See a chariot on the other side ? Is it turned sideways so it can fit in its starting area ?

Good.

Place 2-10 inch curtain walls right up against their starting area. You can cover 22 inches of a 36 inch battlefield. If their chariot is in the middle of their starting area, you have effectively pinned the chariot down in such a way that it cannot get out. It can't back up. It can't turn without falling off the edge of the world or hitting the blocking terrain. You've just removed an opponent's piece without firing a shot. These are actions that follow the rules (terrain placement) and newest interpretation of MDF movement, but delivers a devastating blow to playability. And fun.

Somehow, this doesn't seem right.

FRED

Yeah, I've always wondered why terrain has to be away from everything in the game except your starting area. Very peculiar.

Neat idea, but it won't quite work because
(A) The chariot doesn't need to be turned sideways to fit completely in the starting area, it just needs it's center dot in the starting area and
(B) army placement comes after terrain placement, so I put my chariot down after you place your terrain.

This ruling certainly makes the chariots harder to play in Unlimited but they're still strong. They were much like a high-point unique in Conquest already, and this doesn't make them any worse.

Where on the WizKids site is this official rules arbiter's posts?

We can all contemplate and interperet rules, however, if they are going to change the ruling to make the chariot completly useless (afterall, take away or limit it any further and not one chariot will be used again), it should be done in the FAQ & eratta officially.

Chariot? poor figs in conquest? clearly you haven't faced off against 4 or 5 of these.... sorrounded by fodders or elven recruits...

chariots in great quantities at conquest sorrounded by cheap mounted Figs wreck Havoc!!!

Interesting debate. I have to agree with the new rules as they seem to make sence if we are talking about how a real chariot works (or a tank for that matter). I can tell you from experience that an M1A1 tank can not pivot on it's axis if pinned against a concrete wall.

My question then is if we apply real life move actions to a chariot then why can't we:

> move a chariot backwards in a straight line. A real chariot can do this for a short distance...not particarly fast, but it can be done,

> turn a chariot while moving. Again a real chariot can do more than simply move in a straight line.

I don't see many chariots at the venues where I play, so it's not a major drama either way, but I think we need to have consistency vis-a-vis the rules....IMHO of course.

Steve

Don't forget. No ruling is actually tournament legal until it's actually in the FAQ.

Draddog...when are the updated FAQ's going to be out (beyond the clarifications that came out last month). Will they be ready for us to get use to them before the National Qualifiers ?

Steve

In the Rules forums for each game: sometimes as a "Ruling" thread at the top of the page, sometimes (as in this case) as a response to a question. For Unlimited and Conquest the new guy is Lord DjinnPAWN.

very nice...lets get all these ppl to get chariots and dragons but we will nerf thier playability..we get thier money and they get useless plastic...thx verant...errr wizkids

Draddog sez:
Eh? I thought I remembered that somewhere it was written that the "official" answers by WizKids employees on the site were "official". Am I hallucinating? I can't seem to find the line currently, but I was sure I read something like that. So what is the status of LDP's "rulings"? Surely they have more status than mere amusement value. He seems to think that at least some of them have "official" status and so do a lot of other folks (including me).

And if a ruling is not "actually tournament legal" then what does govern tournament play in the interim? For example, LDP has posted a sticky thread entitled " Important: Ruling: Build Totals and Actions" in the MKRules forum where he ruled that unless specified otherwise in a scenario, a buld total with a fraction of 100 points is rounded down rather than up as many people used to think. What does that imply for the first two scenarios of this month? Are they "supposed" to be played as 1 action per turn or are they "supposed" to be played as "warlord's whim" in the absence of an entry in the official FAQ? The latter certainly strikes me as a very wierd idea.

DragonVenom

where this really hurts in Conquest is that once aChariot engages the enemy, by placing figs in certain spots near the chariot to keep it from spinning, then placing figs in front of it so it can't move forward (place figs so the chariot base won't fit) you can stop it from moving at all! It's not really terrain I'm worried about, it's Quickness figures :)

Where does it say that only the dot must be in the 3 inch x 20 inch starting area ?

I know that is how we've always played, but it doesn't say that in the unlimited rulebook. It just says that figures must be in the starting area. Nothing about the center dot. Is it in the E&R ? That gets superceded by the FAQ as of March 14th. I see that it is noted in Drakes the Lesser's rulebook, but nothing in any current rulebooks or FAQs.

Looking at the template for MDFs. I was taught that as long as the arrow was pointing at the center dot and the line from the center dot of the template to the center dot of the figure was unencumbered, it was a legal move. Simple and effective. No having to worry about spinning or base size.

So I place my terrain before you place your figures. Great. With 2 legally placed pieces I can make you place your chariot sideways in your starting area.

From what I read in the official forums, this is (according to LDP) not a new ruling, just his interpretations of the rules as they are printed. Since he is has the final say, unless he changes his interpretation (and there is no shame in that), this is how we are supposed to play.

FRED

Both sides get to lay terrain, right? So, if you concerned about you opponent laying down Blocking terrain, then lay down some hindering or shallow water.

In my last tournament, people would lay down blocking terrain to help cover their titans and/or MDF from my range combat formations, so I placed a huge deep water piece smack in the middle, making a huge shooting area.

Use your own terrain to make sure you have moving room. It may slow you down, but at least you can move around. And it won't slow you down too much, sense it doesn't take effect until you ENTIRE base is in it.