My favorite part of 40k. The rules disputes. There are a number of internet proclaimed "unclear" rules and interpretations on both sides. In a number of these cases, pundits have pronounced on both sides of the issue. I'll go ahead and weigh in on these. Some are "iffy" to me and I'll note them as such because they read one way RAW, but they might be FAQ'd the other way by GW. I also am interpreting some one way in my games because if I'm going to play Necrons for now, I'd rather play them "gimped" for now so that I don't depend on the which way the FAQ blows.
If that ends up taking as little room as I think, then I'll go over some of the fluff stupidities, especially since even with the "refining" (or reboot), it still calls on the "fear factor" without giving any to the army.
If that ends up taking as little room as I think, then I'll go over some of the fluff stupidities, especially since even with the "refining" (or reboot), it still calls on the "fear factor" without giving any to the army.
So, off we go:
On to the fluff problems, which is a bit of a rant. The Necron army has always included the "fear factor" in it. From the soulless Pariahs (who really needed a replacement for this), the Wraiths and the Flayed Ones, all of these should get some kind of fear factor. Even the C'Tan Shards lack the fear abilities. I mean, look at Flayed Ones, simple, easy, all they had to do was give them some kind of penalty Ld test for anyone fighting them in CC (say, Ld-1 or 3d6 vs Ld) so that if the opponent(s) fail, they only hit on a 6 or lose one attack or fall to I1. At that point, Flayed Ones would have become useful portions of the list. Fearless units would ignore this effect. That is really my major complaint, no fear, terror and loathing effects.
- Entropic Strike - RAW could go either way. Do you roll for it immediately after the hit, have it take effect and then roll for penetration with the newly lowered AV? I say no. Everything that happens when a unit attacks another unit happens simultaneously, so penetration and AV reduction would be going on at the same time. Of course, the next unit to hit would get to use the lowered AV..
- Deep Striking in opponent's turn - This one is potentially nasty, but even if RAW stands, it needs some clearing up. Pg95 BRB: "In that turn's Shooting phase, these units (ones who Deep Struck) can fire (or run) as normal, and obviously count as having moved in the previous Movement phase." So, do those Deathmarks get to shoot during the enemy's shooting phase or not? If you are running Nemesor Zahndrekh then you can do it with anything in Reserves that can Deep Strike. GAH! So, roll off for shooting then alternate or what? It could be read that the "as normal" means you cannot shoot in the enemy's Shooting phase, but that is the weak reading.
- Royal Courts & adding bodies to squads - It reads that you can add one member of a RC to various squads. The trick is that you can have two RCs, which means RAW, each RC can put a member in a squad. I call this one a tossup, it really doesn't matter that much. Yes, it can mean slightly tougher & nastier firepower in units, but the price for that firepower is a lot higher.
- Death Ray - I'm fairly sure this is reading that each unit takes hits equal to the number of models under the line. I'm also fairly sure that the Staff of the Destroyer works that way also, but... It could be read either way for both cases.
- Orikan & Writhing Worldscape - Yes, it works RAW. Everything is based on "counts as" not being the same as "is", but every other reference to "counts as" in the rules is equivalent to "is".
- Does QS count vs. Ramming attacks - Why, yes it does. RAW.
- Lance vs. QS -Yep, they work just fine and make QS AV 13 = AV 12. RAW.
- Wraiths & Difficult/Dangerous Terrain - This is B&C OR silliness about if Wraiths assaulting into cover have to eat the drop to I1. Plus the usual bit of slime when someone "concedes" that it doesn't apply to difficult terrain,only dangerous terrain when talking about a jump unit that treats all difficult terrain as dangerous. RAW, you have to roll the die and eat the result to be testing for difficult or dangerous terrain. No die roll, no test.
- RP (WBB) vs. EL - Yet more B&C silliness, a six page thread that assumes that since EL & RP have their own rules sections they must be totally different. Serious fantasy land going on there, like Orbs not working for Everliving models because they are making an "Everliving test" not a "RP test". Go look this up in the OR on B&C if you really have to. These guys are seriously incompetent when it comes to reading comprehension.
On to the fluff problems, which is a bit of a rant. The Necron army has always included the "fear factor" in it. From the soulless Pariahs (who really needed a replacement for this), the Wraiths and the Flayed Ones, all of these should get some kind of fear factor. Even the C'Tan Shards lack the fear abilities. I mean, look at Flayed Ones, simple, easy, all they had to do was give them some kind of penalty Ld test for anyone fighting them in CC (say, Ld-1 or 3d6 vs Ld) so that if the opponent(s) fail, they only hit on a 6 or lose one attack or fall to I1. At that point, Flayed Ones would have become useful portions of the list. Fearless units would ignore this effect. That is really my major complaint, no fear, terror and loathing effects.
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