AbusePuppy

Correct, Chaos does not get access to the Mortis or Contemptor Mortis because... er... because shut up, loyalists rule chaos drools lolololololol!

I thought I had seen that it was going to be a downloadable codex, but that might be in addition to the version available via WD, dunno. In either case, it seems likely that there's not going to be a lot of options available to such an army. Three models, no upgrades? Hrm.

Nope, he and some of the other DE characters are amongst the last existing units with no model.

>.< Totally missed that bit, and I even went back and double-checked the DS and transport rules because I recalled there being something like that. So yeah, you can hop out after DSing via the Duke. The fact that the upgrade has the restriction is irrelevant (unless you for some reason also purchase it.)

Doing so was viable last edition, but with the changes to disembarkation in 6th edition, I don't believe you can anymore- DSing vehicles count as moving at Cruising Speed, and you aren't allowed to disembark if your transport moved more than 6". There's some argument to be had about the difference between speed bands and actual movement, but I think, generally speaking, that it seems like it isn't viable.

I suppose the extremely relevant question would be "what armies are allowed?" BAO and LVO both had some restrictions and rules changes in place- will the Cup be using these as well? I think the relevant "tiers" are: -Escalation -Stronghold -Forge World -Inquisition -Dataslates/Formations -Allies

Since the pictures show it with the silo cover on in many of the photos and the cover itself is an actual bit that comes with the model, I think your opponent is going to be hard-pressed to deny you the ability to play with the model that way, especially since the actual space on top of that battlement is pretty limited otherwise. The other option is to just have models hang over the edge, and there's no rule against that, either, other than perhaps Wobbly Model Syndrome. The huge size of certain specific unit bases (IG weapon teams, Broadsides, etc) makes fitting them places they should logically be able to go somewhat absurd. I say go with it.

The bonus VP are part of the Escalation rules, not the superheavy rules. As far as we know (which, admittedly, is not everything yet), Knights do not give away extra VPs for being damaged/destroyed. If they do, they are virtually worthless at the costs we've seen so far.

If you are in an arc and can see that arc, that is the armor facing you shoot the model in. Doesn't matter what else you can see. If you are in one arc (say, the front) and cannot see any of the armor facing on the arc, only a different one (say, the side), you will shoot the side arc despite being physically present in the front- however, due to the high-angle shot, the vehicle receives a +1 bonus to its cover save against the attack.

It is a fixed weapon- you can add another ammunition type to it, but the weapon itself is always present.

It's funny because that Tyranid will die instantaneously to the Knight's attacks and the codex has virtually no ways at all to actually hurt it!

That would be my interpretation, yeah. The D table roll takes the place of the wound roll, so Clone Field happens before it and can thus potentially negate the hit. (This bypasses the Str D "no saves or special rules" clause because, like Titan Holofields, it applies to the hit, not the wound.)

Pax, you're confusing the Line of Sight rules for the 4th Edition ones, where combats were infinitely-tall LoS-blockers. In 6th edition, combats don't block LoS any differently than the models themselves otherwise would, although of course you aren't allowed to shoot into a melee. As for the questions: 1. Yes, superheavy vehicles are allowed to Run/Flat Out if they wish to. In fact, some of them even have special rules for doing so (like the Warhound Scout Titan, which is able to fire weapons and run or even run twice.) They are NOT heavy vehicles despite the similarity in names- heavy vehicles, for example, cannot move 12", whereas superheavy vehicles are free to do so. 2. Your transport being stuck in combat does not prevent you from doing anything in particular; the units inside a Stompa are free to shoot and/or repair it while it is in a fight, which makes some sense conceptually. You won't be able to shoot at the unit(s) that are locked in combat with your Stompa, of course, since it's illegal to shoot at ANY unit that is locked in combat, but if you have LoS to other targets it's perfectly acceptable to do so. If the enemy hasn't piled in to surround the base of the Stompa, it's even legal to disembark while the fight is ongoing, though obviously the 1" rule is important here.

We've got a decent-sized crew of Corvallis folks who are willing to do some traveling to go to tournaments, so if things are happening definitely keep the word out there. As far as what we'd like to see, I can't speak for absolutely everyone, but having done some polling of the group for our own tournaments and from talking to other folks, generally folks hate Escalation with a passion, don't feel terribly strongly about the dataslates or Stronghold Assault, and are slightly disinclined against Forge World. Prizes of some sort are, of course, a bit obligatory, but I think for a lot of folks the specific prizes themselves are not a major part of the decision process. TSHFT offers tickets to future events, Guardian Cup raffles off product (with winners getting more raffle entries), and some tournies just give straight-up store credit- all of these seem to work reasonably well and I haven't heard many complaints about any of them. So long as the prizes you're offering are at least somewhat commensurate with the entry fee, you should be relatively fine. I'm not much of a fan of comp, but I do like to see prizes for different things- one for generalship, one for painting, etc. I think it works a lot better to have separate judging and prizes for different sorts of things, rather than combining them into a single "this is the one big prize for being the best at everything," although I understand for smaller events that isn't as feasible. Pure win/loss systems are likewise preferable to "battle point" systems, although they tend not to work for very large numbers of participants (unless you break things into brackets, the way NOVA and Guardian Cup do.)

Vector Strike definitely can, since it's not a shooting attack. Bombs I'm a bit less sure of, since they explicitly name themselves as weapons (and do not roll to hit, thus disqualifying themselves from snap shots.) And yes, in your example, the Boyz would have 4+ cover against the bomb. It's extremely stupid, but that's how it technically works. GW did not really think the bomb rules through very well.

Some of the new bombs from 6E actually do have barrage, but I assume you're not talking about them. Since bombs are listed as weapons and (usually) do not have any special exceptions granted to them, casualties are pulled and cover saves determined in the same way as a normal weapon. Ditto for Night Fighting distances, armor facings, etc.

I think that army would have about sixteen Infantry models in it, that's what it would do. :P I highly recommend Stronghold Assault- if you discard the Aquilla Strongpoint, the book is very well-balanced and has some truly interesting fortifications in it that really open up new types of armies for play. It also makes several of the existing fortifications more viable for use by offering new options and upgrades and the missions, while far from perfect, can be pretty fun little encounters to play out with a friend. Add in an actually-helpful set of update rules for buildings and you have a very solid, if somewhat short, little book. Escalation... I don't like as much. I won't deny it could be fun as a casual thing, but I think as an inclusion for the general game it's pretty awful.

Giant Chaos Spawn and Blood Slaughterers are both Forge World units, yes; their current rules are available in the new edition of Imperial Armor: Apocalypse. For the uninitiated, Giant Chaos Spawn are 80pts, have fairly standard Monstrous Creature stats (but only a 4+ save), and have pretty much the same special abilities as a normal Spawn, but get d6+2 attacks and have their own "mutation" table. Their three results do either S6 hits to every model in base contact, give -2 Init to all non-Fearless models, or give the Spawn FNP (2+) for the turn. They aren't nearly as fast as a regular Spawn, but as an 80pt MC with four wounds, you really can't ask for much more.

Oh, sure, I'm not faulting the general approach- small squads of Paladins can be extremely inconvenient for the other player- I full agree with psilence that Solodins are a vastly disproportionate threat for their costs. What I'm not sure I understand is the "middle of the road" selection of three members; you aren't getting the virtues of a really small squad of 1-2 (which are cheap and largely disposable, but still a danger to the enemy) nor of larger squads (which can do wound allocation shenanigans and get access to what is arguably the most versatile gun in the game, the Psycannon, and two of them no less.) What makes three a better choice than two, one, or five?

3man seems like a weird number- I'd either go smaller (to get more units for cheaper) or larger (to be able to add the Psycannons.)

I would never take Psilencers or Incinerators- the Psycannon is just so blatantly superior that there's no real reason to bother. A Sword would basically be there as a free way to soak up a small number of ID wounds- yes, you will tank them on Draigo first if possible, but in my experience he tends to have to roll a lot of saves, so that is a very finite solution. Against a Bloodthirster or the like you are hoping to kill him before rolling saves becomes an issue- it's more for those emergency cases where your dice go bad that you want the Sword. Spending points on a Warding Staff is just not a great option, even in a 10man squad (since Paladins can't accept challenges) and you should typically murder anything that is a real threat to you before it even gets to swing with 4-6 Halberds in the unit plus Draigo.

Certainly that is the purpose of the 1" rule, but it has a lot of implications beyond that in the game.

That's a fairly decent loadout. I'm not sure what your overall plan is, but when running Draigo I pretty much always do it deathstar style- him, an Inquisitor (either Coteaz or Terminator/Psycannon) and a full ten Paladins with most all of the upgrades, then a couple of solo guys hanging around on the sidelines. The 5man loadout is basically just mirrored there, though- I might suggest running one Sword on a guy so you have someone to try and soak up Power Fist/Smash hits, but other than that it's basically fine. You can also argue the distribution of Hammers vs. Halberds, but at the end of the day it's not a huge deal.

The nastiest version of this I've been able to come up with is something like this: Lord on Juggernaut with Axe of Fury 10 Khornate CSM/Berzerkers in Rhino 10 Khornate CSM/Berzerkers in Rhino 10 Khornate CSM/Berzerkers in Rhino 20 Cultists 20 Cultists 1 Giant Chaos Spawn 1 Giant Chaos Spawn 1 Giant Chaos Spawn 5 Chaos Spawn 5 Chaos Spawn 5 Nurgle Chaos Spawn 1 Maulerfiend 1 Maulerfiend 1 Maulerfiend I believe that still leaves a few points for playing around in a 2K list, or with a bit of trimming you could make it an 1850 list. Model the Chaos Spawn/Giant Spawn as more mechanistic-y critters and you're pretty much 100% to theme. Blood Slaughterers could potentially replace one of the Maulerfiend slots, since as I recall they can be taken in multiples. A Heldrake could also sub for one of the Spawn units (likely the Nurgle one), although I wouldn't take any more than that- you need to be pressing a lot of fast threats into the enemy's face for it to fully work.

The fact that the 1" rule doesn't apply to them. Yeah, you would need either a side ladder, as some of them have, or jump/jet pack status to get there. That's my point, though- SHA gives specific rules for what you do when an enemy unit is on the battlements and a friendly one is inside the fortification. If the 1" rule applies to fortifications, this situation could never come up because you couldn't legally get onto the battlements while a unit was inside the building.