Come see today’s rules conundrum that takes a closer look at a popular Land Raider formation from codex Space Marines!
I had this puzzling scenario come up recently about just how “unstoppable” the Land Raider Spearhead is.
What happens if you hit the formation with a GRAV weapon (or another “effect” based weapon), and the Land Raider tank is within 6″ of another one from this formation? Does the shot inflict a hull point, immobilize the tank (for later hull point multipliers), or is the shot invalidated by this formation’s special rule?
Well let’s take a look at the how Grav works:
The key phrase here may be “loses a hull point”, because without that it seems like the formation’s special rule to ignore such results would render Grav weapons impotent against the heavy treads of the Astartes.
Take a look at how the main rule book clarifies damage effects, versus hull points:
So in this scenario would the Land Raider spearhead ignore the effects of the Immobilization result, but still lose a hull point, OR ignore both being Immobilized and losing a hull point because there is no roll on the Vehicle Damage chart?
Even ignoring the just the immobilization result is HUGE in my opinion because the last thing a Land Raider wants is to be stuck in one spot, and the fact that it has FOUR hull points can keep it in the game a bit longer than most tanks as well!
So what say ye? Is the Land Raider Spearhead the next best thing to sliced bread OR is trying to deflect the full effects of Grav weapons a bridge too far?
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits In 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
Bio: Virginia restless, miniature painter & cat dad. He blames LEGOs for all this, as there was something about those little-colored blocks that started it all. Spikey Bits started with Rob trying to stay motivated to hobby on his backlog of projects and share his knowledge with others during the early blogging era.
Scale model hobbyist in the 80s, miniature wargamer, and trading card player ever since. He’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy since 5th Edition, but Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and minatures made of both pewter and resin.
