Over this past week there have been two small groups of Erratas released for some Warhammer 40k factions and books. Those to receive new information are the Codex Supplements Raven Guard and Iron Hands, Codex: T’au Empire, and Imperium Nihilus: Vigilus Defiant. Let’s take a look.
Codex Supplement: Raven Guard
Raven Guard didn’t see too much change with the Errata and mainly got a few clarifications:
Page 57 – Master of Ambush Change the second sentence to read: ‘Remove that unit and this Warlord (if it is also Infantry) from the battlefield, and set them up anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 9″ from the enemy deployment zone and more than 9″ from any enemy models (if both players have abilities that redeploy units before the first turn begins, roll off; the winner chooses who redeploys their units first).’
Q: With regards to the Strategic Discipline matched play rule, as the Stratagem See, But Remain Unseen isn’t used in a phase, can it be used multiple times?
A: Yes.
Q: If I use the Stranglehold Stratagem and I also have a Callidus Assassin in my army, how do I resolve the Stratagem and the Callidus Assassin’s Reign of Confusion ability (assuming the Assassin’s Reign of Confusion ability is in effect)?
A: Each is rolled for separately, so if your opponent spends Command Points to use a Stratagem, you would roll one D6 for the Stranglehold Stratagem (needing a 5+) and one D6 for the Reign of Confusion ability (needing a 4+). Your opponent would have to spend one additional Command Point for each successful roll.
Q: If I give a Phobos Character the Marksman’s Honours Warlord Trait, and then give that Character the Korvidari Bolts, when shooting a korvidari bolt with a bolt weapon that model is equipped with, is the weapon considered to be a Relic?
A: No.
Master of Ambush having some extra text to keep it in line with other similar abilities is a good clarification. Being able to for sure use ‘See But, Remain Unseen’ multiple times is pretty huge. Plus rolling for both the Stranglehold Stratagem and Reign of Confusion separately clears things up. Kordavi bolts not making the weapon a relic is a nice thing to have for sure as well.
Codex Supplement: Iron Hands
Unlike the Raven Guard Iron Hands did get some decent reigning back in, since they were pretty crazy:
Page 53 – Rites of Tempering Change this ability to read: ‘Infantry models in friendly Iron Hands units have a 5+ invulnerable save whilst their unit is within 6″ of this model.’
Page 58 – The Ironstone Change this Relic to read: ‘At the start of each battle round, select one friendly Iron Hands Vehicle unit within 3″ of the bearer of this Relic. Until the start of your next battle round, when resolving an attack made against that Vehicle unit, if the bearer of this Relic is within 3″ of that Vehicle unit you can reduce any damage suffered by 1, to a minimum of 1.’
Page 60 – March of the Ancients Add the following sentence: ‘You can only use this Stratagem once per battle.’
Page 60 – Souls of Iron Change the Command Point cost of this Stratagem to 2CP.
Page 61 – Optimal Repulsion Doctrines Change the Command Point cost of this Stratagem to 2CP.
Page 61 – Machine Empathy Change the last sentence of this Stratagem to read: ‘That model can use that ability again.’
Page 62 – Reforge Change the second sentence to read: ‘If manifested, select one friendly Iron Hands Vehicle model within 3″ of and visible to that psyker (you cannot select a model that has already regained lost wounds this turn).’
Q: When using the Ironstone and the Duty Eternal Stratagem, in which order do I resolve the damage reduction?
A: As described under Modifying Characteristics in the Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook, you would apply division to the characteristic before applying subtraction. Therefore you would halve the damage from Duty Eternal, then subtract 1 from the damage from the Ironstone.
Q: When using Iron Father Feirros’ Signum Array ability, if I select a friendly Iron Hands Vehicle that has lost enough wounds so that its normal Ballistic Skill characteristic is reduced as a result of its damage table, what would its Ballistic Skill be as a result of the Signum Array? A: 2+. The Signum Array ability changes the Ballistic Skill characteristic of that Vehicle to 2+.
Q: If I nominate an Iron Hands Dreadnought to be my Warlord and I then use the March of the Ancients Stratagem for that Dreadnought to gain the Character keyword, can it now have a Warlord Trait?
A: Yes.
Changing Iron Father Feirros’ Rites of Tempering to only affect Infantry is a fairly fair nerf. Since vehicles running around with invulns is pretty scary. The Ironstone only affecting 1 vehicle per turn as opposed to a bubble makes some sense. Although keeping the range so low makes it less than ideal. Only being able to take one Dreadnought character makes a lot of sense. Souls of Iron being boosted by to 2 CP is pretty good for a 50/50 non-psychic deny. Plus the same for optimal Repulsion Doctrines. Also all the vehicle repair abilities have been changed so you can’t double down on one vehicle. Also the FAQs themselves give some good clarification for stacking rules.
Codex: T’au Empire
For the most part the T’au errata has just received some clarification in the way drones work:
Page 90, 97, 98, 99, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 111, 112, 113, 114 and 116 – Saviour Protocols Change this ability to read: ‘When resolving an attack made against a <Sept> Infantry or <Sept> Battlesuit unit whilst that unit is within 3″ of a friendly <Sept> Drones unit, if the wound roll is successful, you can roll one D6; on a 2+ that Drones unit suffers 1 mortal wound and the attack sequence ends.’
Page 106 – XV104 Riptide Battlesuit, Nova Reactor Change the Boost text to read: ‘This model can move 2D6″ in your Charge phase. You cannot use this ability to move within 1″ of any enemy models. If it does so, this model cannot declare a charge that phase.’
Page 128 – Automated Repair System Add the following sentence to this Stratagem: ‘You can only use this Stratagem once per turn.’
Page 133 – Vectored Manoeuvring Thrusters Add the following sentence to this Relic: ‘This move cannot bring this model within 1″ of any enemy models.’
Q: If an attack inflicts mortal wounds on the target, and the attack is subsequently allocated to a Drones unit as a result of the Saviour Protocols ability, what happens to those mortal wounds inflicted?
A: They are cancelled. All damage and mortal wounds inflicted as the result of that attack is reduced to the mortal wound inflicted by the Saviour Protocols ability on that Drones unit.
Q: If an attack inflicts a rules effect on a target unit (e.g. Tremor Shells in Codex Space Marines), and that attack is subsequently allocated to a Drones unit as a result of the Saviour Protocols ability, which unit is the rules effect applied to?
A: The Drones unit.
Q: If an attack inflicts mortal wounds on a unit as a result of a hit roll, and the attack sequence ends before it successfully wounds the target (e.g. the Hellfire Shells Stratagem or an attack made with a shokk attack gun with a Strength characteristic of 11+ that fails to wound the target), can I allocate the mortal wounds to a Drones unit with the Saviour Protocols ability?
A: No. As the attack sequence has ended before the target has been wounded, there is no wound to allocate to the Drones unit. Therefore the target suffers the mortal wounds as normal.
Q: If Dahyak Grekh has been set up in pursuit, can his Concealed Booby Traps ability be used before he is set up on the battlefield?
A: Yes.
Q: How does the Saviour Protocols ability work when a T’au Empire unit is hit and wounded by a powerful weapon, like a lascannon, when it is near to some friendly Drones?
A: Let’s imagine a T’au Sept unit is targeted by a model firing a lascannon whilst a friendly T’au Sept Drone unit is within 3″ of it. The hit roll and wound rolls for the attack made with the lascannon are both successful. The T’au Sept player then chooses to try and intercept the attack with a nearby drone unit and rolls one D6, scoring a 3. This is more than 2+, so the drone unit suffers 1 mortal wound and the lascannon’s attack ends (i.e. you do not take a saving throw, and the weapon’s damage characteristic is irrelevant).
For all the Drone related errata and FAQs being able to now negate mortal wounds put on a unit from a successful wound is pretty powerful. Also there is some clarifying text added to all remaining forms of ‘Jump-Shoot-Jump’. So that you can’t end the move in Close Combat. Also only being able to repair a suit or vehicle once per turn is a fair debuff. Plus Dahyak Grekh can use his Booby Traps before he is set up.
Imperium Nihilus: Vigilus Defiant
Almost all the Changes to Vigilus are replacing special rules from that book with those in the new Codex: Space Marines:
Page 174 – Reliquary of Gathalamor Remove this Relic from this Specialist Detachment. It is replaced by a Relic with the same name in Codex: Space Marines.
Page 174 – Indomitus Crusaders, Warlord Trait Grey Shield Change the first paragraph to read: ‘Once per battle, at the start of your Movement phase, if your Warlord is on the battlefield, you can choose for Indomitus Crusader units in the same Detachment as your Warlord to gain an additional Chapter Tactic until the start of your next turn. Pick the additional Chapter Tactic from the following: Codex Discipline, Lightning Assault, Siege Masters, Righteous Zeal, Forged in Battle, Shadow Masters, The Flesh is Weak, No Matter the Odds (see Codex: Space Marines).’
Page 175 – Indomitus Crusaders, Stratagems Remove the Bolt Storm, Rapid Fire, Target Sighted and Veteran Intercessors Stratagems from this Specialist Detachment.Designer’s Note: Updated versions of these Stratagems can be found in Codex: Space Marines.
Pages 176 – Ultramarines Victrix Guard, Relics of Ultramar Add the following: ‘If you have created your army using the additional rules found in Codex Supplement: Ultramarines, you cannot select the Soldiers Blade and The Standard of Macragge Inviolate Relics from this Specialist Detachment. They are replaced with new Relics with the same names in Codex Supplement: Ultramarines.’
The one exception being that Indomitus Crusaders now get access two Chapter Tactics for a whole turn.
In Conclusion
With exception of the Iron Hands most of these updates help to clarify some preexisting rules, or overall clean up the duplication of them. Iron Hands also received a much needed de-buff. But it certainly isn’t enough to keep them from being at the game table.
As always, a big thanks to Games Workshop for the images provided for this article.
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