Please explain synaptic imperatives

[HiveTyrant1978]

I know this is a silly question, but I keep finding things about synaptic imperatives that contradict one another and how these things are supposed to be played

So I’m just kind of hoping somebody can explain how it actually works. My idea is that they are a one shot thing that the unit has, and that you activate it during your command phase which other synapse creatures, then get the benefit of it.

Now my questions are if I have multiple squads of warriors do they each get the chance to use their synaptic imperative or does one squad of warriors use their synaptic imperative and then you can’t use that one anymore for the rest of the game despite have multiple squads. For example, I have three squads of warriors, so do I have three uses of their imperative, or just one use.

Are the units that possess the synaptic imperative, always under the effects of the synaptic imperative, personally, I don’t think that they are. I haven’t played it that way, but then, when I read how people are arguing about synaptic imperatives, it sounds like the synapse unit constantly benefits from its own imperative, which confuses me.

I have been playing it like it’s a one shot deal, and the only faction that gets to double dip into synaptic imperatives is leviathan

I would greatly appreciate anybody explaining this thoroughly with me, so I don’t cheat and screw up

[piersonsmuppet]

You can only choose a Synaptic imperative ability once per game. Multiple units can have the ability, but you can only choose the ability once.

Synapse creatures are only under the effect of a Synaptic Imperative ability while it is active for the army. The debate you read was about if they have the ability all the time, not whether that ability is actually active all the time (it is not). Imperative abilities only give the 6” effects while the Imperative ability is active for the army.

Edit: Imperatives are chosen at the start of the battle round, not your command phase.

[wcgnidz]

The benefit to having mulitple units that "unlock" the same imperative(like 3x units of warriors, or 2x hive tyrants) is redundancy.

You can only pick an imperative for a unit you have on the board. So if you don't use the warrior imperative and all your warriors die? that's it(unless you use a specific stratagem but that costs command points aka CP).

Alternatively hypothetically, if you had multiple units of warriors in a tyrannocyte(or in reserves via the jormungandr only tunnel network stratagem). You couldn't use the warrior imperative if you had no warriors on the board. So having 3x units could allow you to use the warrior imperative if hypothetically you didn't put them all in reserves(on a turn where some/most of them are off the board but not all of them).

Keep in mind the Hive Fleet Leviathan psychic power lets you use an imperative on a specific unit even if the imperative chosen to be used has already been picked(and normally wouldn't be an eligible legal choice).