Re: [Epic]Lifta Droppas

From: David Dresser <lemming_at_...>
Date: Thu, 29 May 1997 16:55:06 -0700

Kelvin wrote:

> In the battle report from White Dwarf 208, Jervis shoots at the Bunker with
> the Lifta Droppa on the Gargant and they state that he needs 4+ to hit and
> destroy it. Yet not too much earlier he shoots at it and gains two hits,
> which I assume would leave it with only 1 Damage left (they state it starts
> with three). But after hitting it twice, Jervis still needs a 4+ to kill it
> which seems to say that the intention of the Lifta Droppa was to roll over
> the starting damage capacity. Does that help?
>
> -Kelvin.....

Not at all, actually..

I don't purchase white dwarf magazine any more, so there's not alot I
can say about the battle report. That particular dice roll certainly
contradicts the rules as I read them. Was the report actually written
by Jervis, or just some guff hanging around the studio? Was this part
of a Q&A section? Doesn't sound like it.

Personally, I don't like to use the battle reports as rules
clarifications because a) Gavin Thorpe can't tell his head from a hole
in the ground and b) Jervis (& Andy) don't seem to really know what
actually got into print, as opposed to what was banging around in their
heads when they were designing the game. Evidence for this all the
flawed example detachments in the armies book. That's not to say the
dwarf is wrong, but it certainly adds to the confusion.

(p.34 rules)
SLD- The SLD is used to pick up vehicles and war engines, infantry units
can't be picked up. In order to grab and lift a target you have to roll
a D6 and beat its Damage Capacity (1 for vehicles; war engines have a DC
of 3 or more depending on their type).
The target can then be moved by up to 1cm for each point the D6 beats
its Damage Capacity by before it is dropped. The dropped unit is
destroyed automatically (roll for catastrophic damage on war engines).
Anything dropped on takes 1 point of damage on a D6 roll of 4, 5, or 6.

(p.41 rules)
Shooting at War Engines- Unlike normal units war engines are able to
absorb more than one hit before they are destroyed. The number of hits
a war engine can take is shown by its Damage Capacity. Each hit scored
will reduce the war engine's Damage Capacity by 1 point, and the war
engine is only destroyed when its Damage Capacity is reduced to 0.

What occurs to me now is that in some twisted incomprehensible way the
parenthetical explanation of DC in the SLD rules *might* be saying that
a war engine is always treated as having at least 3 DC against a SLD.
Q&A time.

<rant>
What the hell is "damage" anyway? Except for SLDs and Mega Cannon
nothing in the game has anything to do with "damage". Are we talking
Damage Capacity here? Do these things only affect war machines? Maybe
they meant hits. Maybe it's time to hire a proofreader. Would they
catch this stuff if they actually put together an index? It sure
wouldn't hurt.
</rant>

When the next printing of the rules happens, the one that fixes typos
and maybe clears up some of this garbage we're having to wade through
now, I'm gonna call up GW in Maryland and tell them my box was
incomplete, won't they please send me a set of rules.

-Lemm
Received on Thu May 29 1997 - 23:55:06 UTC