Super-Heavy Walkers, Shooting and Assault

[Disciple of Fulgrim]

Super-Heavy Walkers shoot like Super-Heavy Vehicles, and so can fire each of their weapons at different targets if desired.  But one of their big draws is that they can also Assault.

 

Per the rules "... a unit that fired in the Shooting phase can only charge the unit that it targeted during that turn's Shooting phase" (emphasis mine.)  Easy enough for regular units, but how does this affect a Super-Heavy Walker's shooting if it also wants to charge that turn?

 

RAW seems to indicate (to me at least) that if a Super-Heavy Walker want to charge, it can only fire (some or all) of its weapons at a single target in the immediately preceding Shooting phase, which becomes "the" unit it can then legally charge in the subsequent Assault phase - thus probably wasting a lot of shots on this one target and also possibly eliminating it before the Super-Heavy ever gets to charge.  (The specific Super-Heavy I'm looking at is a Greater Brass Scorpion, which seems to be designed for close combat, but which also carries a lot of anti-MEQ firepower.)

 

I suspect RAI is for Super-Heavy Walkers to be able to charge any unit they shoot at, but can't find anything specific to support this more common sense interpretation of the rules - am I missing something, or is it really "all your shots at a single target" if you want to charge?  

[Dam13n]

I think this is a clear case of the RAI being so obvious (that the super-heavy walker may charge a unit it shot during the previous shooting phase) that focusing too much on the the in that particular sentence is taking GWs writing a little too literally.

They probably forgot that certain units / models can shoot multiple targets and used 'the' when they should have used 'a'.

[Kristoff]

I think this is a clear case of the RAI being so obvious (that the super-heavy walker may charge a unit it shot during the previous shooting phase) that focusing too much on the the in that particular sentence is taking GWs writing a little too literally.

 

They probably forgot that certain units / models can shoot multiple targets and used 'the' when they should have used 'a'.

^ This. And charging isn't the only place it was forgotten.

[Venemox]

I have never had any complaints about me using the stubbers on the Imperial Knight for assault targetting purposes.  For what it's worth, I know this tactic was discussed in an issue of White Dwarf.

[Disciple of Fulgrim]

Excellent, thanks for the feedback gents - for once it looks like RAI and common sense wins!  While still pricey, this makes the Greater Brass Scorpion a whole lot more useful, especially since its extra Stomps depend on it being able to Assault. 

[jeffersonian000]

Yes, the tactic of pinging a potential assault target(s) with the Stubber(s) while targeting other units with the Cannon was introduced with the Imperial Knights in WDW #4, pg. 25, second paragraph under "Advance and Kill":

 

A Super-heavy Walker can fire each of its weapons at different targets, that unlocks a very sneaky tactic indeed. Since the rules do not allow you to assault a different unit to the one you shot at and, typically, there's little point firing your main gun at the unit you're about to assault (the very definition of overkill), keep your options open by firing your heavy stubbers at other nearby units you might want to charge. This way they are valid targets for your impending assault.

RAI straight from the designers. Hard to argue.

 

SJ