The Puzzling Case of the Auxiliary Drive

[Sully ad Bellum]

From an email I just sent to Forge World:

 

To whom it may concern:

I am a huge fan of the Horus Heresy universe, including the rules for building armies in the Age of Darkness. . . .  I gave [my Caestus Assault Ram] the Auxiliary Drive upgrade . . . , intending to use the rules for it set forth in the Horus Heresy: Betrayal (HH:1) at page 238:  "[a] vehicle with an auxiliary drive may ignore Immobilized results it suffers on a D6 roll of 4+."
 

However, to my surprise, I noticed that the rules for the Auxiliary Drive upgrade set forth in Legiones Astartes: Crusade Army List (LA:CAL) at page 88:  "[a] vehicle with an auxiliary drive may repair Immobilised results it suffers on a D6 roll of 4+ at the start of the controlling player's Movement phase."  See also Horus Heresy: Conquest (HH:4) at page 249.

In the context of a flyer, this difference in the rules for Auxiliary Drive as written in HH:1 and as they appear in LA:CAL and HH:4 is substantial.  An upgrade that allows a flyer to ignore an Immobilized result - one of two principal ways in which a flyer might be destroyed - is a hugely important upgrade, whereas an upgrade that allows a flyer to repair such a result is less than worthless after the flyer's already been destroyed, which is what happens to a Zooming flyer that suffers an Immobilized result. 

It is true that a Caestus Assault Ram also has the Hover special rule, and so may be treated as a fast skimmer when Hovering.  A fast skimmer is not destroyed by an Immobilized result, and thus the rules for the Auxiliary Drive written in LA:CAL and HH:4 could be used by a Caestus Assault Ram under those narrow circumstances.  In other words, the rule as set forth in LA:CAL and HH:4 is not rendered meaningless by the fact that the Caestus Assault Ram is a flyer; if the rule was rendered meaningless, it could simply be ignored.  Rather, it's just much, much less effective.  Was it Forge World's intent to so drastically reduce the effectiveness of the Auxiliary Drive in the context of the Caestus Assault Ram? 

Moreover, given that LA:CAL is supposed to be a convenient rules summary - i.e., no substantive changes to the rules set forth in HH:1, Horus Heresy: Massacre (HH:2), and Horus Heresy: Extermination (HH:3) - rather than a mandatory rules supplement, and HH:4 is supposed to be a standalone rule set (again, non-mandatory for using HH:1, HH:2, and HH:3), it's not even clear whether the rules for the Auxiliary Drive set forth in LA:CAL and HH:4 are even applicable to an Age of Darkness list built using the rules set forth in HH:1, HH:2, and HH:3.  There is, at the very least, significant ambiguity.

Would Forge World please clarify, as formally and officially as possible, what the rules are for the Auxiliary Drive upgrade, particularly in the context of the Caestus Assault Ram?
 

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Very respectfully,

[sully ad Bellum]

[Sully ad Bellum]

With what strikes me as remarkable alacrity, Forge World has responded to my query with the following:

 

 

Hi [sully ad Bellum, you magnificent specimen],

 

Thank you for your email. With regards to the rules for the drive, I've referred this to the rules team for their next official FAQ. I can't put a time stamp on when this will be released, in the meantime it would be my recommendation to agree with your gaming group a ruling on this that you will be happy with.

 

Thanks very much

 

If there is anything further we can do to assist you, or if you have any queries about the information we have requested or provided, please telephone us.


Regards,

Forge World

 

 

Tadaaaa!  Gentlemen, I appear to have made a FAQ!!!

 

In the meantime, with Forge World's blessing and the agreement of my gaming group, I hereby decree that Auxiliary Drives function as set forth on page 238 of Horus Heresy: Betrayal:  "[a] vehicle with an auxiliary drive may ignore Immobilized results it suffers on a D6 roll of 4+."

 

Good luck with that whole shooting down my Caestus Assault Ram thing you wanted to try to do.  Also, I can't wait to Ram your Sicaran.