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Depending on how you've been playing in your neck of the woods, this may or may not be a Big Deal: searchlight use ain't optional.

In short, the SM/IG/DA/etc entries under searchlights all state that the searchlight will illuminate the target, *not* may illuminate the target.

The way we had been playing it in our area was that searchlight use was optional; you could always weigh the risks before deciding to use the light or not. RAW, though, it appears that you don't have a choice. You spot it, you're lit up. Period.

I shall look it up, but iirc there is one codex in which using a searchlight IS optional.

Otherwise, you are correct.

Correct.

I didn't even realise people thought it was optional...

They have not been since 4th edition (check out the BT Codex for example, same wording).

Know this for a while .. i can't see it as much of an issue. Dawn of war is the only standard mission with night fighting ... for the first turn. If you've gone for a night fighting game well you knew in advance.

I don't have the listing in front of me, but wouldn't a searchlight be equivalent to a very, very, very, very low powered lasgun? (i.e. it only fires when you declare it is firing. Otherwise, could you not apply this logic to every single piece of equipment listed?)

Saying it MAY illuminate something implies it also MAY not.
Saying it WILL illuminate means that it WILL.

All of this is contingent upont the fact that searchlights have an on/off switch. I am pretty certain that technology would not have been lost in the year 40,000.

Tri wrote:Know this for a while .. i can't see it as much of an issue. Dawn of war is the only standard mission with night fighting ... for the first turn. If you've gone for a night fighting game well you knew in advance.

1/3rd of the time is fairly significant, I'd say. Additionally, "Night Fight" is one of those rules that gets slapped willy-nilly on plenty of tournament scenarios--last year's 'Ard Boyz, for example, had a mission with the entire game in night fight.

Green is Best! wrote:I am pretty certain that technology would not have been lost in the year 40,000.

Well, sadly, fluff is not rules.

The exact wording (from the SM codex anyway) is:

"If a vehicle has a searchlight it must still use the night fighting rules to pick a target but, having acquired a target, will illuminate it with the searchlight.

Thus, if a vehicle with searchlight fires upon anything, provided it succeeds in its Night Fight "Spotting" roll, the searchlight illuminates the shot at unit for the rest of the phase.

Again, how is this news to anyone? It's been this way since 4th edition.

Exactly--there is no 'declaration' that you're using it. It happens automatically when you roll to spot.

Gwar! wrote:Correct.

I didn't even realise people thought it was optional...

What? Interesting...Let me get this straight. So if Night Fighting is is effect and I declare a shooting attack with Unit B, I MUST use a Searchlight? Even if the target is already illuminated by my Unit A?

So which Codex has the variant with optional use?

DH/WH do not use the same wording.

They do not explicitly state that they must be used.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I found the other thread here. It is a bit older, and I actually just looked for that since I did not have time for the codex check yet.

Color me unsurprised.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

A-P wrote: What? Interesting...Let me get this straight. So if Night Fighting is is effect and I declare a shooting attack with Unit B, I MUST use a Searchlight? Even if the target is already illuminated by my Unit A?

No. It's only triggered if they successfully roll to spot. If they don't roll, they don't trigger.

CatPeeler wrote:No. It's only triggered if they successfully roll to spot. If they don't roll, they don't trigger.

Ninja! Yeah, I just checked that other thread Kirsanth found.