Your idea of placing hindering terrain is an interesting idea. And would work if you knew what I was going to do. But since you mentioned hindering terrain, it brings up another question.

What is now the interpretation of the rules concerning MDFs and hindering terrain ?

Think about it.

If I spin and part of my base now touches hindering terrain, technically, I haven't moved yet. Hindering terrain cuts your movement in half if any part of your base touches hindering terrain at the start of your movement.

Or is the spin considered the start of you movement ?

This wasn't a problem when we looked at the base disappearing and the center dot is what pivoted in place. And then it moved in a straight line. Now we have a 2 3/4 x 5 1/2 base (or bigger with tanks) to concern ourselves with.

FRED

Interesting concept. Stick a Hedgerow just far enough outside your starting area that your chariot doesn't touch it. When you move the chariot can steeplechase it. Your opponent can place a wall or other blocking 2" outside the hedgerow, but can't place terrain inside your starting area and if he places a wall right next to your starting area like Fred suggests and you place a hedgerow with another piece of blocking 2" outside of that, there's pretty much nothing left for him to hide behind once your chariot comes bursting out into the open field. He'd better be plaing something that can hit that chariot quick or he's dead because he has no more terrain.

DragonVenom

The MK FAQ (and every other WizKids game FAQ) says:
Forums: Any ruling made by the Official Rules Arbitrator on a Wizkidsgames Mage Knight forum is an official ruling. The ruling is only tournament legal when the FAQ is published on the Wizkid’s website. The FAQ will have a Tournament Legal date in it.

So the ruling is official, but not considered tournament legal until in the FAQ.

Yay for Clan Stupid!! If this were Hogwarts, I would recommend 5 points to Clan Stupid for getting around the terrain question. Heck, the Chariot can effectively Steeplechase a bid piece of hindering terrain, if you want it to!

:)

I knew I wasn't hallucinating that out of nowhere.:)

So what does it mean to be official but not tournament legal? Sure, it's obvious for rule changes that the change takes place on a particular date, but what does it mean for interpretations or clarifications? I understand that warlords make mistakes more than any of us would like, after all, we're all human. But what does this say about what a well-informed warlord ought to do in cases like the new official interpretation of how chariots (and other non-flying MDFs) turn or not turn. Does it mean that until the next FAQ comes out a warlord ought to follow the old interpretation from DemoMonkey? Does it mean that until the new FAQ comes out, a warlord is officially free to call it however s/he thinks it ought to be, whichever interpretation s/he happens to prefer? (I know that this is true to a significant extent anyway, but I'm also sure that we probably agree that consistency is a good thing and there is a policy about no "house rules" in sanctioned play.)

Not to rag on you, Draddog, but for interpretations and clarifications by the rules arbiter, making a distinction between "official" and "tournament legal" sounds to me like it creates more problems than it solves. I'll be grateful for an explanation of why my impression is wrong.

DragonVenom

Certainly needing some clarification on the official vrs faq as well.
As a player and warlord, I really want to know what set of rules to play by. Do I have to scour the website for official rulings for my weekly fun games and then blow those rulings off if I hold a sanctioned event?
Totally confused on this point....

Draddog should really clarify this officially, but the way I understand it is very simple. Think of a ruling in the forums as a bill that has successfully passed through congress. Even though the bill has passed, it does not become a law immediately. So we ignore it until it's inception date.

LDP has let us know of a rule that has been approved. But it does not go into effect until it is included in the FAQs. So you should inform your players of the upcoming rule change, but should not be using it in tournaments until it reaches the FAQs. As for fun games, that is completely at your discretion.

this ruling really stinks. i can understand about needing so much space to move you mdf. but being only able to move in a straight line and this not touching any blacking when pivoting? they just ruined some good peices by making them unplayable. sure they were tough but just as beatable as any other piece out there. people who devestated with them did it for a reason. they played them alot and lost alot before being good with them. it wasnt like a ram gun where all you needed was deep pockets to but technos, anyone could get one of these.

let them back up for half speed and able to move any way that they want to not just in a straight line if these rules are to be implimented. dont make these figs too hard to use.

I think you got a little confused. The only MDF that cannot back up is the Chariots, the other can. This is not a ruling, but the way the MDF's have been from the beginning.

Same thing on moving in a straight line. ALL MDF's have had to move in a straight line since them been released.

The issue that people are aruging has to due with terrain, which have been ruling made after the figures were released.

Thanks for trying to clear that up Altan. What I still don't get is that it seems like "Official rulings" have no power whatsoever. Really it could be vetoed before it even makes it into the faq. To me that doesn't sound official at all. I would hate to give my players a heads up on an "official" ruling that never ends up becoming law.
It sounds like 'official' is more like 15 days of optional play as long as it isn't an official event.
Please correct and clarify as necessary....

Thanks.

Well, this issue is at rest now....LordDjinnPAWN gave the final word and closed the thread....Chariots and non-flying MDF's move as they always have, with their base "disappearing" during the spin and movement.

Hoody Hoo!

Amen to that !

I had just composed a detail post about how I could use tournament legal terrain to blockade a tank using the new interpretation of the rules. When I went to post it, I found the thread locked.

I'm glad it turned out the way it did.

All is as it should be.

FRED

To summarize, the ruling overruling the previous ruling, has been ruled to be overruled.

We now return to our regularly scheduled confusion.


TETL
Demo"My Life Is So Much Less Stressful These Days"Monkey

While the specific issue may be cleared up, and I commend LDP for making the correction, the general issue of how to treat "Official rulings" made in the forums could still use some clarification for those who seem to be having trouble with it. I understand the process, and think it's quite simple. But their issues have validity as shown by an official ruling that got nixed before it reached the FAQs. So I think there may be a few people who don't yet feel this issue is at rest.

Hey TM, thanks for that clarification. Glad to see the monkey stress free!

Yes, until the rule has made it into the FAQ, it is not considered tournament legal. I can't make it plainer.
As KevinGoddard (or me), posted on the WizKids forum:

The point is, a lot of Warlords do not read every thread on the forum. Nor do they have the time to, nor is it fair to expect them to. Also, not every Mage Knight player reads the forums either.

Let's assume this policy was not in place and LDP makes a substantial ruling in the forums? Player X knows about the new rule and goes to his tournament. His Warlord, has not heard about the rule. Even worse, the other players have not heard about the rule. So Player X comes in with a new strategy that takes advantage of the new rule and the players are caught unawares. If the Warlord allows the new rule, on the basis that the player is not lying to him, he makes it hard for other players to be competitive in that tournament. If the Warlord does not allow it to stand, but finds out later the ruling was valid, he loses credibility and can get in trouble for not enforcing an "official rule". This happened a lot in the past and came to head in the US MK Nationals where a ruling had been made on the forums the weekend of the Nationals and caused some confusion and problems.

By making such rulings only tournament legal when they are in the FAQ, we give time for all players and Warlords to see the new rule. FAQ's always go up around the 15th of each month (though for MK that is not set in stone, as the Developers are still finishing up the FAQ), and only go into effect at the beginning of the month. This way everyone has a chance to see them, talk about them, and prepare for them. If a ruling is made in the forums that is so important and so game altering that it needs to become tournament legal as soon as possible, the Arbritator and Game Design Department can make that decision and update the FAQ outside of that time frame if necessary.