Stunned Flyer

[Calnus]

Actually had this come up at a tournament last weekend.  Inflicted a stunned result on a zooming flyer.

 

Now the stunned rule states that a zooming flyer moves 18" and may not turn, and can only snap fire.

 

However, in this case, I had models in the way, so the flyer could not be placed (it would overlap my own flyer's hull by about 2", but bases would only be touching, if not slightly apart).  While I didn't want to make the guy crash his own flyer because of a stunned result, I also didn't want the damn thing harassing me all game, so we tried to figure out if he could go to hover mode instead.

 

Here was our rationale:  Nowhere in the Stunned rule does it say you may not change modes.  if he had, it would have used the Stunned result for a fast skimmer, i.e., cannot move and only snap fire.

 

Now, we asked a judge to clarify, and after a while, he came back and said it would move 36" that turn, going off the board, then arriving from ongoing reserves traveling 36" the next turn, still snap firing.  No idea where this came from.

 

Now, of the 3 choices (dead flyer, hovering flyer, or 36" forced move), which sounds most reasonable from a rules perspective?

[infornography]

I think rules as written you have a dead flyer on your hands.  It's kind of crappy, but that is how the rules work out.

 

I think sending the flyer into ongoing reserves is a reasonable middle ground.  It throws the other guy a bone without making it too easy on him.

 

Letting him drop to hover is not allowed by the rules for stunned by my reading and is far too gentle, immobilized and stunned damage results are supposed to be extra catastrophic for flyers and for good reason. 

 

If it were my game, I'd have crashed his flyer, but I fully understand wanting to keep the spirit of the game lighter and more friendly, in which case forcing it into ongoing reserves seems like a perfect way to go.

[Seahawk]

The rules say it's dead, full stop.

 

You're free to make up whatever you feel like doing, however (like that wacko judge did). Just be aware that nobody else in the world will play it like that.

 

 

 

Nowhere in the Stunned rule does it say you may not change modes.

[edit] Now with my BRB, I'll prove this wrong.

 

"If the vehicle is a Zooming flyer [at the time of the damage] it instead can only move 18" and cannot turn."

 

The part in brackets is clarifying the statement. When the flyer took the Stunned result, was it zooming? If yes, then it MUST move 18" and cannot turn. Since a fast skimmer cannot move more than 12", it cannot fulfill the requirements of Stunned, which means it must stay zooming instead.

[Erluin]

The rules say it's dead, full stop.

 

You're free to make up whatever you feel like doing, however (like that wacko judge did). Just be aware that nobody else in the world will play it like that.

 

 

 

Nowhere in the Stunned rule does it say you may not change modes.

[edit] Now with my BRB, I'll prove this wrong.

 

"If the vehicle is a Zooming flyer [at the time of the damage] it instead can only move 18" and cannot turn."

 

The part in brackets is clarifying the statement. When the flyer took the Stunned result, was it zooming? If yes, then it MUST move 18" and cannot turn. Since a fast skimmer cannot move more than 12", it cannot fulfill the requirements of Stunned, which means it must stay zooming instead.

I do not really follow your logic since the bracketed part seems like all you need to close the argument, and fast skimmers can move 18 inches.

[Seahawk]

No, they cannot. 

 

The bracketed part simply provides the context for the sentence that is provided by the rules. 

 

ALL vehicles move 12" or less, except zooming Flyers. They must go Flat Out to move any further.

[Calnus]

Well, in this particular case, the hovering option would also have resulted in a dead flyer :)  But I agree, the rules indicate that he should have been dead from the forced move at the start of his next turn.

 

I was actually hoping someone on here who really knows the rules would have some basis for the judge's ruling.  In that game, that particular ruling was one passed save away from winning him the game, and instead we tied due to my single marine holding a central objective.  I just really hate it when a judge pulls a ruling out of thin air, and it comes that close to deciding a game.

[Seahawk]

Yea, what the judge decided completely made up on the spot, and I absolutely would not accept it had I been playing, no matter which side I was on.

[Morollan]

Well, in this particular case, the hovering option would also have resulted in a dead flyer But I agree, the rules indicate that he should have been dead from the forced move at the start of his next turn.

I was actually hoping someone on here who really knows the rules would have some basis for the judge's ruling.

I suspect the judge confused the stunned result with the locked velocity result which would have required the flyer to move 36", probably taking it off the table and into ongoing reserves, and would not allow it to switch to hover mode.