Wolf Standard

[Bartali]

This brought some discussion in my last game, when do you activate the wolf standard ? I then saw this post in this thread

 

Another question.... I always pop mine at the beginning of my turn before the movement phase, I was asked why the other day and told them that as I understood that was when you declare it's use. They said they thought itr didn't need to be declared until either the beginning of the shooting phase or if in CC then at the beginning of that phase. What's the consensus here?

 

~BtW

"Once per game, a unit that includes a wolf standard may call upon the power of the wolf. For the duration of the next Assault Phase, all models in that unit may re-roll any dice rolls of a 1.", C:SW, Pg.62

RAW - you must declare the use of the Wolf Standard prior to the start of the Assault phase in which you want to use it. If you wait until the phase is started to declare its use, then by the wording it would not take effect until the next Assault phase.

Real World - my opponent's have never complained if I declare it at the start of their Assault phase to be used in that Assault phase. They may have reached the end of their Shooting phase and jumped right into the Assault phase before I could interject the declaration. Other than that, I always declare my intent to use the Standard in the Shooting phase prior to the Assault phase I want it to affect.

 

Is this how it's played ? Activate in the shooting phase, or if generous at the very start of the assault phase ?

 

Up until now my Space Wolf opponent has been activating after assaults have been declared on his Grey Hunters

[eyeslikethunder]

Yup must be done before the assault phase you wish to use it in, SO normally the shooting phase

[Bearingtheword]

Like I had indicated in the original post, I always activated it at the start of one of my game turns, before moving, even though its only useable from one assault phase until the following one. Mainly so I didn't forget.

 

But I asked just because I was asked and wanted to be sure I was doing it right. I think, if I understand right, it can be used at the start of any assault phase according to the answers from the other thread. But I can also see where it could possibly be better to be able to "pop" it at any time in the assault phase....Bah, now my tired old brain is confuzzled again....

 

~BtW

[Valerian]

You should pop in before you enter an Assault phase, because it's rules clearly state that it works in the next Assault phase after being activated. This should be rather easy, however, as you simply take a quick moment after you've shot to assess the battlefield, and declare to your opponent, "before I start my Assault phase, I'm going to activate Wolf Standards for the following Hunter packs." In your opponent's turn, you should be making that assessment while he is shooting, and when it looks like he might be about done, just interrupt him with, "before you go on, I'm going to activate Wolf Standards for the following Hunter packs. Thank you, and sorry for the interruption, please continue..."

 

Valerian

[Daddywarcrimes]

I generally activate them either during my own shooting, as the GH fire their bolt pistols rather than their bolters, or at the close of my opponent's shooting phase, prior to making any Leadership tests.

 

Initially, I was casual about declaring their use at the start of the assault phase and in casual games that was never a problem, but one person in a tournament game was (rightly) strict about it, and it wound up costing me the game when my line took his charge without their banners, barely lost combat (which I would have won handily with my Standards active), and my army folded. Since then, I make it a point to be as precise and mechanically correct as possible in my play.

[Belfast]

The thing that stinks about this situation is that you get the greatest return of investment for the banner when using it for your opponents assault phase due to counter attack, over watch, and becaus you can go full auto in your shooting phase prior to their turn. If you opponent is worth their weight, popping the banner before their assault phase will often make them not assault your unit thus wasting the extra kills the banner provides.

 

I've made it a point to only use my banner when I'm assaulting or I'm already locked in combat.

[Valerian]

If you opponent is worth their weight, popping the banner before their assault phase will often make them not assault your unit thus wasting the extra kills the banner provides.

 

But even then, you have forced your opponent to do something he/she did not intend, and you've caused them to not assault at all. That is easily worth the use of a 10 point upgrade, even if it doesn't directly cause a single additional wound.

 

V

[dswanick]

If you opponent is worth their weight, popping the banner before their assault phase will often make them not assault your unit thus wasting the extra kills the banner provides.

 

But even then, you have forced your opponent to do something he/she did not intend, and you've caused them to not assault at all. That is easily worth the use of a 10 point upgrade, even if it doesn't directly cause a single additional wound.

 

V

Yep, exactly - you know which of his units are maneuvering to assault yours. He confrims it by firing at the unit with weapons that don't prohibit the charge. At this point he has committed himself in a way that the loss of the 10pts is worth the loss of effectiveness he has caused himself by not charging.

[Bartali]

The thing that stinks about this situation is that you get the greatest return of investment for the banner when using it for your opponents assault phase due to counter attack, over watch, and becaus you can go full auto in your shooting phase prior to their turn. If you opponent is worth their weight, popping the banner before their assault phase will often make them not assault your unit thus wasting the extra kills the banner provides.

 

I've made it a point to only use my banner when I'm assaulting or I'm already locked in combat.

 

For a 10pt upgrade, I don't think you've got much to complain about there. Especially when you've got a TDA Wolf Guard attached to a GH squad, and it becomes pretty much broken.