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Like the subject says. Do vehicles have to point in the direction they are moving in? Or can they simply be moved here or there, laterally or in any way you prefer?

Pivoting on the spot requires no movement. Obviously you cant pivot in any phase except the movement phase

winterman wrote:Like the subject says. Do vehicles have to point in the direction they are moving in? Or can they simply be moved here or there, laterally or in any way you prefer?

They can move however they wish. The only time "direction" comes into play is when tank shocking, which requires you to pivot and move "forward".

Gwar! is correct. So yes, tanks can move "sideways" without pivoting.

It's an abstraction of reality, guys...

Let's say you have 3 vehicles; X, Y and Z parked next to eachother. You want to tank shock unit A.

XYZ
XYZ
XYZ

........A

You have to pivot the tank in the direction you want to tank shock, but technically none of the vehicles can pivot on the spot without moving sideways a bit. Probably most opponents would allow X and Z to tank shock, I'm not sure about Y.
I think you should be allowed to tank shock with all vehicles, as I don't see any RAI reason not to. But could you, RaW?

Nivoglibina wrote:Let's say you have 3 vehicles; X, Y and Z parked next to eachother. You want to tank shock unit A.

XYZ
XYZ
XYZ

........A

You have to pivot the tank in the direction you want to tank shock, but technically none of the vehicles can pivot on the spot without moving sideways a bit. Probably most opponents would allow X and Z to tank shock, I'm not sure about Y.
I think you should be allowed to tank shock with all vehicles, as I don't see any RAI reason not to. But could you, RaW?

You would not be able to Tank shock with all 3. You would need to move Y out the way first to allow Z to pivot.

well Unless X,Y,Z are skimmer.. then they wont have too move since skimmers just cruiser over terrian, troops, vehicles. Then plot down on top of the troops...
I would have to say skimmers can move sideway without pivoting, tracked, wheeled vehicles have to pivot... Makes since right?

Thanks, that's what I thought.
So if you intent to ram/tank shock, take care where you park your vehicle.

They can move however they wish. The only time "direction" comes into play is when tank shocking, which requires you to pivot and move "forward".

That is what I thought but I have seen a lot of talk about limiting tank movement and pivots via gargoyles and gaunts -- just wondered how effective that really is within the rules (or perhaps something I had missed in the rules).

The rules don't cover movement directions for any models. There's a general assumption, though, that models move forwards.

You'll get some funny looks if you start drifting your tanks sideways.

insaniak wrote:The rules don't cover movement directions for any models. There's a general assumption, though, that models move forwards.

You'll get some funny looks if you start drifting your tanks sideways.

Well they say "As you move the models in a unit, they can turn to face in any direction, without affecting the distance they are able to cover." on p11. That's about as specific as it gets, and there's no apparent requirement to move the direction you are facing.

You'll get some funny looks if you start drifting your tanks sideways.

Huh I see that all the time. Saves time mostly but I have wondered about it from a RAW perspective at other times (like to avoid a DT test or similar).

My rhinos hardly ever go straight forward. They're almost always sideways or going in reverse on the rare occasion. Might just be my area.

I always move non-walker, non-skimmer vehicles forward or reverse, and pivot where needed. If another model or terrain feature blocks a pivot, I move my vehicle forward or back until it's able to pivot.

Slight amendment to the first sentence, above. If I have a vehicle in the middle of open space, with nothing around it, and am just adjusting it a couple of inches (well under its maximum move), I might just shimmy it sideways for the sake of speed, as long as both my opponent and myself can clearly see that it's got plenty of space for the implied pivot/s.

While it appears that non-tank shocking vehicles can move in whatever direction they wish, they must also observe the 1" rule and the 'occupy the same space' rule.

A line of models along the right side of a vehicle could prevent the vehicle from moving towards that side, unless the vehicle had sufficient movement to circumnavigate the line.

The X's represent a a single rhino, the Y's represent individual 25mm models.

_____Y
_____Y
XXX__Y
XXX__Y
XXX__Y
_____Y
_____Y
_____Y

if the space between the individual models and the rhino was exactly 1", the rhino could not move towards the right here.

It can't legally pivot in any direction without breaking the 1" rule, and therefore couldn't face his 'front' towards the line of models. Apparently, he can float sideways towards the left, but as soon as any movement that isn't a pivot happens, he can't tank shock. So he couldn't then close on the Y models and enter within 1".

This isn't quite as controlling as i had hoped for in the other thread... but its good enough to protect some fragile outflanking units or deep striking units that would be on the 'safe' side of the Y unit.

edited for ASCI correction.

tedurur wrote:Pivoting on the spot requires no movement. Obviously you cant pivot in any phase except the movement phase

Obvious, but with one exception : walkers are pointed towards their target during the shooting phase.

It can't legally pivot in any direction without breaking the 1" rule, and therefore couldn't face his 'front' towards the line of models. Apparently, he can float sideways towards the left, but as soon as any movement that isn't a pivot happens, he can't tank shock. So he couldn't then close on the Y models and enter within 1".

Isn't the pivot for a tank shock still allowed in this case? Or does the pivot before going forward have to follow the 1" rule?

Since 40K is a permissive rule set (you can do what you are allowed to do in the rules) rather than a prohibitive rule set (you can do it unless it says you can't) we must read the appropriate rules section.

Pg 57 Vehicles and Movement says:

"Vehicles can turn any number of times as they move, just like any other model. Vehicles turn by pivoting on the spot about their center-point, rather than 'wheeling' round . Turning does not reduce the vehicle's move. This means that a vehicle may combine forward and reverse movement in the same turn providing it does not exceed its maximum move. Pivoting on the spot alone does not count as moving , so a vehicle that only pivots in the Movement phase counts as stationary (however, immobilized vehicles may not even pivot ). Just like other units, vehicles cannot move over friendly models."

That's it. The various vehicle types add to this (Fast can move farther, Tanks can Tank Shock, Skimmers can hope over models and terrain, etc) but all state that they follow the normal rules for moving vehicles.

From the quote above we observe:

1. We can move vehicles forward.
2. We can move vehicles backward.
3. We can combine forward and backward motion.
4. Vehicles may not exceed their maximum movement allocation.
5. Vehicles may pivot an unlimited amount of times in their move.
6. Vehicles do not "Wheel" on a corner but pivot around their center points when they move.
7. Vehicles may not move through the space occupied by friendly models.
8. Immobilized vehicles may not move or pivot at all.

I don't see anything that allows a tank to move sideways, so no drifting Rhinos RAW.

*Edited for format.

The Green Git wrote:I don't see anything that allows a tank to move sideways, so no drifting Rhinos RAW.

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but don't the generic movement rules for all models mention something about moving in any direction regardless of the direction the model is facing? There's nothing in your list specifically prohibits sliding the Rhino sideways. There's nothing that allows it in the Vehicle movement rules by themselves, but it seems that the generic movement rules allow it and the vehicle movement rules don't prohibit it.

Are you coming at it from the point of view that the vehicle movement rules replace the general movement rules rather than supplementing them?

The Green Git wrote:Since 40K is a permissive rule set (you can do what you are allowed to do in the rules) rather than a prohibitive rule set (you can do it unless it says you can't) we must read the appropriate rules section.

Pg 57 Vehicles and Movement says:

"Vehicles can turn any number of times as they move, just like any other model. Vehicles turn by pivoting on the spot about their center-point, rather than 'wheeling' round . Turning does not reduce the vehicle's move. This means that a vehicle may combine forward and reverse movement in the same turn providing it does not exceed its maximum move. Pivoting on the spot alone does not count as moving , so a vehicle that only pivots in the Movement phase counts as stationary (however, immobilized vehicles may not even pivot ). Just like other units, vehicles cannot move over friendly models."

That's it. The various vehicle types add to this (Fast can move farther, Tanks can Tank Shock, Skimmers can hope over models and terrain, etc) but all state that they follow the normal rules for moving vehicles.

From the quote above we observe:

1. We can move vehicles forward.
2. We can move vehicles backward.
3. We can combine forward and backward motion.
4. Vehicles may not exceed their maximum movement allocation.
5. Vehicles may pivot an unlimited amount of times in their move.
6. Vehicles do not "Wheel" on a corner but pivot around their center points when they move.
7. Vehicles may not move through the space occupied by friendly models.
8. Immobilized vehicles may not move or pivot at all.

I don't see anything that allows a tank to move sideways, so no drifting Rhinos RAW.

Whilst everything you said is absolutely accurate, in the majority of situations, it makes no difference if a tank moves 90deg, trundles forward 6" and then moves 90deg back to it's original facing... or simple 'side-steps' 6" to one side. The end result is the same because it pivots from the middle.

The only difference is the prohibition of pivoting in some situations... like if the tank suddenly finds itself surrounded by deep-striking drop pods or something