Hello again! Today, I’ve got a very useful post courtesy of MBS member dalekunz, who has been playing a lot of Planetfall lately and has put together a great list of rules questions and their answers, as well as some observations and lessons learned from playing the game. This is the first real post on Planefall here on the blog, and it is long overdue! This has been re-posted from the forums; you can find the original thread here. Without further ado, take it away Dale!
So we had a new 3000pts game last night, Aquans vs Relthoza, and learned a LOT to pass on. We had basically a full Core helix each (double boxes), though my Relthoza swapped out 2 units of recon Drones for a Bakash Flying Helix.
— Shelve your printed rulebook (unless a new printing) and just use the updated e-Text. SO much is different.
— Case in point – CQB is now *CLEARLY* one unit versus one unit. Nearby models within 4″ take no part. Either the active unit picks a single target, or a single unit within 4″ of the active (but not initiating) unit decides to attack them.
— I now understand the Rear Echelon MAR. A Drop ship with this counts as already activated. So even if they land within 4″ of an enemy unit, they can neither initiate CQB, nor have it initiated against them (as they could not specifically decline it). So no CQB as Overwatch in this case…
— Flyers, Recon, or other elements with Anti-personnel, Scatter, and/or Barrage weapons are DOOM to Infantry, even in building. My lone Novian gunship vaped 4 stands of Khitari Sweeper Teams in a building. And a single squad of Imzani skimmers killed 16 Jabri Drone bases over 2 activations.
— Shield dice are only rolled for those models in a Squadron which might actually take DAMAGE, not just hits. Other models in the same Squadron do not add in their shield dice. This goes for Infantry using Building Saves too.
— Pinpoint Dice are only rolled against damaged but not killed *models* not squadrons. So if you wipe out whole models from a multi-model squadron, no pinpoint effect. And no effect at all versus Light and Infantry, which tend to have just a single Damage point each.
— Also, you roll only the highest contributing Pinpoint number for the SALVO, not the combined PP dice for each contributing model.
— The Hard Target bonus for skimmers applies only when shooting them at your long range!
— Flat-out prevents shooting, CQB, and Disembarking from a vehicle that moved Flat Out. However, if Infantry moves cruising OR Flat out, and all models in the squadron make base contact with a building or transport, they may embark on it.
— It’s actually GOOD that infantry cannot disembark from their transport and embark into a building in the same turn. Forces the little buggers out in the open for at least one activation.
— CQB requires within 4″ and LOS. Your Size 1 infantry cannot see over each other to CQB a Size 2 model, so this can make placement tricky for a large unit.
— You can have Infantry CQB guys in a building without Storming. They just don’t take the building if they “win”, and Defenders get a cover save.
— If you want to survive a nearby Relthozan (or insert favorite Infantry here) Sky Drop, you MUST employ Overwatch.
Questions I still need to look up:
— Does a Drop Marker count as a model, or such that a moving model cannot stop on top of it?
Not that I can see from any reading – Drop and Artillery markers are “markers” and thus can be covered by moving models.
— If Infantry can move some stands but not all into contact with a building, can they still embark in the building? Ditto for Storming actions?
Infantry must move ALL stands into contact to embark on anything, but they can flat-out to do so.
For storming, if Infantry ends a cruising move within 4″ of a building, they can call for a Storming CQB during the CQB phase. Then they get a free Cruising move to get into base contact. Only models which make base contact fight, after resolving defenders attacks. As long as one model in base survives, and they win the CQB, all defenders can occupy the building, even those not originally in base contact.
— If a set of link fire weapons don’t all have the same MARs (just at least one to allow linking), does the odd MAR still apply to the whole Salvo?
I still can’t find a discussion or answer on this one…
Some ‘new’ stuff, where rules are actually in limbo (sort of).
Q; How do you disembark and move from a transport?
Option 1: Place all disembarking models in base with the transport. Any bases that cannot be placed are lost. Then make the Crusiing move with them, etc, as normal. The late 2014 FAQ (last version we have) supports this.
Option 2: Measure the move of the disembarking unit straight from the transport, and place models at the end of that move. This a but removes any chance of losing bases due to crowded placement. This is how it is described, in detail, in the Revised Rules PDF from recent months. It also contradicts the FAQ.
A recent Forum thread had Spartan weigh in to say the Rules are correct, and the FAQ needs updated. But this hasn’t happened yet, so for some this issue might stay in limbo. For me, I’ll go with Option 2, but then I play Relthoza, so I’m biased 🙂 But in general, I dislike ANY mechanic where you lose models due to janky placement – they always get gamed, abused, and feel stupid.
“I’m sorry Citizen Nyx047 – you cannot depart this side of the drop ship due to enemy proximity.”
“Well, can’t we just crowd out on the other side? Especially if the rest of the unit has time to move like a quarter mile away.”
“Sorry, that would violate procedures. Please report to the disintegration chambers so your deaths may be accounted for”
Until next time!