Friday, October 9, 2009

Friday FAQ #13

The Friday FAQ is finally back up and Alex and I both apologize for the lack of updates! This week is a question regarding the Codex: Space Marine Librarian Psychic power of "Gate of Infinity":
Can a Librarian and the squad he's with use "Gate of Infinity" to teleport out of close combat?
Let's read what the power states. This can be found on Page 57 of Codex: Space Marines and is the third power down on the right-hand column:
This power is used at the beginning of the Librarian's Movement phase. The Librarian, and any unit he is with, are removed from the tabletop and immediately placed back together anywhere within 24" using the deep strike rules.
Ok, so reading this rule alone it would appear the answer is 'yes' since the power is initiated during the Librarian's movement phase and if he is locked in combat from a previous turn this seems legit. It doesn't say you can't use this power out of assault so it is obvious you can (ignoring the whole idea of a permissive rule-set of course). Here's a situation...

You have a Librarian and a 5-man squad of tactical marines inside a Rhino. The unit he is with is, therefore, the 5-man squad and the Rhino. Going by the letter of the law, I can take the Rhino and deepstrike it anywhere within 24" simply because the power doesn't say I can't do that.

Here's the thing. Warhammer 40,000 has a permissive rules set. If it doesn't say you can't do it, you can't do it. If there are specific rules for an assault, such as page 40, paragraph directly above 'Consolidation':
While a unit is locked in combat it may only make pile-in moves and may not otherwise move or shoot.
The kicker is in bold for ya. Because of that single sentence, a codex rule must specifically override it in order for you to break it. In this case 'Gate of Infinity' does not override this rule and therefore the conclusion is simple.

Terran Forge Final Opinion: You cannot use the 'Gate of Infinity' psychic power to deepstrike out of an assault.

These FAQs are unofficial and in no way supported or endorsed by Games Workshop. If you have a question you'd like answered, feel free to send us an email at terranforge@gmail.com!

6 comments:

Pick A Damn Army said...

The first example seems to be off since a character can never join a unit that "always consist of a single model (like most vehicles and monstrous creatures.)" (pg.48) So the rhino can't deepstrike since it's not with the Librarian.

The rules of the codex are exceptions to the rules from the main book, so as long as all the requirements of the power are met the power can be used. Does anything prevent the librarian from using a power in the first place? Is it the beginning of his movement phase? Those are the only qualifiers for the ability as you've written it here and one of them is implied. I'll have to respectfully disagree with you on this one.

Keep these coming, the forum for thought and discussion is great!

Gewaltatron said...

In fact, the example with the rhino is a question in GW's FAQ/Errata for the rulebook. The question whether a psi power can be used from inside a vehicle is affirmed. BUT this does not say that the vehicle is - in the specific case of Gate of Infinity - also participating in that power. For this the rulebook has to be considered again. But if you take a look, so IF a rhino would be part of the unit you would not be allowed leave formation - 2" away from it. Vehicles like rhinos are also giving your opponent killing points, so as it is not said explicitly in the rulebook they are no part of the unit and thereby you can use the power to teleport your passengers out of the rhino but not the rhino itself.

AoM said...

"may not otherwise move or shoot" is not even close to the same as "does not have a movement phase." you can totally Gate out. You just cannot make a normal movement.

Gewaltatron said...

I have to totally agree with AoM. You are only not allowed to use powers that count as shooting in CC. But since the Gate is not of this type you can leave CC with it!

(One thing that bothers me is that is not mentioned explicitly as it is done with comparable things like the Veil of Darkness.)

Tigerstyle said...

For what it's worth the INAT FAQ rules that gate of infinity can't be used if the unit is in close combat:

SM.57H.02 – Q: Can ‘The Gate of Infinity’ be used on a unit (including the Psyker) that is falling back or locked in close combat?
A: A unit that is falling back (because they are unable to regroup that turn) or locked in close combat, including the psyker himself, may not be transported via ‘The Gate of Infinity’ [clarification].

AoM said...

as that is unofficial, it is really only applicable to events run using those rules. for anything else, you have a rulebook and codex. and as per the exact wording for those sources, you can leave if you want to.

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