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Locator Beacons on Drop Pods


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I'm a little confused with how Locator Beacons are placed in Drop Pods.

 

Can they be placed anywhere on the Drop Pod? [Meaning the doors blow and I choose to place it at the tip of my door]

 

or are they set in the middle of the Drop Pod?

 

Can they be used on the turn they come in? For example, turn #1 Drop Pod assault states that half (rounding up) of my Pods drop. If I have 5 Pods in my army and 3 of them drops the first turn (the first one to drop has a Beacon), can the other two pods zero in on the first pod that drops? Or are all three dropped at the exact same time and they do not benefit from the rule.

 

Thank you Brothers.

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Locator beacons are basically installed in the whole drop pod. You measure the 6" from the hull of the pod. The door ramps are not hull (though the debate over this RAGES here on the B&C, talk to your opponent beforehand).

 

No, they are not factored in for Drop Pod Assault. They have to be on the table at the beginning of the turn to be homed in on. So, your 3 drop pods from the initial wave all suffer from full scatter, no beacons allowed.

The Codex reads:

 

"If a unit wishes to arrive on the battlefield via deep strike and chooses to do so within 6" of a model carrying a locator beacon, then it won't scatter"

 

This leads me to believe that if its the model that's carrying it (in this case, the Drop Pod), then it can be anywhere on the Drop Pod; which would include its doors once the hatches are blown.

 

Second, the Codex reads:

 

"Note that the locator beacon must already be on the table at the start of the turn for it to be used."

 

This part confuses me when reading about the Drop Pod Assault rule here:

 

"At the beginning of your first turn.... Units making a Drop Pod Assault arrive on the player's first turn."

 

So if the first pod I set on the table has a locator beacon and it comes down "at the beginning of my first turn" (which I would assume its the same as "start of the turn"), then that means I can home in my other pods to this beacon?

The main rulebook states that all vehicle effects occur from the hull of the vehicle. This would include a locator beacon. Don't have it in front of me, so I can't provide a page reference.

 

As for the timing of the locator beacons, you're confusing the fact that everything happens simultaneously during drop pod assault. All three arrive at the same time. The language of "at the beginning of your turn" indicates that it occurs before your movement phase. You basically have to deploy all those pods simultaneously. But, since you don't have three arms, you have to place them sequentially. You roll for full scatter for all of them.

This part confuses me when reading about the Drop Pod Assault rule here:

 

"At the beginning of your first turn.... Units making a Drop Pod Assault arrive on the player's first turn."

That is because units from reserve are allways moved on the table first, before any other movement takes place. See page 94, "Rolling for Reserves" in the BRB. So first thing happening if you use drop pods is half of them landing, then you can start moving any of the other units you have. But those Drop Pods are not "already on the table" at the start of the turn. They are just now landing.

Legatus is correct. Locator Beacons on drop pods will only come into their own during the reserve landings at the start of the following game turn in which they themselves arrived. So no dropping in a locator pod and then during the same reserve deployment using it as a guide for other units.

 

Cheers

I

But, since you don't have three arms, you have to place them sequentially.

But if I have three arms can I deploy them at the same time :pinch: No really, I agree with the fact that they come on your turn, even that it is the beginning of it, so no Deep Strikers can benefit from locator beacon on first turn. If that would be legal it would be cool to have 10 Drop Pods, 5 of them holding troops and one with locator beacon....That would really be Death from the Sky!

  • 3 weeks later...
Due have to say that yes you can have a locator beacon on the table at the start of the game... Scout Bike srg ^_^

 

Ohh you nit pickers :) You could also have a normal scout squad with one as well, which is what I am planning for those games where you really need them to be on target.

 

Agree with the above and the main reason to have the locator beacon on a Drop pod is to ensure that subsequent pods and terminator squads (plus GOI if your group has agreed to this dirty version of the rules - mine has :P) all arrive at a focal point. Has some benefits depending on where your pod lands but if it scatters badly you might find its uses are limited.

 

Wan

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