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Nah, since they shoot at the nearest target, I don't want the passengers getting hit by an errant blast weapon.

streamdragon wrote:So wait... if it always counts as a separate unit how does that interact with the reserves rule that Unit + DT only count once fir reserves? Am I required to count the Spod's parent unit?

Spod must DS and does not count. The unit that bought it MUST start in it, and therefore must start in reserve, as such they do not get counted either.

Happyjew wrote:

streamdragon wrote:So wait... if it always counts as a separate unit how does that interact with the reserves rule that Unit + DT only count once fir reserves? Am I required to count the Spod's parent unit?

Spod must DS and does not count. The unit that bought it MUST start in it, and therefore must start in reserve, as such they do not get counted either.

Ah, forgot that Nids can't send down empty Spods like SM can do with their pods. Thanks!

And it wouldn't matter anyways, since the unit and DT always count as a single unit when determining reserves counts. Embarked, disembarked, doesn't matter, they're still one unit and count as zero for the reserves calculations due to (part of) the unit having to start in reserves.

don_mondo wrote:And it wouldn't matter anyways, since the unit and DT always count as a single unit when determining reserves counts. Embarked, disembarked, doesn't matter, they're still one unit and count as zero for the reserves calculations due to (part of) the unit having to start in reserves.

Ordinarily yes. The rules for the Spod say it always counts as a separate unit. As the two rules would be in conflict, the specific codex rule would override the general BRB rule. Were Nid units capable of dropping empty Spods they would have some problems with reserves...

What? I never said that they (Nids) did not have to start in the Spod.

Reread what I wrote. What I said was that for a unit with a transport that must start in reserves, it doesn't matter if the unit (be it Nids - Spod or Marines - Dpod or Necrons - Scythes or whatever other combos are out there) starts in the transport or not. When determining your reserves/must deploy counts, the unit and DT count as a single unit and that unit counts as zero due to (part of) it having to be held in reserves. That's all I said.

don_mondo wrote:What? I never said that they (Nids) did not have to start in the Spod.

Reread what I wrote. What I said was that for a unit with a transport that must start in reserves, it doesn't matter if the unit (be it Nids - Spod or Marines - Dpod or Necrons - Scythes or whatever other combos are out there) starts in the transport or not. When determining your reserves/must deploy counts, the unit and DT count as a single unit and that unit counts as zero due to (part of) it having to be held in reserves. That's all I said.

I agree with you for every army but Nids. The end result for Nids is the same, but the methodology is different. So when you say "it doesn't matter [that nids MUST start in Spods]" that is incorrect.

There are, as you point out, two rules in play here:

1. Units and their DT count as 1 unit for determining reserves.
2. If a unit (my comment: or presumably part of a unit) MUST start in reserve, it is not counted for determining remaining reserves.

So as an example: Tac marines in a drop pod. Tac marines are not required to start in their drop pod as per the SM FAQ. Because the pod must start in reserves (2) and because the pod is a DT for the Tacs (1) neither counts against reserves.

For nids, however, rule #1 does not apply due to the special rules of Spods. So instead of Fex +to Spod being 1a unit we are left with 2 units: the Fex and the Spod. Now the Spod MUST start in reserves (2), but in absence of the FAQ ruling that Nids must start in their Spods (i.e., if Nids were like SMs) the Spod would HAVE to start in reserve but the Fex does not. Rule #1, which protected the Tac squad from counting, does not apply to Nids as the specific army rule says it doesn't. So your fex would count against reservea because he doesn't qualify for rules 1 or 2. Now, the whole discussion is academic because, as I was corrected, Nids are required by the FAQ to start in their Spods. So while Fex + Spod doesn't qualify under rule #1, by forcing the Fex to start in the Spod we are able to apply rule #2 to the Fex.

Which is a long winded way of saying what I said previously: the end result is the same (neither the Fex+Spod nor the Tac+Pod count for reserves) but the methodology is different (rule #2 twice vs rule #1 + rule #2). It is a potentially big difference, as the ruling in the Nid FAQ is more subject to change.

Fine, whatever, as you say, end result is exactly the same.