Drop Pod Scatter

[bulley]

Right past couple of games I've played against drop podders, and people are telling me they cant scatter off the table at all, so they just plop them at my rear edge table corner safe in the knowledge they cant scatter anywhere at all (for E.G my tank is about 6" from the table corner, he plops it behind this, since it cant scatter onto the tank or off the table).

 

Now I've just read a battle report saying his drop pod scattered off the table. Which prompt'd me to check out the rules - it cant go within 1" of the model, and cant go on impassable but doesnt say anything about table edges.

 

Am I right in assuming then that they can mishap if they were to scatter off the table like a standard teleport/deepstrike?

[nurglez]

yes, they can scatter off the table, its the only thing their inertial guidance doesn't fix.

[bulley]

Cheers. I was sure they could as there is nothing in the rules saying they cant scatter off.

[breng77]

The drop pod rules state that it cannot scatter onto other models or impassible terrain. In the deep strike rules it lists off the table separate from impassible terrain. Also, no where in the book does it say that off the table is impassible terrain. Therefore, a drop pod can scatter off the table. In fact this is the only way that a drop pod can mishap.

[bulley]

The drop pod rules state that it cannot scatter onto other models or impassible terrain. In the deep strike rules it lists off the table separate from impassible terrain. Also, no where in the book does it say that off the table is impassible terrain. Therefore, a drop pod can scatter off the table. In fact this is the only way that a drop pod can mishap.

 

Perfect answer, well broken down.

 

THe first person that I saw it happen to vs me was a "Blue Shirt" so he sort of tried to do the whole "I know the rules better than you", despite the fact I corrected him on a good few things (especially FAQ stuff). I went to look it up but he sort of stopped me like there was no point.

 

I just thought I was going a bit crazy.

[dswanick]

Whenever someone states something to the effect of "deep strike scatters off the board count as a mishap" followed up by "my unit has a special rule that prevents this", the best response is almost always "Oh, really. Can you show me that in the rules?"

[Dan VK]

Whenever someone states something to the effect of "deep strike scatters off the board count as a mishap" followed up by "my unit has a special rule that prevents this", the best response is almost always "Oh, really. Can you show me that in the rules?"

;)

[LPetersson]

The drop pod rules state that it cannot scatter onto other models or impassible terrain. In the deep strike rules it lists off the table separate from impassible terrain. Also, no where in the book does it say that off the table is impassible terrain. Therefore, a drop pod can scatter off the table. In fact this is the only way that a drop pod can mishap.

 

This is not entirely correct. If the owning player aims it at impassable terrain and scores a hit, that is also a mishap.

Admittedly, you would have to be a special kind of window-licker to do that, but the possibility is there...

[bulley]

I did actually look up the rules - twice.

 

Once after the game and once yesterday, and while I felt quite confident that I'd been told the rule wrong, still wanted to check.

 

During the game I wasnt "YOU CANT DO THAT" sort of thing, he rolled off the table, I knew the rule that it had to be 1" from models, I casually asked "can it scatter off?" he says "Nah" and for me that was good enough.

 

Its only when I am sure that something is v.wrong or I am sure I've seen the rule to the contrary that I'd go full out rules lawyering on them, in a friendly game that I know I am going to win, I'll take the challenge and look it up later and correct them.

 

Like I said when I looked it up, I couldnt see anything to say that so just wanted confirmation.

 

Cheers anyway.

[breng77]

The only issue with letting people get away with that kind of stuff is that they begin to believe that the rules actually work that way. It becomes "well I always play it that way..."

[Hellios]

I've also seen a lot of people who think drop pods can't scatter into terrain fullstop... I know that isn't on topic but it seemed related :S

[Algesan]

<snip>

THe first person that I saw it happen to vs me was a "Blue Shirt" so he sort of tried to do the whole "I know the rules better than you", despite the fact I corrected him on a good few things (especially FAQ stuff). I went to look it up but he sort of stopped me like there was no point.

 

I just thought I was going a bit crazy.

 

I'm familiar with this. Personal observation from a gamer new to 40k, even now, there is a high percentage of the small group of veteran players I've interacted with who have a greater or lesser levels of "4th Ed hangover". Read the rules and don't get sucked into "GW gnostic arcana" interpretations. Also consider if the "game is worth the candle" since a large chunk of the either/or interpretations are toss ups that might lose you some battles, but will win you others.

 

Yes, pods can scatter off the table. Breng77 stated it correctly that this is the only way a pod can have a deep strike mishap. Now tactically it can be useful because you have a 1/3 chance of landing where you want to and unless you are too close to a corner, for 180 degrees of drop (or 1/2 of the scatter rolls) you will still be dropping in close to where you want to. Which means if you pod right behind some vehicles or impassible terrain that you might still get a good chance of that nice position you wanted or close enough to make no difference.

 

Whenever someone states something to the effect of "deep strike scatters off the board count as a mishap" followed up by "my unit has a special rule that prevents this", the best response is almost always "Oh, really. Can you show me that in the rules?"

 

Be careful that they don't pull the "GW gnostic arcana" stuff here. I'll also mention that in a group of players, some will think that they have RAW, but others will help correct them or at least take it away from being a personal urination contest.

 

The only issue with letting people get away with that kind of stuff is that they begin to believe that the rules actually work that way. It becomes "well I always play it that way..."

 

Tradition does not equal RAW or RAI(ntended). OTOH, remember that you might be wrong, so read the rules.

 

I've also seen a lot of people who think drop pods can't scatter into terrain fullstop... I know that isn't on topic but it seemed related :S

 

Yep, I've seen a lot of that where positions get hardened and "I always play this way" becomes a substitute for logical defense.

[breng77]

Oh certainly one should check the rules, I just meant that it is always good to point out in the rules why a particular way of playing is incorrect. If you don't that person gets the impression that they are doing things correctly. You are also correct about edition hangover. Many rules I have seen played incorrectly were people playing by the 4E rules.