Jump to content

Special Characters


Fearspect

Recommended Posts

Basically, I was wondering how this rule is interpreted: Do the Chapter Tactics special rules provided by a special character end on his death?

 

Stepping back from strict rules, I would interpret Chapter Tactics as a way of representing the way a force is trained for battle, and that they would not forget it when their commander dies, as opposed to his presense bestowing a skillset on an army.

 

However, this might not be the actual interpretation.

 

Thoughts?

Link to comment
https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/169228-special-characters/
Share on other sites

The rules say "If you include X character, then all units ..." Its got nothing to do with any fluff nonsense at all. If you include the character in your army, in the FOC, then the army benefits from Chapter Tactics. Being alive or dead, deployed or not, on the table or not, has nothing to do with these rules. Included = in the FOC = alive or dead the rule stands.
THat is because Marneus Calgar does not have any Chapter Tactics.

 

Agreed Legatus.

 

But GTang raised a good point: Marneus' rule is dependent on him being "on the table" whereas other characters are merely required to be included as part of an army. There is an important distinction there that goes back to the OPs question regarding a characters' special rules continuation and their presence alive or dead.

 

Cheers

I

Some examples similar to Chapter Tactics. The Chapter Tactics work according to the well established princible that when you include a certain choice, your army list slightly changes.

 

- Taking an Inquisitor allows you to take Assassins. If the Inquisitor dies you do not have to remove the assassin.

 

- Taking an Ork Big Mek allows you to take one Deff Dread as a Troop choice. If the Dread is one of your two Troops choices, your army will not become illegal if the Mek dies.

 

- Favius Bile allows you to upgrade some of your units, you pay additional points for the models and tehy have extra rules. If Fabius Bile dies, the units do not use the special rule and you do not get your points back.

 

- Captain Chenkov allows you to ubgrade your Conscript squads with the "without number" rule for additional points. The unit will not lose that rule if Chenkov dies.

 

Almost every Codex has some units or options that can only be taken if a specific model is included in the army. It is the same with Chapter Tactics. Taking a certain character makes all units have a different special rule instead of "Combat Tactics".

Wasn't Combat Tactics typically regarded as the Ultra's Chapter tactics? Calgar's special rule is just one of his own personal ones, like Kantor's Inspiring Presence. It represents his ability to lead as opposed to the Chapter's methods of handling things.

 

I can't see any of the other Tactics reverting back to Combat, could you imagine all the Salamanders weapons suddenly becoming less quality after Vulkan takes a dive. "Oh man, that darn Vulkan and his upgrade killswitch, best start acting like them Ultras always do"

The rule doesnt state that you "unexchange" or "reexchange" or any such thing.... and an exchange tends to be a permanent transfer... so I believe that means you keep the effects of chapter tactics well after the IC has been removed as a casualty. Theres simply no mechanic for undoing the effect anywhere in the codex or BRB.

With Calgar, it is more that his presence is inspiring, so if he is dead, that presence is no longer there.

 

With someone like Vulcan or Kahn, why would the flamer care if the captain was dead? Would it decide to be slightly less effective? Also, what happens to a unit which is in reserve through outflanking in a turn when Kahn is killed? Does that mean they cannot outflank?

 

As with many things in the codex, there is much which is assumed to be understood. The writers switch between being utterly explicit and then leaving gaping holes. There are times when you have to use common sense and the understanding of your opponent.

Special Characters have special rules...and some have Chapter Tactics as well. If the character is killed (or not on the table), then the army no longer benefits from the special rules - but will always benefit from the Chapter Tactics because the character was included in the army.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.