More FAQs - Skitarii and Ad Mech

[pretre]

Q: The Dominus Maniple Formation lists ‘1 Onager Dunecrawler’ as part of the Formation. Does this mean one unit or one model? For example, can I have a full unit of 3 Onager Dunecrawlers in this formation?
A: It means one Onager Dunecrawler model.

Q: Can models embarked on a vehicle that fire at Kastelan Robots (whether through Fire Points or in Open-topped Transports) have shots reflected back at them because of the Repulsor Grid special rule? Can units that are able to Jink do so against reflected shots?
A: Any shots reflected back at them will hit the vehicle. Units cannot Jink against reflected shots.

Q: If a unit such as the Kataphron Destroyers deals an unsaved Wound using their phosphor blasters, then does the 1-point reduction in cover save from the Luminagen special rule apply to the same unit’s heavy grav-cannons if fired afterwards?
A: Yes.

 

Q: Does a Fortification taken as part of an Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation get free upgrades, for example a Void Shield Generator?
A: The only Fortifications that benefit from the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation’s rules are those taken as part of the Cult Mechanicus Battle Congregation. The Might of the Adeptus Mechanicus rule allows you free weapon and wargear options, which in most cases will not benefit Fortifications – they have access to Fortification Upgrades, which are neither weapons nor wargear (this includes gun emplacements). The exceptions to this rule are weapon options on a Fortification’s datasheet – for example on the Wall of Martyr’s Firestorm Redoubt or Vengeance Weapon Battery. These Fortifications could replace their emplaced weapons for free.

Q: The Dominus Maniple Formation lists ‘1 Onager Dunecrawler’ as part of the Formation. Can additional Onager Dunecrawlers be purchased for this unit?
A: No. The Formation entry is not for a unit of Onager Dunecrawlers, but a single model.

Q: In the Dominus Maniple Formation, there have been printed rules that say the Formation requires Skitarii Vanguard, and other printed rules that say it requires Skitarii Rangers. Are either of these in error, or can the Formation use either 1 unit of Skitarii Vanguard or 1 unit of Skitarii Rangers?
A: You can use whichever version of the datasheet you have.

Q: I have a question about the rules of the Dominus Maniple Formation from my Start Collecting! Skitarii box. Does the Skitarii Doctrina Imperatives special rule work on the Tech-Priest Dominus, and does the Canticles of the Omnissiah special rule apply to the Skitarii Rangers?
A: No, each unit is affected by the special rules listed on their datasheet.

Q: In Codex: Skitarii, the special rule ‘Luminagen’ reduces a unit’s cover save by 1 until the end of the phase if they suffer one or more unsaved Wounds, glancing or penetrating hits. When taking cover saves against a weapon with this rule, do you roll the saves one at a time until you fail, with the rest of the saves being taken with the 1 point reduction, or do you roll them all at once and then apply the modifier once that shooting attack has been completed?
A: You would roll all your saves at once against a particular Luminagen weapon (for example, against all the heavy phosphor blasters from a unit of Onager Dunecrawlers). If your unit suffered any unsaved Wounds, glancing or penetrating hits from that attack, it would count its cover save as being 1 point worse than normal until the end of the phase. If the Onager Dunecrawlers had any weapons that they had not already fired, these would benefit from this cover save penalty.

Q: When firing several weapons with the Luminagen special rule, do the penalties to cover saves stack (i.e. do 2 hits with Luminagen weapons give a -2 modifier to cover saves)?
A: The penalty from suffering an unsaved Wound, or a glancing or penetrating hit, caused by a weapon with the Luminagen special rule does not stack. It will never impose more than a -1 penalty on a unit’s cover save.

[WestRider]

All pretty reasonable there.

[AbusePuppy]

The Jink one is really weird considering that the main FAQ gave units special permission to Jink even when they weren't the target of an attack.

[WestRider]

Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Was just thinking relative to the Rulebook itself, but when you look at the other FAQs too, that is odd.

[Brother Glacius]

That whole dunecrawler thing seems odd too. You typically don't see unit size specifics in a formation. If it says one unit of rangers, you can have a unit of 5-10. You don't see formations saying, "one unit of 5 rangers." And since dunecrawlers come in units of 1-3...it really seems odd that they restrict it to a single crawler, especially when they are designed to work in a unit.

[Guest]

There's a few formations that call for a single model, rather than the entire unit that the model normally is part of. It's a decent point of clarification.

[WestRider]

There are a couple of Nid Formations that specify Unit size, and the Necron Canoptek Harvest is similarly limited to a single Tomb Spyder. I know there are also some SM Formations that require full Squads. Probably more that I'm not thinking of right now.

[Xavier319]

and uh... the thing. um... O_O the space marine stormtalon formation i think says 1 landspeeder. could be wrong. i've seen several that specify a single model, instead of 'one unit of'. like the strike force ultra that requires 1 venerable.

[WestRider]

The Raptor Wing does let you take a Squadron. But there are several that require single Dreads, because they have to be in Pods or on a StormRaven.

[AbusePuppy]

There are actually quite a few formations that mandate particular unit sizes and/or compositions- for example, the old Tau Firebase Support Cadre, the BA Angel's Fury, etc. More typically such limitations are spelled out in the Restrictions sub-heading of the formation, but some of them list it in the Composition section.