D Weapons and Serpent Shields

[40kGamer]

Just learned to love Eldar Titan Holofields! Forcing the opponent to roll to see what they hit is super sweet! Now I'm trying to figure out how D Weapons interact with Serpent Shields? Does the Serpent Shield Downgrade the D weapon damage to 1 glance on a 2+?

[mordecai]

Short of a 6 on the D damage table, it would become a glance that does D3 hull points. I couldn't see any justification for altering that penalty, though.

[40kGamer]

Short of a 6 on the D damage table, it would become a glance that does D3 hull points. I couldn't see any justification for altering that penalty, though.

It's reasonable that there would still be D3 hull points lost on the 2-5 and the 6 would bypass the shield. It does seem that someone could argue that the shield knocks it down to a single glance as it is technically 1 auto-Pen doing the damage. I'm asking as I'm going to try running a D weapon in an upcoming game and I'm trying to think through the arguments I'm likely to hear.

[JMichael]

If you roll a 2+ for the Serpent Shield to downgrade the Pen to a Glance you never get to roll on the damage chart. So I think a Destroyer Glance is still only -1 Hull Point. Unless there is a rule that specifically states that Destroyer Weapons cause -D3 Hull Points on a Glance.

Roll to hit
Roll to Pen
>Serpent Shield roll
If Shield failed, THEN roll on the damage chart.

It kind of interrupts the steps as you also can't decide to use the Serpent Shield after the damage as been rolled (to see if the result would be bad enough, etc).

[Caitsidhe]

I think it is difficult to say really. It is impossible to predict when Errata and Faqs will appear or which way Games Workshop will rule. They are inconsistent every single time, i.e. consistent in their inconsistency. I've learned to never underestimate their inability to make a rule clear or contradict themselves later.

[40kGamer]

If you roll a 2+ for the Serpent Shield to downgrade the Pen to a Glance you never get to roll on the damage chart. So I think a Destroyer Glance is still only -1 Hull Point. Unless there is a rule that specifically states that Destroyer Weapons cause -D3 Hull Points on a Glance.

That would be amazing at keeping things alive vs a D weapon! I think I'll ask the TO's at the events I'm going to how they want to rule. Serpent shields could really hamstring the big guns!

I think it is difficult to say really. It is impossible to predict when Errata and Faqs will appear or which way Games Workshop will rule. They are inconsistent every single time, i.e. consistent in their inconsistency. I've learned to never underestimate their inability to make a rule clear or contradict themselves later.

With you there! Even when it seems blatantly obvious which way something should go GW has the ability to surprise you with an official ruling!

[JMichael]

Interestingly that in my group I play Eldar and am one of the only players with Destroyer Weapons anyway (Scorpion & Lynx).
I think if the Serpent Shield downgrading a Destroyer Pen seems too overpowered then a good compromise may be that it only does so on a 4+ vs Str D.
To have it stilol glance and deal D3, means it could destroy the tank on a single glance! That is a bit too much imho.

[40kGamer]

Interestingly that in my group I play Eldar and am one of the only players with Destroyer Weapons anyway (Scorpion & Lynx).
I think if the Serpent Shield downgrading a Destroyer Pen seems too overpowered then a good compromise may be that it only does so on a 4+ vs Str D.
To have it stilol glance and deal D3, means it could destroy the tank on a single glance! That is a bit too much imho.

Same here! There's agood chance I may meet some other Eldar players at local events this yea so I thought I' try to figure out how these things should work ahead of time! Since the Scorpion's main gun is Heavy 2 5" blast can it fire at two separate targets each turn? If it can I've been playing it wrong and it isn't a big a points sin as I originally thought!

[DWest]

Super-heavies can fire each weapon at a different target, so both shots of your Heavy 2 gun have to go at a different unit, but anything else can be fired somewhere else.

[JMichael]

DWest is right (though mistype).
Rulebook p94 under 'Shooting'. So both shots from the Pulsar must be at the same target. Of course you can place the center of the large blast marker anywhere on the target, so you may be able to get multiple units/vehicles if they are close enough. And the 'secondary' targets can't take decide to Jink from that shot!