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FOR THIS POLL, PLEASE ANSWER HOW YOU CHOOSE TO PLAY THE GAME, NOT NECESSARILY WHAT THE RULES AS WRITTEN (RAW) SAY.

The Deep Strike rules on page 84 of the rulebook say: "Roll for arrival of these units as specified in the Reserves rules and then deploy them as follows. . ."

The Drop Pod Assualt rules on page 21 of the Space Marine codex say: "Such units remain in reserve and arrive by drop pod, even if the Mission being played does not normally allow Reserves or Deep Strike."

The Daemon Summoning rules on page 12 of the Chaos codex say: "The Daemon units will start in reserve irrespective of whether the Reserves special rule is used in the mission being played. Starting with the second game turn roll a D6 for each Daemonic unit at the start of the Chaos turn. If you roll equal to or greater than the number shown, the unit becomes available. Turn 2 (4+), Turn 3 (3+), Turn 4+ (2+). When a Daemon unit becomes available place the large Ordnance blast marker in contact with a model carrying a Chaos Icon. . .The Daemons are then deployed on the area covered by the marker."

The Reserves rule on page 84 of the rulebook says: "Units in reserve are not deployed at the start of the battle, but will become available in later turns. Each selection from the Force Organization chart is diced for separately at the start of the players turn. Reserve unit arrives on: Turn 1 (N/A), Turn 2 (4+), Turn 3 (3+), Turn 4+ (2+). When a reserve unit arrives it must move on as specified in the Reserves section of the mission description."

And: "Note: You must roll for reserves as soon as possible and must bring them onto the table as soon as they are available. You may not delay making the dice rolls or keep the reserves hanging around off-table until you decide you need them!"

 

QUESTION: How do you play the timing of the Deep Strike/Drop Pod/Daemon Summoning Reserve rolls at the start of the turn and the subsequent deployment and Scattering of Deep Striking/Drop Podding/Summoned units?

 

OPTION A. At the start of the turn I roll for one Deep Striking/Drop Podding/Summoned unit in Reserve and, if it successfully arrives, I immediately deploy it onto the table (and roll for scatter). I then repeat this process for all Deep Striking/Drop Podding Summoned units in Reserve.

OPTION B. At the start of the turn I make Reserves rolls for all Deep Striking/Drop Podding/Summoned units in Reserve. I then deploy all Deep Striking/Drop Podding/Summoned units onto the table one at a time: I place a unit, roll for scatter, and then move onto placing the next unit.

OPTION C. At the start of the turn I make Reserves rolls for all Deep Striking/Drop Podding/Summoned units in Reserve. I then deploy all Deep Striking/Drop Podding/Summoned units onto the table at once, and then roll for scatter. 

OPTION D. Something else entirely: reply exactly what it is below.

I use option A as it seems to be the most fair way to play.

Darrian

C, they are happening at the same time after all.

I seem to remember demon summoning listed as having to be done before other reserves but I don't have a codex handy right now.

I currently play B, but should probably switch to C as C prevents me from gaining any unfair advantage of compensating for bad scatter during the same phase.

C.

There's too much opportunity for advantage if you get to see where one unit scatters before even placiing the next one.

"Gee...my plasma suicide squad scattered too far away from your terminators, I guess I'll try again in the same spot with my second one!" Nuh-unh.

However, I only place the center model for each squad, then roll scatter for all of them. After all the center models have been moved, the remainder of each squad is then placed. Saves moving lots of models from the scatter, and any advantage gained is minimal.

B. Although that is just how everyone does it around here. I questioned this when I first started playing and came to the conclusion that this was just one of those local conventions more then anything. If playing outside of my normal circle I'd ask my opponent how he would like to play reserves.

C seems more correct but we've always played B. I think I will start doing C.

C may be the more hard core way to do things, but B is a lot simpeler and easier. Not a lot of confusion involved.

I voted A but I generally see this played (and play it) somewhat inconsistently -- I feel A is most consistent with the spirit of the rules (must place the unit as soon as it becomes available; and since we're discussing how an unclear rule is played, in this case one's opinion on it is at least somewhat relevant), but honestly play it B fairly often because B usually ends up faster to play out.

Generally speaking, I find B to be overly advantageous to the deep striker/drop podder/summoner, but as above, faster to play out, so I prefer A. C seems somewhat awkward, but I can't say that I've ever played it that way (or asked to play it that way, and I'm usually the ones with more -- uh -- summoned deep pods).

I used to do option A in 3rd ed, but since playing Deathwing in 4th, I use otion C. it is the most fair for eberyone, as there is a distinct advantage in using option A.

B feels somewhat broken to me, as that provides the greatest advantage to the deepstriker, etc.

C is correct because, It follows a more strict guideline to follow. You must first do all of "X" before proceeding to "Y".Then you must resolve all of "Y" before continuing to "Z". Having a background in playing magic does that to people. It has a very strict turn structure, and game are won and lost by the following (or not following) the turn structure stated in the rules. This isnt clearly defined in the rules for 40k, but it makes the most sense.

In a tournament setting I feel someone who was using the option B should be knocked in sportsmanship. But then again, that should be defined before the game is even begun to be played.

We roll for Reserves, the place drop pods, etc., at some point during that movement phase if they come in.

We have always used option A, but option C seems so much more fun.

The biggest argument that I have in favor of B is that it matches the movement phase. In the movement phase, you move each unit one at a time, from start to finish.

To be honest, I should probably have put D, because I tend to treat reserve movement onto the board as movement on the board, and do them at the same time (one unit at a time). Sometimes, this involves one unit occupying cover that another unit has vacated.

The one thing I never do is use a teleport homer (I don't have daemons, but would do the same) or similar wargear before the unit that is arriving from reserves using that piece of wargear has moved.

Posted By Tiderian on 12/06/2006 10:26 PM
 
The one thing I never do is use a teleport homer (I don't have daemons, but would do the same) or similar wargear before the unit that is arriving from reserves using that piece of wargear has moved.

Both Teleport Homers and Daemon Icons have rules stating that they must be on the table at the start of the turn to be used, so nobody should be attempting to do what you're suggesting.

 

Good grief...we've always done B in our group and I never considered that it could be done differently. I suppose we imported the movement methodology in without realising (ie "move" one unit, then the next, etc).

I'm going to need to think about this one....curious.

While A and B give the advantage of being able to make up for a bad scatter, B and C have the advantage of knowing what you have before saying where anything will go, so you know that unit a can be backed up by unit b but not unit c.

I voted D because I have just started to ask my opponent how they want to play it and then go with that, usually either A or C is the answer

A seems to be the closest to RAW and that is how a few people I know like to play it but it is a pain to do in practice just for times sake.

I don't really think that A has too much advantage over C, with A although you can fix it if a squad scatters too much, they may end up being the only squad to come down and you don't know until the next squad comes in which kills some of the advantage of it.

I am pretty much opposed to B but I don't really care as long as both people do it the same way.

Sorry about the Necromancy, but I was reading the BGB FAQ and found something which acutally negates Option A. I personally think C is the best way to play, though a bit impractical; As you still can only move each pod one at a time, you can choose which ones will get priority if any happen to scatter into one another.

Here's the reference I was talking about:

From the FAQ ( http://us.games-workshop.com/errata/assets/40k_rulebook_faq.pdf )

"Q. Reserves and joining units/transports. When
deploying an Independent Character, on page 81 the
rule book says that “you may specify that it starts the
game already inside a unit and place it in coherency with
it”. If the character and this unit are both kept in Reserve,
can you roll for them together (i.e. only one roll applying
to both), so that they enter the game together
(particularly if they are also using a transport)? This
seems to contradict the “Each selection from the Force
Organisation chart is diced for separately” on page 84
(Reserves). Similarly, can a squad start the game in
Reserve inside a transport vehicle that is not a
dedicated transport, so that I roll only one dice for both?

A. There is a way to use these two rules so that they do
not contradict each other.
If the Reserves rules are used, you must roll separately
for all Force Organisation chart selections at the start of
the turn (including rolling separately for Independent
Characters and non-dedicated transports). Once you
worked out which units are available in that turn, you are
allowed to combine them in any legal way. For example,
if an independent character, a squad and a nondedicated
transport all become available at the
beginning of turn 3, you could deploy them all separately
as normal, or the character could join the unit and then
the unit could enter the battlefield embarked on the
transport, as long as they fit inside it. Or any other legal
combination."

Emphasis mine.

 

 

Excellent point. Good catch.

So the consensus is that you roll for each individually and then deploy them individually?