Drop Pod deployment questions

[Sir_Cosme]

Hi there.

I have this issue with drop pods deployement and everywhere i go seems to handle the problem a different way. So i was wondering if theres any official ruling on the matter or if it should be resolved via "House Ruling".

 

What happens if a Drop Pod deep strikes right next to a building? (or any other piece of terrain, vehicle, unit, or w/e that would be in the way of an open hatch) Some of the hatches would be obstructed to drop properly.

In some places i play they say that inertial guidance system means i have to scatter away from the obstacle enough distance so that all the hatches may open.

In others, they say that the hatches that may not open normally simply dont open at all, thus reducing the disembark area but also constituting a LoS blocker (cant see through closed hatches).

 

thanks in advance.

[Seahawk]

In some places i play they say that inertial guidance system means i have to scatter away from the obstacle enough distance so that all the hatches may open.

This is wrong. The IGS only works when you scatter onto impassable terrain and enemy models, and even then it's only 1" away.

 

In others, they say that the hatches that may not open normally simply dont open at all, thus reducing the disembark area but also constituting a LoS blocker (cant see through closed hatches).

This is mostly right. Guys can still technically disembark from it, though the doors would block line of sight. Common sense says they can't disembark from those hatches but rules say otherwise :)

[thade]

In some places i play they say that inertial guidance system means i have to scatter away from the obstacle enough distance so that all the hatches may open.

This is wrong. The IGS only works when you scatter onto impassable terrain and enemy models, and even then it's only 1" away.

 

In others, they say that the hatches that may not open normally simply dont open at all, thus reducing the disembark area but also constituting a LoS blocker (cant see through closed hatches).

This is mostly right. Guys can still technically disembark from it, though the doors would block line of sight. Common sense says they can't disembark from those hatches but rules say otherwise B)

 

Seahawk is spot-on here. =) Naturally the blocked doors will restrict disembarking somewhat, as they can only disembark 2", so if they can't be placed 2" from the hatch openning, then that's that. There are some shenanigans to be had here...if, for instance, it can't lower because of a creative terrain piece, but the terrain is "difficult terrain" then the hatch door can't lower but it counts as open, so you could disembark your guys into the structure as you wished.

[rat of vengence]

Yup. What Seahawk said. That's the way I play them.

 

RoV

[Sir_Cosme]

thanks a lot guys, its good to have it a bit clearer.

another small question if i might: do the open hatches count as area terrain (difficult terrain checks + cover saves)? i dont open a new thread to avoid crowding the forum with my newb drop pod questions haha

 

thanks a lot again.

[Seahawk]

Opened hatches counts as nothing, so no cover saves, no impassable terrain. They're basically just for aesthetics.

[Frosty the Pyro]

Indeed for all purposes the hatches do not exist, you do not disembark from 2" from the hatches, hatches are not any type of terain, you can argue a little bit about them maybe providing cover, but only if they are up, when down they most definatly count as "decoration" which is ignored entirely.

[thade]

Actually, I've seen this come up somewhere before, so it bears focusing on for a moment:

 

The 2" disembarkment does NOT include the downed doors...that is, you can't disembark 2" from the tip of a folded down hatch. You disembark up to 2" from the chassis of the Drop Pod itself. (That is, if you removed the doors entirely, you have a 2" radius around what remains - more or less - that you can disembark into.)

[Valerian]

Fellas,

 

There is nothing in any of the rules about vehicles or Drop Pods that says you have to physically drop those ramps (or open the doors on a Rhino, or drop the assault ramp on a Land Raider). Just read the rules for disembarking a transport: nothing more is required than deploying each model within 2" of an access point; the DP is surrounded by access points, so that should be easy. All of your ramps can remain closed, or glued shut for that matter. Just treat it the same as an Ork Battlewagon and you'll be fine (obvious exceptions like Inertial Guidance and inability to reembark apply, of course).

 

V

[rat of vengence]

Are we going to have to point out the "hatches are blown" bit of the rules AGAIN?

 

Unlike Rhinos, Drop Pods do describe how the hatches are blown. Leaving hatches closed for LoS reasons is gamey, though if you have glued them there isn't much anyone can do about that. My scratch-built doesn't open either :rolleyes:

 

RoV

[Valerian]

Are we going to have to point out the "hatches are blown" bit of the rules AGAIN? :P

 

Unlike Rhinos, Drop Pods do describe how the hatches are blown. Leaving hatches closed for LoS reasons is gamey, though if you have glued them there isn't much anyone can do about that. My scratch-built doesn't open either :D

 

RoV

 

Doesn't say anything about hatches being blown in the Drop Pod entry of the Space Wolves codex; I had to doublecheck my Space Marine codex and as you stated, it does. I guess you Codex Astartes-following dudes have different rules again.

 

V

[Grey Mage]

Are we going to have to point out the "hatches are blown" bit of the rules AGAIN? :P

 

Unlike Rhinos, Drop Pods do describe how the hatches are blown. Leaving hatches closed for LoS reasons is gamey, though if you have glued them there isn't much anyone can do about that. My scratch-built doesn't open either :P

 

RoV

Does your drop pod kit come with charges? Because mine didnt. I cant "blow" anything. It also doesnt state that "blowing the hatches" is required it says:

 

"Once the drop pod has landed, the hatches are blown and all passengers immediately disembark, as normal"

 

Try as I might I cant find any way to safely use explosive charges on my minis, so Im going to assume the term "hatches are blown" is fluff until someone can show me otherwise. It doesnt say "Once the drop pod has been placed and scattered flip down the ramps and conduct a disembarkation as normal."

[Isiah]

Yep it's fluff as far as disembarking rules go.

[rat of vengence]

Are we going to have to point out the "hatches are blown" bit of the rules AGAIN? :P

 

Unlike Rhinos, Drop Pods do describe how the hatches are blown. Leaving hatches closed for LoS reasons is gamey, though if you have glued them there isn't much anyone can do about that. My scratch-built doesn't open either :P

 

RoV

Does your drop pod kit come with charges? Because mine didnt. I cant "blow" anything. It also doesnt state that "blowing the hatches" is required it says:

 

"Once the drop pod has landed, the hatches are blown and all passengers immediately disembark, as normal"

 

Try as I might I cant find any way to safely use explosive charges on my minis, so Im going to assume the term "hatches are blown" is fluff until someone can show me otherwise. It doesnt say "Once the drop pod has been placed and scattered flip down the ramps and conduct a disembarkation as normal."

In that case I guess you don't use the Machine Spirit on your Landraider then, because I doubt you will be able to find that either. Try as I might I can't encourage the blighter to drive and shoot when the vehicle is stunned. Should I assume that bit is fluff too?

/sarcasm :P

 

You quoted the appropriate part from the rules yourself. It says the hatches are blown in the same sentence as it says passengers 'immediately' disembark. I don't hear people claiming the passengers immediately disembarking is just 'fluff'...

 

RoV

 

Are we going to have to point out the "hatches are blown" bit of the rules AGAIN? :P

 

Unlike Rhinos, Drop Pods do describe how the hatches are blown. Leaving hatches closed for LoS reasons is gamey, though if you have glued them there isn't much anyone can do about that. My scratch-built doesn't open either :)

 

RoV

 

Doesn't say anything about hatches being blown in the Drop Pod entry of the Space Wolves codex; I had to doublecheck my Space Marine codex and as you stated, it does. I guess you Codex Astartes-following dudes have different rules again.

 

V

I haven't had a close look at that bit so I will take your word for it.

 

How I long for some consistency between rules in different codexii... lol

 

RoV

[Grey Mage]

Saying the hatches are "Blown" doesnt help me one bit RoV since I have no way of "blowing" them.

[rat of vengence]

You have no way of shooting bolters either, but we use our imaginations. I already did point out that glued shut hatches (if that is your meaning?) obviously can't be blown, and there would have to be some sort of agreement between the players. I have a pod that doesn't have doors that move at all.

 

RoV

[Isiah]

You have no way of shooting bolters either, but we use our imaginations.

 

I think GM meant rulewise: ie there is no rule as to how blowing these damned hatches is actually done or the ramifications of doing it – we just know that it happens.

[Grey Mage]

You have no way of shooting bolters either, but we use our imaginations. I already did point out that glued shut hatches (if that is your meaning?) obviously can't be blown, and there would have to be some sort of agreement between the players. I have a pod that doesn't have doors that move at all.

 

RoV

You cant "blow" the hatches on a standard GW model without destroying it, glued or not. Also what do you do with your pod that has no doors?

 

You have no way of shooting bolters either, but we use our imaginations.

 

I think GM meant rulewise: ie there is no rule as to how blowing these damned hatches is actually done or the ramifications of doing it – we just know that it happens.

You would be correct Isiah- what exactly does "blow the hatches" mean? After all, I believe that to be small shaped charges that forcefull propel the hatch from its very tight position.... but there are other ways Im sure.

 

I feel that the phrase is part of the descriptive bits that color all GW rules and give a bit of flair to their writing, even if it can confuse the RAW.

[rat of vengence]

You have no way of shooting bolters either, but we use our imaginations.

 

I think GM meant rulewise: ie there is no rule as to how blowing these damned hatches is actually done or the ramifications of doing it – we just know that it happens.

You would be correct Isiah- what exactly does "blow the hatches" mean? After all, I believe that to be small shaped charges that forcefull propel the hatch from its very tight position.... but there are other ways Im sure.

 

I feel that the phrase is part of the descriptive bits that color all GW rules and give a bit of flair to their writing, even if it can confuse the RAW.

I understand your point fellas, but I think perhaps GW thought we could work out the obvious; the hatches are hinged at the bottom and free at the top. Blown hatches fall down to create ramps/access evidenced by the treadplate on the inside of the hatches.

I mean, seriously. We make much larger leaps of imagination in this game than this. I fail to understand what is so hard about this one. Unlike rhinos or landraiders, the pod rules specify what happens; I shouldn't think anyone would have trouble with linking 'blown' to 'opened'.

 

In any case, it is not a major issue. If people have glued theirs shut because they couldn't be bothered modelling the inside, fine. If people have scratch builds like me, where it simply never did open, fine. But people choosing which doors, or leaving/glueing them shut to gain cover, well that smells of rochefort left out in the sun too long. The hard bit of course, is there no way of knowing which is which (except with the selective doors trick) so I would give benefit of the doubt anyway.

 

Meh. When I land my pods, one won't open (it can't) and the other will (hatches are blown). :D

 

RoV

[Grey Mage]

Strange but funny- modeling my new DP from a SW battleforce, all five doors remain in the upright position without glue or primer even when shaken.

[thade]

Strange but funny- modeling my new DP from a SW battleforce, all five doors remain in the upright position without glue or primer even when shaken.

 

This is how the doors on my Rhinos stay up, so I was hoping when I built my DPs that would be the case. Barring that, magnets are cheap and extremely useful for this as well. =) Magnets are so cheap and easy, frankly, I don't understand why more people don't do it. Gluing the hatches shut usually says to me "I didn't paint the inside." Any why wouldn't you want to?! It looks awesome in there!

[Grey Mage]

Strange but funny- modeling my new DP from a SW battleforce, all five doors remain in the upright position without glue or primer even when shaken.

 

This is how the doors on my Rhinos stay up, so I was hoping when I built my DPs that would be the case. Barring that, magnets are cheap and extremely useful for this as well. =) Magnets are so cheap and easy, frankly, I don't understand why more people don't do it. Gluing the hatches shut usually says to me "I didn't paint the inside." Any why wouldn't you want to?! It looks awesome in there!

I dont paint the inside of any of my vehicles- Im not a very good at painting, and doing those areas brings me no pleasure or profit. For the record.

[thade]

Strange but funny- modeling my new DP from a SW battleforce, all five doors remain in the upright position without glue or primer even when shaken.

 

This is how the doors on my Rhinos stay up, so I was hoping when I built my DPs that would be the case. Barring that, magnets are cheap and extremely useful for this as well. =) Magnets are so cheap and easy, frankly, I don't understand why more people don't do it. Gluing the hatches shut usually says to me "I didn't paint the inside." Any why wouldn't you want to?! It looks awesome in there!

I dont paint the inside of any of my vehicles- Im not a very good at painting, and doing those areas brings me no pleasure or profit. For the record.

I don't hold it against you, though I can see how my previous post may have indicated otherwise. Some people at my club glue the tank doors shut because of lack of skill, but the asserted reasoning is that "the inside isn't a valid representation of what it looks like in there anyway." For instance, I glued my Vindicator shut for that very reason...the insides make no sense.

[Seahawk]

Back to the OP, one more thought:

 

What happens if a Drop Pod deep strikes right next to a building? (or any other piece of terrain, vehicle, unit, or w/e that would be in the way of an open hatch) Some of the hatches would be obstructed to drop properly.

You can probably still lean out the door a little bit (.5" maybe but still), to get that extra sense of reality where the door tried to open, but can't. I think it'd look neat and does everything the rules say to.

[Isiah]

I think it'd look neat and does everything the rules say to.

Indeed I agree but the rules don't say anything and that's kinda the point. Cinematic maybe, but rules – there is no rule for those doors.

 

What happens if a Drop Pod deep strikes right next to a building? (or any other piece of terrain, vehicle, unit, or w/e that would be in the way of an open hatch) Some of the hatches would be obstructed to drop properly.

 

In this instance do nothing but follow the rules and disembark wherever unit cohesion/terrain/enemy models allow and up to 2" from the (hull) of the vehicle. Anything else regarding physically doing something with the doors is for looks only and has no bearing as far as disembarkation goes from the pod.

 

Where people including me do get into a tangle over pod doors is through the vexed issue of TLOS/shooting/cover and that has been covered elsewhere so not going there again here :D.