Alphus' Priority Target Sighted and Goliath's Open-topped
If you have a unit of Bladed Cog Neophytes loaded in a moving Goliath with mining lasers targeting a unit marked by an Alphus, within 6" of that Alphus, do they have 5+, 4+, or 3+ to hit with their mining lasers?
I get that auras don't affect embarked units and embarked units don't count as being on the table. And embarked units with an aura couldn't provide their aura. However, the open-topped rule for the Goliath states that the embarked unit gets "any restrictions or modifiers that apply to this model". So would the modifier from the aura be transferred by the Goliath to the Neophytes for a +1 to hit on their target?
Secondarily, would the Goliath moving transfer the -1 to hit with heavy weapons to the Neophytes on their mining lasers, or would the Bladed Cog creed overruled it?
This is very confusing to a fairly new player. Neophytes don't seem all that strong currently and optimizing their mining lasers seems like the big thing they have going for them.
Cheers!
Posted Apr 14, 2019, 11:14 PM UTC
Unless FAQ says otherwise, yes, as the Alphus modifier affects the Goliath it will pass onto the unit
The -1 modifier to hit with Heavy weapons after moving would also be passed onto the unit inside for the same reason as in point (1) above, thus negating the benefit of the Alphus and setting them back to hitting on 4+
The unit is not on the table so they don’t use their own special rules. As such, and due to the fact that the Goliath Truck is not an Infantry model, neither it nor its passengers would ignore the penalty to hit for being Bladed Cog.
So you end up back with their base to hit roll of 4+ rather than if they were near the Alphus on foot hitting on 3+; or if you didn’t have the Alphus it would have been a 5+
Thanks for the breakdown. Seems like the Alphus is a good move for Neophytes. Shame the Bladed Cog bonus doesn't work on Neophytes underway in a Goliath. But I guess that stands to reason if they're not effectively on the board and the Goliath is transferring everything from itself to them.
Maybe the Reckless Maneuver stratagem from the Deliverance Broodsurge detachment could come into play? Bladed Cog mining lasers would get their Alphus-assisted 3+ on the move after dumping out of the Goliath would they not? There seem to be much better options for CP usage than this, but just thinking in terms of employing Neophytes to full effect.
Yes that works, but yes the better use is to drop a melee unit of Acolytes with 4 special weapons in the Goliath and pop them out to move and charge. Demo charges aren’t bad for this, as are rock weapons, depending on what the Acolytes are to do.
A unit can't move after using Reckless Maneuver. It seems like there's no reason to use a Goliath over deepstrike for melee units? Much more likely to get shot off the board before getting into a fight.