next
one).
Answer: No he isn't, as long as he had called up the Waaagh before
he was hit by the Vortex (some players think that they can wait until Ghazghull
is killed by an attack and then call up the Waaagh to save him - this just
isn't the case!)
Sometimes a situation arises where there is no obvious solution (Total Power
vs a Collar of Khorne, for example). In these situations, roll a dice to
see which side "gains the upper hand" (in this example, whether
the spell works or is automatically dispelled). This sets no precedent and
you should roll every time the situation occurs.
Answer: No.
Vehicles
Answer: No, in order to fire their "big guns" they must
be absolutely stationary.
Answer: Yes, you can accelerate or decelerate normally in the
first turn. The example isn't perhaps the best in the world, and assumes
that you don't want to accelerate on the first turn. Oh well...
Answer: No, the Ablative Armour card only works against weapons
which punch through armour with an armour penetration roll. It would not
work against an Eldar Distort cannon attack either, for example.
Angels of Death Codex
Answer: Yes. In effect you get a "bulk purchase discount"
if you equip a large Death Company squad with jump packs (and by the same
token you pay a premium price if the squad consists of less than 10 models).
Answer: The reason the Ravenwing Land Speeder costs 195 points
is because that's what it's worth! This kind of thing is exactly why the
weapon conversion rules are optional. They are simply a quick fix that allows
players the chance to convert vehicles quickly and easily. However, if you
want to get the true cost for a vehicle, you have to playtest and change
the points value to reflect the actual performance of the vehicle in the
game. This is common sense really, it stands to reason that some weapons
are going to be more effective when used on one type of vehicle than another,
in exactly the same way that a lascannon will be more effective in the hands
of a Space Marine than an Imperial Guardsman. The complex variables involved
in this equation mean that any points values we get from our spreadsheets
and points value lists are always taken as a starting point, to be modified
up or down in the light of playtesting and experience.
Answer: The model shown in the Codex is Asmodai. Jes decided to
give him a power sword because the model looked better with it, and I said
it was OK as the upgrade was allowed by the rules. The reason you can't
see the Blades of Reason is that they are actually quite small (I imagine
them to be rather like a complex Swiss army penknife!) and are hidden under
Asmodai's robes. He's not holding them as they are generally only used when
Asmodai interrogates one of The Fallen. I've included a card for them because
they were mentioned in the colour text about Asmodai, and because they add
depth and interest to the character. As to Asmodai's robes, these are worn
by most of the senior officers and Chaplains in the Dark Angels Chapter,
not just Grand Masters.
By the way, please note that there is an error in the Asmodai Wargear section,
where it mentions Sapphon. This is a mistake (it should read Asmodai), damn
that cut and paste function!
Answer: The appearance of the Deathwing (ie their white armour,
icons and feathers) is in honour of a group of Deathwing Terminators that
single-handedly saved their homeworld from the terrors of a Genestealer
invasion.
At that time, the Dark Angels were recruiting from a planet where the population
shared many of the traits of the Native American Indians of our own planet.
However, this was not the Dark Angels' original homeworld, and neither is
it the one that they recruit from at the present time (the fact that the
Dark Angels live in The Rock, a vast spaceship constantly travelling the
galaxy, means that they recruit from many different worlds).
Answer: No it's not a mistake, Dante really does have a strategy
rating of "only" 5. This is because although Dante is a forceful
and dynamic leader, he lacks the deep strategic insight of commanders such
as Marneus Calgar of the Ultramarines, or Azrael of the Dark Angels. This
being said, Dante is an awesome leader, and the fact that he has been around
for so long means that he is held in great respect and awe by his fellow
commanders. This is why he was chosen as supreme commander at Armageddon,
and is generally deferred to in similar circumstances. However, Dante is
wise enough to know when to delegate jobs to others, and also when to listen
to the advice of his colleagues. Thus, for example, if Dante and Azrael
were taking part in a joint operation, although Azrael would defer to Dante
as supreme commander, Dante would certainly allow Azrael to plan the operation
and would listen carefully to any advice he might have.