So I threw up a some of the FAQ changes with some quick and dirty thoughts and notes on the main rule book, (other post found here) but I would like to talk about a few of the Codex specific things as well. It never hurts to know your enemy and having a grasp on how some rules work may be the difference between holding a objective or not. In other times it may be the difference between an opponent crushing you because he is playing the game wrong either on purpose or by honest mistake. The updating of all of the FAQ's at once though means that I learned quickly that I would have to split this into two posts or it would be amazingly long. Anyway let's get into the rules changes so I perhaps we can talk about general tactics about our new edition.
Blood Angels
Page 38 – Stormraven Gunships, Skies of Blood.
Change the first sentence to read: “If the Stormraven has
moved more than 6", passengers can still disembark, but they
must do so as follows.”
Change the penultimate sentence to read: “If any of the
models cannot be deployed the unit is destroyed”.
This is clearing up that you can disembark from planes using your special rules, this is a important as a tactic since it means you don't have to go into hover mode to deploy your troops. I expect this will be cleared up among all the codex's just like in the last set they talked about the combat squad process.
Page 42 – Chaplain, Liturgies of Blood
Change the first sentence to read “On a turn in which he
charges, a Chaplain and all members of any unit chosen from
Codex: Blood Angels that he has joined re-roll failed rolls To Hit.”
This is specifically saying that his ability does not transition to allies. BA can ally as BB with most of the marine chapters and IG. So this is something to keep in mind. I also expect you will notice a trend in the FAQ to stop some combos using Allies.
Page 43 – Lemartes, The Blood Crozius.
Change the last sentence to read “The Blood Crozius is a
power maul with the Master-crafted special rule.”
Look here after all the arguments it appears that GW will simply be telling you what some special wargear on characters counts as.. Something I am glad they are fixing, although one of the things I am shocked they didn't do in the first place? I want to note you don't need to memorize these but get in the habit of asking this question about characters you are not used to fighting.
Page 43 – Lemartes, Liturgies of Blood.
Change the first sentence to read “On a player turn in which
they charge, Lemartes and his Death Company can re-roll
failed rolls To Hit and To Wound.”
Again being more specific so that you cannot transfer things to your allies I will continue to point out several of these that happen, however like the weapon above. You need to make it a habit that every time someone says an ability does transfer you may want them to show you.
Page 45 – Astorath the Grim, The Executioner’s Axe.
Replace the first sentence with the following profile:
Range S AP Type -
- 6 2 Melee, Two-handed,
Unwieldy
Clearing up another weapon
Page 45 – Astorath the Grim, Liturgies of Blood.
Change the first sentence to read “On a turn in which he
charges, Astorath and all members of any unit chosen from
Codex: Blood Angels that he has joined re-roll failed rolls To Hit.”
Again stopping combos
Page 53 – Commander Dante, The Axe Mortalis.
Replace the entry with the “The Axe Mortalis is a power axe
with the Master-crafted special rule.”
Clearing up weapons it appears just because you give your axe a fancy name it still is only a power axe.
Q: What Mastery Level is Mephiston? (pg 47)
A: Mastery Level 3.
I thought this was covered before but I guess not? Masterly level 3 is nice it again gives you a balance to bringing this guy since he took a slight nerf since he can't kill 2plus save units now. However he is fast enough that you can still work around this.
Q: Do models that are allowed to re-roll rolls of 1 To Hit in close
combat, who are fighting Gabriel Seth, suffer hits if they roll 1 To Hit
and further hits if their re-rolls To Hit are also 1s? (p55)
A: No, the models only suffer hits if their re-rolled To Hit roll is
also a 1 – discount the rolls of 1 that were re-rolled.
This is in support that the first results for rerolls don't count. This is the same for plasma so keep that in mind. If you are twin linked you don't over heat unless you roll a one on your second roll.
Q: Does a model that uses the Wings of Sanguinius to charge an enemy
unit in the Assault phase gain the Hammer of Wrath special rule?
p(63)
A: Yes
If you are a BA player keep in mind you may be missing out on a few free attacks if you use this rule.
CHAOS DEMONS
White Dwarf, August 2012, Chaos Daemons Official Update,
Page 3 – Hellflayers of Slaanesh, Designer’s Note.
Change the Designer’s Note to read “An Exalted Alluress
cannot disembark from a Hellflayer. When a Hellflayer is
destroyed, the Exalted Alluress is also removed from play.
This is explaining that this specific type of chariot doesn't have a unit inside that can disembark settling a bit of a discussion people keep wondering about.
Page 49 – Fateweaver, Oracle of Eternity.
Change the first sentence to read “Because of the incredible
prescience of the Oracle of Tzeentch, Fateweaver and all
friendly units chosen from Codex: Chaos Daemons within 6" reroll all failed Armour, Invulnerable and Cover saves.
I hope you haven't been buying Chaos Terminators to do this combo. =P This tone's down how often you will see him as a ally in the coming months, however I want to point out that epi's tally still is very generic so you might still see him often in some nurgle builds.
Page 73 – Daemonic Gifts, Chaos Icon.
Change the second paragraph to read “When a friendly unit
chosen from Codex: Chaos Daemons Deep Strikes within 6" of an
Icon of Chaos, it does not roll for scatter, provided that the
icon was on the table from the beginning of the turn and has
not arrived from Reserve in the same turn.”
Again getting specific for allies in the future.
Page 74 – Gifts of Tzeentch, Soul Devourer.
Replace the second, third and fourth sentences with the
following profile:
Range S AP Type
Soul Devourer - User 3 Melee,
Soul Devour
Soul Devour: If a model suffers any unsaved Wounds from the
Daemon’s close combat Attacks, it must immediately take a
Leadership test for each Wound suffered (on its own
Leadership value, the model cannot use another model’s Ld
for the test). If any of these tests are failed, the victim suffers
Instant Death.
No more arguments online about this ability here it is spelled out plane as day.
Q: If Chaos Daemons are allied to Chaos Space Marines, do they roll
for scatter if Deep Striking within 6" of a Chaos Icon carried by a
Chaos Space Marine model? (p73)
A: If the wording on the Chaos Icon’s description refers to ‘all
friendly units’, then yes. If not, then the Chaos Icon only
affects the specific units referred to in its description.
This is a cop out for some reason? Like they know what it will be worded in the new codex but don't want to give anything away.
CHAOS SPACE MARINES
I am totally going to skip these guys since they are getting a new codex shortly so most of this won't matter by then. That way I don't have to go back and edit this article. I will say that they do point out weapons profiles like before if you play the army.
DARK ANGELS
I think that they will also update this codex shortly, however this FAQ doesn't really change much. Some clearing up of abilities and war gear to again make sure that they do not combo to allies.
DARK ELDAR
Page 31 – Incubi, Klaives.
Replace this entry with: “Klaives have the following profile:
Range S AP Type
Klaive - +1 2 Melee, Two-handed
In clearing up the weapons it appears the Dark Eldar are going to get a few AP2 weapons. The army itself I think needs a few tricks either way so I am not against helping out a Xenos army.
Page 31 – Incubi, Demiklaives.
Replace this entry with: “Demiklaives are close-combat weapons
which can be wielded either separately or clasped together.
Decide which way the demiklaives will be used at the beginning
of each Fight sub-phase, then use the appropriate profile from
those below for the duration of the sub-phase.
Range S AP Type
Separate - User 2 Melee,
+2 Attacks
Clasped - +2 2 Melee,
Two-handed
Same as above clearing up the weapons.
Page 52 – Drazhar, Riposte.
Change the paragraph to “Such is Drazhar’s skill that when he
rolls a 6 on an armour save in close combat, he may make an
immediate bonus Attack at S4 with an AP of 2, directed at the
unit that caused the Wound.”
Again a slight buff on a DE unit and the clearing up of it being AP2 now
Page 53 – Lady Malys, The Crystal Heart.
Change the paragraph to “To represent the strange powers of
the trans-dimensional being whose heart beats in her breast,
Lady Malys and her unit cannot be targeted by psychic
powers.”
POINT of interest.. Lady Malys does share her ability with Allies.
Page 53 – Lady Malys, The Lady’s Blade.
Change the second sentence to read “The Lady’s Blade is an
AP3 melee weapon.”
Simple clearing up the special weapon she carries as we see in several of the updates so far.
Page 53 – Lady Malys, Precognisant.
Change the second sentence to “At the start of the game, after
both sides have been deployed but before Infiltrator
deployment and Scout redeployments, the Dark Eldar player
may redeploy D3 units in his army, including placing them in
Reserve, though this may not result in more than half of your
army beginning the game in Reserve. Note that units
redeployed this way that are not placed in Reserve may not be
deployed outside of the Dark Eldar deployment zone.”
Her power is specifically pointed out to not being able to break the 50 percent rule. Although again it clears up one of her rules since she is a complicated report.
Page 55 – Asdrubael Vect, Sceptre of the Dark City.
Change the second sentence to read “It is an AP3 melee
weapon that always wounds on a 3+.”
Simple again clearly pointing out a weapons proper profile.
Page 58 – Dark Eldar Wargear, Huskblade.
Change the last sentence to read “A huskblade is an AP2 melee
weapon with the Instant Death special rule.”
Q: When do the special rules conferred by Pain Tokens take effect?
(p25)
A: From the end of the phase in which the conditions are met
for the Pain Token to be earned.
This is good to know because this has the possibly to interact with overwatch. It is technically possible for example to finish off a unit using overwatch gaining a pain token, you would get no benefits from it if another unit also assaulted you at the same time.
Q: Can a Helliarch’s stun claw be used to ‘snatch’ enemy Independent
Characters who are involved in a challenge? (p28)
A: No.
A defense of the challenge mechanic, that they appear not to want you to be able to interact with any special rules.
Q: When allocating Wounds caused by a unit of Reaver Jetbikes
making a bladevanes, cluster caltrops and / or grav-talon attack, from
which direction is the attack considered to have originated? (p29)
A: Allocate hits from these using Random Allocation.
I haven't a clue how they decide when you take wounds from closest model and when you do it at random.. The only thing I can say is that perhaps they are trying to make it very viable for you to always defend who is closest based on your own movement and placement.
Q: Do the implosion missiles of the Voidraven Bomber have any effect
upon models that are immune to Instant Death, for example those with
the Eternal Warrior special rule? (p47)
A: No.
Eternal warrior cleared up again, and while it doesn't protect FNP it appears to help against this.
Q: Does Baron Sathonyx’ Custom Skyboard add +2 Strength to his
Hammer of Wrath attacks? (p48)
A: Yes.
I suppose this is really good to know if you play the Baron on a regular basis.
Q: Can a mindphase gauntlet prevent a model from attacking if its
attacks would be made at the same or higher Initiative step? (p58)
A: No.
If you have higher init than you can get around this wargear it appears. Good to know if playing against DE.
ELDAR
Page 26 – Farseer, Spirit Stones.
Replace the second and third sentences with the following: “A
Farseer with spirit stones is Mastery Level 2.”
Eldar are more powerful at powers than your average JOE? What a rule that makes sense and backs the fluff?
Page 31 – Howling Banshees, Banshee Mask.
Replace this entry with the following:
Banshee Mask: In the first round of an assault, a model wearing
a Banshee mask has Initiative 10, even if it charged through
difficult terrain. Furthermore, defensive grenades cannot be
used against a charging model with a Banshee Mask.
Page 31 – Howling Banshees, Executioner.
Replace the last sentence with the following profile:
Range S AP Type
- +2 3 Melee, Two-handed
Page 44 – Vehicle Upgrades, Star Engines.
Replace the second sentence with “It may move up to 24" when
moving Flat Out instead of the normal 18" for a Fast Skimmer”
Clearing up a simple movement issue so that it can't be argued.
Page 49 – Shadowseer, Veil of Tears.
Replace the entire entry with “The Shadowseer and her unit
have the Stealth and Shrouded special rules”.
Same can be found in the Dark ELDAR ruling I opted not to list both, basically saying this ability shares regardless of allies or not. If the trend keeps up I imagine these will not be the norm.
Page 57 – Fuegan, The Fire Axe.
Replace the last sentence with the following profile:
Range S AP Type
- +1 2 Melee, Smash
I am not going to comment on all of these but I do want to again remind you that you should be in the habit of asking what some weapons do or "count as"
Q: What happens when a Farseer with Runes of Witnessing rolls for his
Psychic test when there is an enemy Farseer with Runes of Warding on
the battlefield? (p26)
A: The two pieces of wargear cancel each other out; neither
takes effect..
This is generally how this works through out the system so no surprise here, just like when you have fateweaver and nullzone in the same area.
Q: Are the effects of the multiple Runes of Warding cumulative (i.e. two
Runes of Warding in range would cause the character to roll 4D6 when
taking psychic tests)? (p26)
A: No.
Seems silly to me but if someone asked often I suppose having it clear in black and white isn't bad
Q: Do Dark Eldar allies count as Eldar for the Farseer psychic
powers Fortune and Guide? (p28)
A: No
You can't use this ability on your EVIL Dark Eldar allies. I didn't mind either way as I have said in the past but this again is clearing up combo's they didn't intend to work or feel are too strong perhaps?
Q: Can you use a Warlock's Destructor power when resolving
Overwatch? (p28)
A: No.
Again backing up rulings they have already gone with. Template powers aren't able to be overwatched.
Q: Can you use the Bladestorm Exarch Power when resolving
Overwatch? (p30)
A: Yes.
This is interesting, although I don't know why you wouldn't be able to do this. It means bladestorm can be used as a good anti assault tool sometimes.
Q: Can you fire on Overwatch if you used Bladestorm in your previous
Shooting phase? (p30)
A: No – you must forgo a full game turn of Shooting after
using Bladestorm
Good to know I imagine this will come up more often then not when playing against Eldar.
Q: If I have the classic Howling Banshee Exarch model with a power
axe, does she strike at Initiative 1 (for Unwieldy) or Initiative 10 (for
the Banshee Mask)? (p31)
A: Neither. Treat the axe as a stylised executioner for +10
points.
Q: Can Vibro Cannons hit Zooming Flyers or Swooping Flying
Monstrous Creatures, if the line drawn by the Eldar player touches these
models? (p45)
A: No. They can, however, hit Hovering Flyers and Gliding
Flying Monstrous Creatures.
Again defending the new snap shot flyer mechanic, and making sure that flyers have a solid place in the game.
Q: Does Veil of Tears continue to work while the Shadowseer is
embarked on a Transport? (p49)
A: No.
Q: Do Haywire weapons, vibro-cannons and D-weapons (D-cannon,
wraithcannons, etc.) affect fortifications in the same way they do
vehicles? (var)
A: Yes.
I wonder if fortifications start showing up more often, plus the new hull point system means that we will see more of these cannons in the future? With the drop in fully mech armies I would initially imagine not. Plus the Eldar are chasing points when list building due to a older codex anyway, but perhaps after a new codex drops?
GREY KNIGHTS
Page 37 – Stormraven Gunships, Shadow Skies.
Change the first sentence to read “If the Stormraven has
moved more than 6", passengers can still disembark, but they
must do so as follows:”
Change the penultimate sentence to read: “If any of the
models cannot be deployed the unit is destroyed”.’
Same as we saw before just doing it across the board for all Storm Ravens I am sure.
Page 39 – Lord Kaldor Draigo, The Titansword.
Change the first sentence to read “The Titansword is a force
sword with the Master-crafted special rule and the
Daemonbane rule (see page 54).”
Page 47 – Inquisitor Valeria, The Dagger of Midnight.
Change the second sentence to read “The Dagger of Midnight
is an AP3 melee weapon.”
Page 54 – Wargear, Nemesis Daemon Hammer.
Replace the first sentence of the second paragraph with the
following profile:
Range S AP Type
Daemon - x2 2 Melee, Concussive,
Hammer Daemonbane, Force,
Specialist Weapon,
Unwieldy
Q: Inquisitor Karamazov has the Relentless special rule, but can he use
his orbital strike relay if he has moved? (p46/58)
A: No.
Orbital Strike being a strictly stand still to hit power.. The power would be better IMO if you could move and still use it.
Q: Does a Jokaero Weaponsmith’s Inconceivable Customisation special
rule effect the unit’s Dedicated Transport? How about any Independent
Characters who join the unit? (p50)
A: No to both questions.
It's a little sad it doesn't work on a character that joins the unit,, not sure that would be game breaking or even really good, the only thing it would really do is possibly extend a psycannon's range a bit.
Q: When calculating the Assault value of the Culexus Assassin’s
Animus Speculum, do vehicles with the Psychic Pilot special rule count
towards this? (p53)
A: No.
In general the vehicles don't actually count as pskers for anything other than being able to use fortitude.
Q: In the rules for the orbital strike relay it states that this item ‘is
treated as a ranged weapon’. Does this mean I can Master-craft it? Do
I require line of sight? (p58)
A: The orbital strike relay requires line of sight to use, but it
cannot be Master-crafted.
This is a cute question and by RAW it could go either way. Having testing Orbital strike several ways and finding it lacking over all I would easily tell you that being able to reroll the scatter would make it much better. But honestly how often does twin linked not make something much better?
Q: Can a Grey Knight Grand Master that is Mastery Level 2 exchange
Psychic Communion for a power from the psychic disciplines like a
Librarian? (p84)
A: No.
Q: As they follow the rules for a Brotherhood of Psykers, can squads of
Grey Knights that have more than one psychic power exchange their
non-Hammerhand power for a power from the psychic disciplines like a
Librarian?
A: No.
Nope only the INQ can ever swap powers, which is interesting since they are the cheapest HQ's so people usually want them for allies. However the other HQ's might be pretty amazing, if you could also use them to twin link things on top of everything else.
That's it for this set. As I said above this is pretty long so I will break it up into one final post covering the FAQ's. I have post already set up for Thursday of this week from my STC work so I will shoot to have the second half posted up next Tuesday. So Same bat channel same bat time, Stay tuned.
Small note as well I did not do the Black Templar updates as I don't know that codex well, and would rather not speak on it than make something up, say something that leads you in the wrong direction, or anything like that.