Disembarking rules

[Col]

This is a "tactic" my opponent has been using on occasion in games that's quite frustrating for me to play against, so I wanted to check the legality of the move.


As a preface, a few of the multi-level buildings we use have a relatively low second floor, and two of them in particular have a long balcony that hangs out. One of the common anti-assault tactics my usual opponent uses is to move his vehicle so that the exit hatches are to the building, and then unload his units onto to balcony. If I want to get into assault with the unit in question, I essentially have to move my units through the building and up the stairs or ladder to the second floor-- generally a two turn process if not more, depending on the positioning of my units beforehand.

Is this legal? Are there any rules that forbid someone from disembarking onto the second floor of a building or ruin? And if not, what are some ways to get around this?

[mattblowers]

You don't need stairs or ladders to move through levels. I'm not sure of current rules, but GW ruins is generally 3" movement to go up a level. Get to the base of a ruin and you can successfully charge up a level if you get 4+ inches, but you'll go at I1. If he's demanding that from you and still disembarking 6" then he's punking you.

[gigasnail]

^this, pretty much. you still have to follow the disembarking rules. he'll have to make a difficult terrain test to move into the ruins, and get enough distance on it to move up. there is nothing specifically stopping you from getting up into a ruin when disembarking, aside from the movement roll/distance involved.

[Col]

Jan 7, 2015 4:54:21 GMT gigasnail said:

^this, pretty much. you still have to follow the disembarking rules. he'll have to make a difficult terrain test to move into the ruins, and get enough distance on it to move up. there is nothing specifically stopping you from getting up into a ruin when disembarking, aside from the movement roll/distance involved.

These aren't ruins though, they're a building with a balcony on the second floor.

We DO have ruins that he's used the tactic on before, but this is more with concern to the building. In one particularly memorable game for me, he actually landed a drop pod beside the building and then deployed the unit inside on the roof of the building, arguing that since the roof was within 6" it was legal for him to do this.

[gigasnail]

oh, BUILDING. my bad. categorically not legal. read the section on embarking/disembarking buildings. the rules are the same for embarking/disembarking a vehicle. you can't get out of one and get into another in the same turn.

[vecuu]

Just a quick thing to point out that might already be obvious:

Terrain is a gray area if both players don't specifically mention what each terrain piece is represented by in the rule books. I've seen games where people think ruins are buildings, LoS blocking terrain is diffictult terrain, and buildings are impassible terrain.

It might seem like a waste to explicitly go through each piece of terrain with your opponent and say, "Area terrain, ruin without a base, ruin with a base that's area terrain, this bunker will just be impassible terrain," but without clarity you get confusion, arguments, or a 3 hour game meant to be fun ruined by a rule dispute.

[gigasnail]

buildings are impassible terrain (in effect), and pretty much all terrain is difficult.

but yes, 100% settle what terrain is before the game starts.

[gingerwerewolf]

One thing that Ive been caught out by and is similar to what you are experiencing is the old "You can only charge what you can see" rule. Ive been in games where due to an overhand and railing,my troops are unable to see what they are changing and are thus denied a charge.

Its particularly horrible with the Skyshield Landing Pad

[misterdutch]

Yeah, buildings (or actually, any terrain at all) is horribly unclear in the current rules. In my first game last night, I throught I hid my zoanthropes nicely behind a big, square building which didnt have any openings such as doors. Next turn my opponent proceeds to lift up the building and declare that now his squad ran inside the building. And then proceeds to charge out of the building on the other side, into my zoans. I didnt argue as I thought 'whatever' and that I shouldve asked for clarification beforehand. But definately agree on how to handle things like that before the game.

[gigasnail]

He can do this if its a ruin. Not if its a building. Discuss terrain before the game, it's in the rules.

Caveat to the above: if he couldn't see your unit after his move, it's not legal for him to declare an assault on it.