Strategic Reserves/Tyranocyte/Harpy RAW Question

[azarea18]

So I've been playing around lately with Tyranocytes and dropping different units in to test things.  Now I have came across a rules interaction question that I'm debating with my local TO about.

The basic question:  Can Harpy's be placed in a Tyranocyte to drop in Turn 1 and bypass the new aircraft rule?  I understand Harpy's are over costed now, but found this to be a comical workaround for us.

    My reasoning for why it CAN.

        1 - Aircraft must be placed in Strategic Reserves.

        2 - Harpy is a MONSTER under 16 wounds so fit requirement to go in Tyranocyte.

        3 - Tyranocyte can drop in Turn 1 as per 'Aerial Seeding' ability.

        4 - Disembark Harpy.

        5 - Harpy is NOT destroyed per minimum movement restrictions of AIRCRAFT as it falls under Strategic Reserves exception of AIRCRAFT movement rules.

            "If an AIRCRAFT model cannot make its minimum move, or its minimum move would result in any part of that model (including its base) crossing the edge of the battlefield, then unless you are using the Strategic Reserves rule, that model is removed from the battlefield and counted as destroyed (if the AIRCRAFT is a TRANSPORT, then any models currently embarked within are likewise counted as destroyed)."

        6 - ?

        7 - Profit.

My TO argues the Harpy would not be coming in from Strategic Reserves.  He is also referencing the Disembark rule that "Units that disembark can then act normally (move, shoot, charge, fight, etc.) in the remainder of the turn, but its models count as having moved that turn, even if they are not moved further (i.e. they never count as having Remained Stationary)."  Since it doesn't specify the Harpy moved it's minimum of 15", it would thus be destroyed.

    But my thought is that given it STARTS in Strategic Reserves and just comes in EARLIER per Tyranocyte it still counts.

        BUT a second/third thing I'm looking at is:

            "Models in units that arrived as Reinforcements count as having moved a distance in inches equal to their Move (M) characteristic in this Movement phase."

            "Models in units that arrived from Strategic Reserves also count as having moved a distance in inches equal to their Move (M) characteristic in the Movement phase they arrive."

Thoughts?  If I'm wrong, I'm wrong; but I want to be right, lmao.

[piersonsmuppet]

Harpy is fine coming out of a Tyrannocyte (it is a Reinforcement unit since it is embarked in a Reinforcement unit:

Reinforcement units cannot make a Normal Move, Advance, Fall Back or Remain Stationary in the turn they arrive for any reason, but they can otherwise act normally (shoot, charge, fight etc.). Models in units that arrived as Reinforcements count as having moved a distance in inches equal to their Move (M) characteristic in this Movement phase. If models in the unit have a minimum Move characteristic, those models count as having moved a distance in inches equal to their maximum Move characteristic.

However, a Harpy starting in Strategic Reserves cannot be embarked into a Tyrannocyte. A unit can only be one of the following:

- Which of the units from their army will start the battle in Strategic Reserves (units with the Fortifications Battlefield Role can never be placed into Strategic Reserves). In an Arks of Omen: Grand Tournament mission, a player does not have to spend any CP to place units into Strategic Reserves.


- Which of the units from their army will start the battle in a location other than the battlefield (if a player has access to any Stratagems that they wish to use that enable them to set up units from their army in a location other than the battlefield, and they have enough CP remaining to use them, they must use such Stratagems now).


- Which of the units from their army will start the battle embarked within TRANSPORT models (they must specify which units are embarked within which model). In an Arks of Omen: Grand Tournament mission, each unit from your army with the Dedicated Transport Battlefield Role must start the battle with one or more friendly models embarked within it, or it cannot be set up and will count as having been destroyed during the first battle round.

The Harpy can either be Strategic Reserved alone or be Embarked in a Reserved Tyrannocyte, it cannot be both. If the current Dataslate is being used by the TO, the Harpy must be the former.

[azarea18]

Is there anything that states a Strategic Reserves unit cannot be embarked/placed in a transport? Does it have to specifically have to be one of the three and not a combo of two?  Arks of Omen actually uses AND/OR after that section.

            "No more than half the total number of units in a players army can be Strategic Reserve and/or Reinforcement units, and the combined points value of all Strategic Reserve and Reinforcement units (including those embarked within TRANSPORT models that are Strategic Reserve and/or Reinforcement units)"

[piersonsmuppet]

The and/or is referring to the fact that you can have units in Strategic Reserves, Reinforcements, or both and any combination is counted towards your limit on units reserved. It has nothing to do with permitting units to be in a location, that is covered in the determine reserves part of pregame.

Again, you can start a Harpy embarked in a T-cyte based on Core Rules. However, the match play dataslate says they must be Strategic Reserved (which has it’s own rules for setting up units).

Edit: Nothing states that a Strategic Reserved unit can also be Embarked, so the permission doesn’t exist. For example, you don’t Strategic Reserve a unit embarked in a transport. You Strat Reserve the transport and then the unit inside starts Embarked in the transport (it is not Strategic Reserved).

If it helps there are 4 locations a unit can start the battle: the battlefield, Strat Reserves, Reinforcements, or Embarked. A unit can only start the battle in one location.

[azarea18]

Gotcha. I think I understand now. My brain was too wrapped up in what kind up shenanigans could be played out here. Thanks for the feedback.