Drop Pods Landing in Ruins

[Oldenhaller]

So...I deep strike my drop pod into a building which has been clssified as a ruin. It doesn't scatter and won't land on top of or within an inch of any other units. My questions reguarding this...

 

- Do I make a difficult terrain roll the moment it hits the first level of the building (or at all)?

 

- If I fail said difficult terrain test is the drop pod placed on top of the building, placed on the ground floor where it was intending to land or moved so that it misses the ruin completely?

 

- If that test is failed does the weapon become destroyed once the immobile drop pod comes to rest and is immobile?

 

- If a ruin is tall enough and there are troops placed on the upper levels, is the drop pod allowed to be placed beneath them?

 

 

The pertinent rules I can see to this are;

 

Units deep striking into ruined buildings are placed on the ground floor

 

Models arriving via deepstrike treat difficult terrain as dangerous terrain

 

A result of 1 means thaat the vehicle halts immediately and suffers an immobilised damage result, of if it was attempting to enter difficult terrain it stops just outside

 

...counts as...a vehichle which has suffered an immobilised damage result

 

My interpretation would be that;

 

A drop pod is placed into the terrain and then takes the difficult terrain test. If failed it is still placed on the ground floor. If the difficult terrain test is failed then the weapon is destroyed as it has now suffered two immobilised results. As the vehicle is placed and is not moving within 1 inch of troops on th upper levels it can beplaced beneath them, even tho a direct descent would have placed it moving through them.

 

Anyone else?

 

-O

[Legatus]

A drop pod is placed into the terrain and then takes the difficult terrain test. If failed it is still placed on the ground floor. If the difficult terrain test is failed then the weapon is destroyed as it has now suffered two immobilised results.

Agreed. Though, for the sake of correctness I would rather say the drop pod takes a "dangerous terrain test", not a "difficult terrain test".

 

As the vehicle is placed and is not moving within 1 inch of troops on th upper levels it can beplaced beneath them, even tho a direct descent would have placed it moving through them.

I disagree with this, solely because of common senses sake. Drop pods come crashing down vertically. The models on top of the ruin are clearly in the path of the descending drop pod, and the Inertial Guidance System would react. I would also insinuate that the rules for drop pods, for models deep striking into ruins and for models on higher levels of a ruin have not all been written with the respectively other rules in mind.

[Stargazer]

In the marine codex it says if i remember correctly that if a drop pod land on terrain then it's moved to the nearest point that isn't in terain due its inbuilt gyroscopes or some other similar piece of equipment

[Nyyman]

In the marine codex it says if i remember correctly that if a drop pod land on terrain then it's moved to the nearest point that isn't in terain due its inbuilt gyroscopes or some other similar piece of equipment

 

"Should a Drop Pod scatter on top of impassable terrain or another model (friend or foe!) then reduce the scatter distance by the minium required in order to avoid the obstacle"

SM Codex, page 69, Inertial Guidance System entry.

And if the Drop Pod itself rolls 1 for dangerous terrain test, I think that it is counted as weapon destroyed because it is already immoblised. Either that or that when it lands and rolls 1, it immoblises, then suffers immoblise result for landing and then gets weapon destroeyd.

I know it will be criticized, but it's my opinion.

[Mal]

In the marine codex it says if i remember correctly that if a drop pod land on terrain then it's moved to the nearest point that isn't in terain due its inbuilt gyroscopes or some other similar piece of equipment

 

Thats what I recall also, but I don't have my codex to check.

[Race Bannon]

So ...

 

if the Drop Pod lands on a building (Impassable Terrain), then it moves the shortest distance to the edge of the terrain ...

 

if the Drop Pod lands on model (friend or foe [shmuck or tank]), then it moves the shortest distance to the edge of the model ...

 

if the Drop Pod lands on difficult terrain, then it makes a difficult terrain test?

 

Really?!

 

Seriously?!

 

I'm playing by a more fun set of rules than that. ;)

[Legatus]

Yes indeed, Drop Pods can land inside forrest terrain or among pieces of rubble. What a whacky concept... :rolleyes:

[ShinyRhino]

I always had my pods use the Inertial Guidance System to avoid wallas and upper floors of a ruin. If the pod can't come down directly into the area, I moved it to the minimum safe distance, avoiding the wall by 1" or what have you.

[nighthawks]

deepstrikers are placed on the ground floor of a ruin, as stated.

 

inertial guidance will avoid anything you can't land on (impassible terrain, such as the ruin upper levels or at least smaller, elevated floors and other models)

 

If the model doesn't fit on the first floor due to other, higher floors in the way, then the ruin (in that area) is impassible to the pod. bounce it to a clear spot in or out of the ruin, whatever is closest.

 

I would agree that other models on the upper floors would cause the guidance system to steer clear of them, even if the pod would land beneath them and >1" away. just seems sensible. but it is not RAW.

[maniclurker]

Um, then you'd be cheating, ShinyRhino.

 

If it's not impasseable terrain or models then you don't avoid it. You can smash right into all of the difficult terrain that you do or do not want to.

 

The original post pretty much details how to deepstrike a drop pod correctly.

[Oldenhaller]

....Seems to be some confusion over the inertial guidance system. Only comes into effect if your pod scatters on top of said impassible terrain. If it's hit's, there's no scatter and thus no use of the guidance system - ought to have picked a better place to land. This is then where the placement and the levels come in. As no vehicles other than skimmers and walkers can enter the upper levels of ruins would that then clasify them as impasible to a drop pod or any other deep striking vehicle?

 

This is of course unless getting a hit on the dice counts as scattering but only moving 0"?

 

Reguarding the movement of the pod, the rules state that it is placed and counts as having been moved at 12" in the movement phase. trajectory doesn't come into it. If it does then it'd also affect speeders deepstriking, which are slightly more manouvrable :D

 

~O

[Steelmage99]

As no vehicles other than skimmers and walkers can enter the upper levels of ruins would that then clasify them as impasible to a drop pod or any other deep striking vehicle?

 

Aside from the skimmer thing, yes, any level above groundlevel is impassable to any non-walker vehicle.

[Oldenhaller]

was probably thinking of the rules for jestbikes and jump infantry - will have a proper look in a bit

 

cheers for confirming things tho :devil:

 

~O

[nighthawks]

levels vs. drop pod isn't relevant anyhow (though steelmage got it right for unit types) as the pods deepstrike and deepstriking models ONLY EVER can be on the ground floor, as noted in the deepstrike rules in the BRB. thus the upper levels can only make for impassible terrain if you cannot park the scattered pod under them (it won't fit there). if you have pass through an upper level, then the rules seem twisted and non-sensical, but if you can, you do, or you house rule it that you cannot and the IG system steers the pod to safety (away from the interfering floor.)

 

if you choose to pass through a floor and there are models on that floor, then it gets all sorts of tricky - easiest way is to have the pod steer clear of the unit, no matter what their position vs. the final position of the pod in terms of elevation.

 

of course, ALL pre-scatter positioning must be a legal place to land the pod in the first place.

[Race Bannon]

Yes indeed, Drop Pods can land inside forrest terrain or among pieces of rubble. What a whacky concept... :rolleyes:

 

The point I was suggesting was that the Drop Pod lands anywhere that's not impassible terrain or another model ... AND THEN becomes immobilized. Kinda automatically. So no Difficult Terrain test is made.

 

This is an interpretation of the rules that makes sense to me and the crew I game with. No, I do not play in official competitions so I'm not too worried about every 'a', 'and', and 'the' in between the individual words that make a sentence which ultimately make a paragraph the explains how to do something that determines a set course of actions in a game. ^_^

 

But I do apreciate some clarifications to the Deep Strike rules I was not well versed with.

[nighthawks]

but by RAW you would take the dangerous terrain test and possibly, then, recieve a "second" imobilized result to the pod.

 

play it as you want, but this is the RAW.

[Steelmage99]

As Nighthawks says, Deep Striking units treat difficult terrain as dangerous terrain. Meaning that the Pod will have to take a Dangerous Terrain Test. More importantly, I believe the transported unit have to too.

[SeattleDV8]

Since the unit is disembarking into diffcult terrain and not deep striking themselves. I would say they would not take a dangerous terrain test.

[Steelmage99]

The are indeed Deep Striking. Otherwise they would be able to assault out of the Pod.

 

*A quick visit to the FAQ later*

 

Q. Can troops deploying from a Dark Angels

Drop Pod assault on the turn it lands? Unlike

the Space Marines and Black Templars codexes,

it does not state you cannot.

A. No the embarked troops can’t assault, as they

have deployed by deep strike that turn and

troops that deep strike can’t assault.

[nighthawks]

the unit deepstrikes with the pod, and disembarks from it. disembarkation does not force a dangerous terrain test in difficult terrain, though deepstriking does, it is for the vehicle only as far as I can tell. definitely a grey area, though.

[Steelmage99]

Even when using a Pod, you are deploying via the Deep Strike rules as show by the FAQ. Deep Striking into difficult terrain has certain effects. Apply these effects.

 

Unless of course one believes that this only apply to Dark Angels. In which case others dodges the bullet.

[nighthawks]

The BA FAQ covers the gap for assaulting - and specifies that the unit has arrived by deepstrike and are thus subject to those rules (apparently, this isn't obvious to some). the disagreement between you and I, steel, is the following:

 

Models arriving by deepstrike treat difficult terrain as dangerous, from the BRB. the pod deepstrikes and faces the dangerous test if it lands in difficult. I think we agree this far.

 

the rule for deepstriking into difficult treated as dangerous terrain is satisfied (also, the pod counts as moving at cruising speed into difficult terrain, so would trigger a terrain test, anyhow as it is a vehicle).

 

THEN the unit disembarks from the pod. disembarkation moves from vehicles are not subject to difficult terrain tests at all, so there is no difficult as dangerous terrain for the marines, only the pod. (how I read it)

 

they do arrive by deepstrike, but the subject of a deepstriking transport vehicle and dangerous terrain is not specifically covered in the rules, and these days the stance of GW is to play it as you think makes sense. which this does, to me. I see where you read that the terrain test would occur, I just disagree that it is RAI though I agree that the interpretation is indeed valid by RAW. I think both are.

 

like I said - a bit of a grey area, but it seems to me that there is no dangerous test for the infantry, only the pod itself.

[Bobman]

With the whole units on upper levels thing -

 

if you can place the pod in the ruins or whatever out of 1" from stuff then things above it don't matter. If we're looking at the rules by the letter the pod doesn't move, it just appears so was never near the models on upper floors, as long as it's final resting place is not near other models.

 

I personally would take it on a terrain by terrain basis.

 

With the disembarkation I agree with nighthawks. They're not disembarking by deep strike so no dangerous terrain test.

[Legatus]

Perhaps a comparison to other deep striking transport vehicles helps. The unit would normally have the option to stay inside the transport and not disembark at all. Disembarking from the transport is not part of "arriving via deep striking". It is the special rules of the drop pod that demand that the passengers have to disembark the turn the pod arrives. Dark Eldar Warriors could just stay in their Raider, Scouts could stay inside the Land Speeder Storm.

[Steelmage99]

I believe it is clear that a unit arriving in a Drop Pod, is considered deep strinking itself. A close read of the Deep Strike rules implies this and the FAQ confirms it.