40K FAQ: Did Walls Just Become OP?
Did ruin walls just become the most powerful thing in 40k? Depending on whom you ask they just did. Come see the issue now!
The new 40k FAQ first draft is here, (checkout this easy PDF download of it) and there is one little line of text that seems to universally have folks in a tizzy.
Q: A ruin (e.g. a Shrine of the Aquila) is treated as difficult terrain, but does this mean that models can move through the walls?
A: No.
You shall not PASS!
Most folks out there tend to agree you can’t assault though a building’s wall (Buildings as defined on page 107/108 of the BRB), however when it comes to ruins everyone just seemed to ignore them altogether.
Most players would just assault through ruins by making a difficult terrain check, no questions asked. Until the FAQ dropped that is….
So if this line in the new FAQ become the new law of the land, let’s take a look at how it can affect our normal table top play.
Who’s got two pointy ears and and has to go around this wall now?
First off it should go without saying that maneuvering around ruins and funneling though doors for infantry will definitely affect play right?
Durrrr how do I assault ‘dem now boss?
But what about assaulting? From a Rules as Written (RAW) standpoint, it appears that you can no longer even get into assault with a unit if they are just that 1/8 of an inch (12mm) behind a ruined wall or window.
“..Move the initial charger into contact with the nearest enemy model…”
Per the BRB you have to base your initial charger with the enemy to make assault, so it appears that the days of going though walls and windows to assault is over now, too.
In fact some people argue that it has always been this way because if you thoroughly read the rule for Walls and Barricades it seems to indicate that THIS was the only was to assault “across” terrain in the first place?
However when you read the rules for moving though terrain, this FAQ may seems to contradict itself:
The implications of this for the game as a whole can be pretty far reaching, from folks that already have existing terrain built to just the fact that so much area must not be covered by models “going around” walls to do anything effective.
The counterpoint to this is: In a game of now numerous alpha strikes and first turn assaults, perhaps this is why Games Workshop has been writing more and more of those rules into the game as of late.
What about psychic powers? Teleporting terrain around the battlefield suddenly became a much bigger deal if the rules correspond with this new FAQ right? You can’t just run out of the walls and such to assault, or even be assaulted back now depending on the particular piece of terrain and how it is positioned!
So in conclusion, this new FAQ may shake up the way everyone plays the game, not just a specific faction!
Walls??? Where we’re going we don’t need any walls!
