Drop Pod and Difficult Terrain

[johnnyW]

If a Drop Pod Deep Strikes and lands in Difficult terrain, am I right in thinking it takes an immediate Dangerous terrain test for a vehicle?

 

If so, what does it do if it fails the test? It can't stop before entering the terrain ( or can it?) and it already counts as imobilised when it lands (Imobile special rule)

 

Presumably, once disembarked, the troops treat the terrain as Difficult and not Dangerous?

 

Thanks for the help.

 

John

[Shiodome]

To break it down:

 

1."Models arriving via deepstrike treat all difficult terrain as dangerous terrain" [pg95, paragraph 4. WH40k rulebook]

 

followed by:

 

2."roll a d6 for every vehicle that has entered... dangerous terrain... A result of a 1 means that the vehicle immediatley halts and suffers an immobilised result." [pg57, paragraph 8. WH40k rulebook]

 

and then the drop pod rules:

 

3."A drop pod cannot move once it has entered the battle, and counts in all respects as a vehicle that has suffered an immobilised damage result" [pg 69, space marine codex]

 

which gets interesting with:

 

4."Note: A vehicle that suffers either damaged result when... it is already immobilised treats the result as 'Destroyed - Wrecked' instead" [pg61, paragraph 11. WH40k rulebook]

 

So:

imo it depends how you interpret number '3'. if you consider the drop pod to be effected by the immoblised result already when you roll the difficult terrain test (due to the drop pods 'immobile' rule), then if you fail it's DT test it is destroyed. also works the other way around... even if you don't think the 'immobile' rule applies until after all the deep strike/dangerous terrain is resolved, then should you have failed the dangerous terrain test you are applying the drop pods 'immobile' on top of the fail DT tests 'immobilised'. in which case it's destroyed again.

 

i think this is an oversight, but it's also doesn't seem beyond reason to claim that the drop pod should be destroyed by a failed terrain test. plummiting from orbit into a building would be pretty dangerous tbh. though none of the marine players i know seem to have picked up on the fact they could potentialy lose their drop pod, and i've not had to argue it as i don't use them.

[johnnyW]

4."Note: A vehicle that suffers either damaged result when... it is already immobilised treats the result as 'Destroyed - Wrecked' instead" [pg61, paragraph 11. WH40k rulebook]

 

Not quite, I think it would lose it's weapon, rather than be destroyed, as stated in P61 Para 11. Only when there are no weapons left would an Imobilised result in Vehicle Destroyed

 

An interesting analysis. However the Imobile special rule seems to be there because a Drop Pod can only be used once, and not because it has sustained damage. A case could then probably also be made to say that the net effect would only be a single Vehicle Imobilised result.

 

Mind you, I'm very new and usually wrong :)

 

John

[Shiodome]

yeah you're right, the stormbolter (or launcher thingy) would go. they do seem to go out of their way to point out "in all respects as a vehicle that has suffered an immobilised damage result", instead of just saying "can't move for any reason". so it's based on that i'd have to look at it as potentially affecting damage rolls though... which i don't think i'd ever bother enforcing on an opponent, but would accept it if someone took that view with me.

[johnnyW]

Yep, I read the rule again and you're right, it is very specific that it is treated in all aspects as an Imobilised Vehicle.

 

Tricky stuff this :)

 

John

[nighthawks]

add to all of this interesting rhetoric that the drop pod has inertial guidance so it WONT land in dangerous terrain. so this never comes up.

[johnnyW]

Although it can't land in Dangerous terrain, I thought that it could land in Difficult Terrain. And I thought that was treated like Dangerous Terrain (p95)

 

Sorry for the Rhetoric :)

 

John

[nighthawks]

when deepstriking, aren't they the same? or is the wording of the rule specific for "impassible" terrain, in which case I am wasting everyone's time. book's at home, I'm at work.

[Brother Gothard]

You're thinking about impassable terrain, nighthawks. It can well land in both dangerous or difficult terrain. So for this thread, if it lands in difficult terrain, its treated as dangerous, and then it would have to make a test. I dont see anything in the drop pod rules that says any different.

 

So yes, if it weren't for the pod's stormbolter, it would indeed be destroyed. Fortunately, since there's no way it can suffer 2 damage results before the passengers disembark, there is no way to 'lose a pod' from landing in difficult/dangerous terrain.

 

Though, I do wonder, if they intended for the immobile rule to be as a result of its landing, regardless of where it landed? Its treated as a vehicle that has suffered an immobilized damage result, after all, they specifically say that instead of just saying that it is immobile on landing. I wonder if a case could be made that its landing is dangerous enough as it is, and thus its treated as suffering an immobilized damage result, and so would not have to roll for dangerous terrain again?

 

Personally, I do not think so. And, clearly, even if they DID intend that, RAW still forces you to roll for the dangerous test anyway. But its interesting to consider.

[nighthawks]

then I stand corrected. Thanks!