Ruleshammer 40k: Q&A 27th January 2023

Welcome to Ruleshammer! This week we’re covering some more questions submitted by you, the readers, and our patrons on the Goonhammer Discord. Remember the banner below will take you to the Ruleshammer 9th Edition Compedium, for all the questions I’ve answered for the last few months!

Q&A

Can Fortifications Charge?

They always fail if they can. My short answer might seem a little odd but there an element of ambiguity about if they can declare a charge, but far less ambiguity about if they can actually move. The charge rules don't mention a restriction to buildings charging, and they can meet the eligibility criteria. So it's definitely plausible that the rules as written let them declare a charge. However they will always fail the charge. This is because of the movement characteristic, usually this would have no bearing on a charge move but as most fortifications have a a movement of "-" it does in this case.

Move (M): This is the speed at which a model moves across the battlefield. If a model has a Move of ‘-’ it is unable to move at all.

Move being a general term, I have tended to interpret this limitation to affect all types of move and treat movement "-" as being how immobile models are represented.

What about Ork Careen Stratagem?

I want to do stupid Ork things. Can buildings charge? They’re technically units not terrain, which if my understanding is correct would make them eligible to charge (and therefore for the boss bunker eligible for ramming speed)? Also, is the boss bunker able to use careen if it explodes as its Mv characteristic is “-“ but the careen strat doesn’t rely on characteristic it just says “make a move up to 6”? - Keaton

No. For that same reason as other Fortifications. The Ork Careen Stratagem won't cause a model with movement "-" to be able to move, as it doesn't change this characteristic.

CAREEEN Use this Stratagem in any phase, when an ORKS VEHICLE model in your army that is not within Engagement Range of any enemy models is destroyed and explodes. That model can make a Normal Move of up to 6" before resolving the explosion. If that VEHICLE is a WAGON or TITANIC model, this Stratagem costs 2CP; otherwise, it costs 1CP.

Without replacing the "-" movement characteristic the model is still not able to move.

Can I use the Desperate Breakout Stratagem on a Fortification to automatically kill it?

Actually no. The reasoning for this is pretty wild though. There's a Rare Rule about rules that prevent units from Falling Back and how they interact with the stratagem.

As fortifications can't move, they can't fall back, and this FAQ clarifies that any models that are prevented from falling back do not trigger this part of the Desperate Breakout Stratagem.

DESPERATE BREAKOUT AND RULES THAT PREVENT FALLING BACK Some rules either prevent enemy units from falling back, or when a unit is selected to Fall Back, triggers a roll-off, test or other dice roll that can result in the enemy unit being unable to Fall Back. In either cases, a rule that prevents Falling Back takes precedence over Desperate Breakout Stratagem (pg 255). This means, in the first case, that using the Stratagem on a unit would not enable it to Fall Back – you would be spending CPs only for the chance to destroy some of your own models. In the second case, if the Desperate Breakout stratagem is used on a unit, then after rolling to see if any models in that unit are destroyed, any roll-off, test or other roll is then triggered and resolved (which may result in the unit not being able to Fall Back). Note that in either case, if a rule prevents a unit from Falling Back, no models in that unit can make (and hence end) a Fall Back move, so no additional models in that unit are destroyed, but the unit the Stratagem was used on will still be unable to do anything else this turn.

As fortifications can't move, they can't fall back, and this FAQ clarifies that any models that are prevented from falling back do not trigger this part of the Desperate Breakout Stratagem.

Any model in that unit that ends its Fall Back move within Engagement Range of any enemy model is destroyed.

If you can't make a Fall Back move, you can't end one, so you don't automatically die. As amusing as it might be to imagine a Drop Pod flopping over and trying to roll away.

Astra Militarum - Can Mechanised Guard units Embark and Disembark in the same turn?

"Hi Vrekais. The Guards Mechanised Infantry Trait allows for them to disembark from a vehicle after it has moved - are there any restrictions to prevent a unit starting on the table, embark on transport, transport move, and then the unit disembark? Thanks" - Wik

Yes. Unfortunately there's no hopping in for a ride allowed within the phase. While the Doctrine does allow a unit to disembark from a transport that has moved.

Units with this doctrine can disembark from a TRANSPORT model (excluding AIRCRAFT models) after that model has made a Normal Move, but if they do so, such units cannot be selected to move again this phase (though they still count as having moved) and neither they nor that TRANSPORT model are eligible to declare a charge this turn.

That's only an exception to part of the normal disembarking rules, not all of them.

If a unit starts its Movement phase embarked within a TRANSPORT model, that unit can disembark in that phase so long as the model itself has not yet made a Normal Move, an Advance or has Fallen Back that phase.

To be able to disembark the unit must start that movement phase Embarked. It's potentially possible to do it within a turn though. For instance if your army also had the recon operations doctrine.

RECON OPERATORS At the start of the first battle round, before the first turn begins, INFANTRY, CAVALRY and SENTINEL units with this doctrine that start the battle wholly within your deployment zone can make a Normal Move of up to 6". They cannot end this move within 9" of the enemy deployment zone or any enemy models.

This doctrine allows units units to make a normal move pregame, and it's been confirmed by the Core Rules FAQ that these normal moves can be used to Embark a unit.

OUT OF PHASE RULES AND EMBARKING ON TRANSPORTS When a unit uses a rule to make a move as if it were the Movement phase, all the normal rules that would apply in the Movement phase apply when making that move. For example, models in that unit cannot finish that move within Engagement Range of any enemy models, and if every model in that unit finishes that move wholly within 3" of a friendly Transport model, they can embark within that Transport model following the normal Movement phase rules regarding embarkation.

The same would be true of any abilities that allow a Command Phase normal move, if there are any.

How do D6+X shot weapons interact with Blast?

"How does Blast rule interact with weapon like Leman Russ battle cannon when firing at unit consist of 6-10 models since RAW stated that if the result of the roll are lower than 3 attacks it would make 3 attacks instead in this case the roll of 1+3 or 2+3 would be higher than 3, or it would replace D6 part to be 3 and resolve at D3+3 attacks?" - Bloodwing

Blast does nothing for D6+3 shot weapons. You've slightly misread the rule unfortunately. The Blast rule when targeting a unit of 6 to 10 models does not restrict the minimum result of the roll to 3, it makes the minimum number of attacks 3. The example in the rule is a little misleading.

If a Blast weapon targets a unit that has between 6 and 10 models, it always makes a minimum of 3 attacks. So if, when determining how many attacks are made with that weapon, the dice rolled results in less than 3 attacks being made, make 3 attacks instead. For example, if a Grenade D6 weapon with the Blast rule targets a unit that has 6 or more models, and you roll a 2 to determine how many attacks are made, that roll is counted as being a 3 and that weapon makes three attacks against that unit.

While the example for the grenade does mention the roll, that is because only a the roll was relevant. There's a further Rare Rule about Blast weapons that makes it clear that the roll is not set a minimum of 3, just the attacks.

BLAST AND MULTIPLE DICE ROLLS In addition to the errata here, we wanted to briefly add an additional example to explain how the Blast rule works when shooting a weapon that requires more than one dice roll to determine its number of attacks. For example, if a Heavy 2D3 weapon with the Blast rule targets a unit that has 6 or more models, and you roll a double 1 to determine how many attacks are made, that result is less than 3 and so that weapon makes 3 attacks against that target. If the same weapon targets a unit that has 11 or more models, that weapon makes six attacks against that unit.

In the case of the Leman Russ Battle cannon with D6+3 shots, any roll of the D6 is going to give you at least 4 attacks which is higher than the minimum of 3 attacks Blast provides. Meaning Blast will only benefit this weapon if the target has 11 or more models where it will instead provide the maximum number of shots the weapon can make. In this case 9.

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