40K: Rules Quibble – Battle Brothers’ Dedicated Transports in Unbound
Hey Folks! NoName1 here from Warhammering, with a slightly watered-down level of enthusiasm.
In a previous article, I was dancing around the room because I thought I could take any Battle Brothers Dedicated Transport and load it with my own troops – to do things like Outflank a unit of Striking Scorpions in an Assault Vehicle.
I’ve pored over the rules trying to confirm this, as there was a lot of push back against the idea, and I have found rules that both support and deflate my argument.
First, Dedicated Transports:
They are separate models/units in their own right. Therefore, by the strict wording of Unbound, they can be taken (“Simply use whichever units from your collection you want” BRB, pg. 117) so long as the correct points cost and upgrades are paid and taken from the appropriate Codex.
The rules for these are on the BRB pg. 82 states that these units are “…ALLOWING the vehicle to be selected together with the unit.” At no point does it say a Dedicated Transport cannot be taken (in Unbound) without an occupying unit. The fact that it doesn’t take up a Force Organization slot doesn’t mean anything, because Unbound doesn’t have Force Organization slots.
The rules for Battle Brothers (BRB pg. 127) state that Battle Brothers can embark on each others’ Transport Vehicles.
All of that is good, and supports my original view!
Except for this part:
“The only limitation of a Dedicated Transport is that when it is deployed, it can only carry the unit it was selected with (plus any Independent Characters that have joined it). After the game begins it can transport any friendly Infantry unit…”
So at the end of the day, I can still (gleefully) build Unbound lists with Battle Brothers Transports in them. I believe the rules, as written, support that interpretation. However, I cannot start one of my own units embarked in one of them – so no Outflanking, Scouting or Infiltrating.
I can still park it behind heavy cover (if there is any) and take a turn loading it up. To have access to an Assault Vehicle (in the case of Eldar/Dark Eldar), it’s still worth it to me. It is also, however, not terribly competitive.
It is worth noting, however, that none of this seems to apply to non-Dedicated Transports from Battle Brothers armies, so those Land Raiders and Stormravens are still fair game for all you Imperium players.
Apologies for the confusion, folks! What crazy Unbound lists have you tried?
