Actions and Special Abilities

[Inarah]

Do all actions for a Troop have to be declared at the beginning of the turn? Or just actions for a unit type (ie all archers, or all warriors)?

 

Do Special Abilities have to be declared at the time you declare your action? If my warlord declares a melee attack do I also have to declare Tough/1 with that?

 

If a model has multiple SAs and I declare an attack like Trample, does that mean I cannot use a 2nd SA that turn? Or could I Trample with my treeman and then apply the Bludgeon or Damage Reduction/2 SA as well?

[Mishra]

From my understanding (and I'm not perfekt by any stretch :) )

 

1. You only have to declare actions for a troop type. For example, if you are going to perform an action with an archer, you have to declare the actions of all archers in the troop along with it. Once they are finished, you move on to the next troop type or character in the unit.

 

2. I'm not 100% clear on your question.

 

3. A troop (or model) with multiple SA can use all of them. Like your treeman with Trample and Bludgeon, while you're Trampling, you're Bludgeoning at the same time. Damage Reduction though won't get reset each time you Trample a target, as it doesn't get reset until the end of the troop (or model's) activation.

[Stubbdog]

Ok, strap on a seat belt this one can get bumpy... as easy as this is to explain in person, due to the number of possible choices to make, it can actually get very complicated to try to explain in this forum text format. As many times answering this question related to one game situation will spark several more of the same question but involving different game situations.

 

First things first, other than a select few exceptions, you dont have to declare that you are using any of the SAs that are printed on the datacards. They just happen by default of them being on your card. You dont have to say you are using tough, bludgeon, mighty, or damage reduction, etc... But, as I said, there are a few select SAs that you do have to announce that you are using them because they actually require actions to use, for example a few of them are indirect shot, rapid shot, trample, etc..

 

So, now on to how and when... On the one side of things it is very simple.. you declare what it is you are gonna do and then do it. Its the timing of it that gets a little confusing. The best way to sum it up is declare your actions when the action type comes up.

 

Movement related declarations can be done one model at a time and even one action at a time if you so choose. It can eat alot of game clock if you go that granular but you can. The point is, movement related actions can happen anytime by any model before or after the various combat and other action types.

 

shooting, fighting, and casting on the other hand, each have to be done together with other like typed actions.

 

For example its my activation, I declare I am activating the following troop:

 

Lanarch

Lysette

a few archers

a few vale swordsmen

 

The first thing I want to do is to fire some arrows at the incoming enemy. Since all firing of arrows has to happen at the same time, I have to declare now how many of them will be shooting and who they are shooting at.. (this is to keep people from either changing their target if the first archer kills or doesnt kill its target) then they all shoot. I cannot say, declare that a couple will shoot, then move a little and then have the rest shoot. Nor can I say, "well this archer didnt kill that target but he hurt him, so this other archer is gonna try to finish him off" (you can say it, just not in the same activation)...

 

Next, I decide I want to do some moving, cause my casters arent in position and my melee guys are not in btb. I decide for whatever reason that I want to have my casters wait and cast their stuff last so I dont declare anything for them quite yet as I want to wait and see what my melee guys can do before I decide anything for them this time.

 

As easy as you think it would be, just simply moving it actually can be more confusing than combat actions to describe since we spend so much time telling people that all combat of the same type has to be done at the same time, yet movement can happen really anytime mixed inbetween. By the book, when it comes to movement actions, I can declare one model at a time, even one action at a time. I dont have to declare entire troops worth at the same time. So, even though there is no pre-measuring, unlike combat, I CAN declare a single model does a move or a charge and then measure and then carry it out, and then based on the results of that one model, I can now declare the rest of my models movements. Over time you will get better at judging distances compared to your movements and you will be able to do movements more as a group than single models. This will get much faster.

 

So back to our example, I am able to get a few swordsmen to charge with their first action, and a couple that I end up having to use a move with their first action and then charge with their second action to get into btb. I go ahead and get them all in btb even though some are not going to be attacking because for this particular example I want to give the few guys that can fight all the support bonuses I can give them.

 

So, now I that I have them all in btb, I declare for each of my guys that can attack, who they will be swinging at and with how many swings in the cases where I decide to split up the swings. I calculate the needs and make all the rolls. Then the defender makes all hos defensive strikes and now all the casualties from both sides are removed (unless they succeed their tough checks).

 

Lastly, I now come back to my mages. There are a few targets on the other side of my soldiers that just fought, but I am gonna have to move to see them. So, again one at a time or as a group or whatever, I declare single moves to get into postion, and carry them out either one at a time or as a group.

 

Now, I declare all of their spells they will be casting AND in what order they are casting them. Even though all spells have to be cast during the same part of the activation as each other, I as the caster get to decide in what order they will take affect if they are all successful. for example, I might have Lanarch cast a lightning bolt and Lysette cast a teleport. But I might have Lysette's teleport go first and she actually casts the spell on Lanarch who she teleports to a few inches away from the enemy and then his lightning bolt spell will go off from that new location. Just be careful cause, if Lysette's teleport spell fails, Lanarch still has to cast his lightning bolt if you declare it.

 

Now, at this point I have done all three combat types: shooting, fighting, and casting... so I cannot do any more of those for this activation. But, if I still have any models left on the table with actions left available, I can declare and use them. Examples: more moves, specialty actions, free actions..

 

And why i said this can get confusing is, I could rewrite this post mixing in some of the various specialty and free actions and have all sorts of different results. But, hopefully this is a good enough example for you to get a decent start from.

[ViciousPanzer]

Also, when in doubt refer to your handy dandy Warlord rulebook. Usually if an action or SA has special rules about it, you can find them there. Most of the action and SA descriptions are good at detailing when they are used, how they are used, and how they can be modified in a turn/activation. Pages 27-35 are the most helpful as far as determining what takes place when however. Sometimes though the Forums contain a clarification for SA's or situations that may seem difficult to interpret, so if after looking it up in the book it's still hazy hit the clarifications thread for further Clarifications .

 

It's also a good idea a lot of times to divorce one's brain from the interpretation of rules. Reason being that sometimes we infer things that aren't written. Read the text and do as it says word for word and a lot of confusion can be avoided lol.

 

Joshua