Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

The rules state that models can not charge after firing with weapons that have the rapid fire type (Among others).

That is why the charging models can not but the overwatching models can.

Real World Common Sense/Real World Logic/How it works in the real world has no bearing on the 40k Ruleset.

Remember: The rules were not written to be "Modern day real world" logical.

The rules are an abstract system used to simulate a battle in the year 40,000.

What would happen in the modern day real world has nothing to do with the RAW, or the simulation of a battle fought 38,000 years from now. (and maybe not even on a planet with the same physical makeup as our earth, and probably different physics as well).

As such they need to have some compromises to make the game playable.

The Rules themselves don't give the Model a choice to remain still, they are required to Pile in and other such actions during the course of the Assault.
Besides, whom remains standing perfectly still while a battle rages all around them?

 insaniak wrote:

 Wolf_in_Human_Shape wrote:
Not sure fluffy is the right word, but I can see a squad of marines dumping their bolter mags into an oncoming attack and then dropping them to whip out a pistol and chainsword/ccw.

Absolutely. The point was just that it's a bit odd that the defender can do that while the attacker can't... but can still do it with, say, a meltagun.

The Rapid Fire assault restriction is just weird.

Yeah, I do agree with the weirdness.

The point that was trying to be made about rapid fire weapons on the charge was not that the defenders could drop the weapon while standing still but the charging unit was not able to drop the weapon it was that when you are charging you are running, you are very mobile, in many cases moving much faster than the combat speed you'd normally move (6", in a charge you can move up to 12") when you move that fast you accuracy will suffer drastically.

Its not a case of "charging units cannot fire their rapid fire weapons (that is RAW) but rather that since you are doing a full tilt run at your opponent to fire the lasgun/bolter/autogun would be so inaccurate as to be completely ineffective. However a much smaller firearm such as a pistol which is lighter, more maneuverable or an assault weapon such as a flamer where accuracy is not an issue or a meltagun even cause according to the video games it fires a beam (just wave it around you're bound to hit something) is a much more viable choice for firing on the run. Defenders because they are standing still get to fire whichever weapon they have in hand and would have time to drop/maglock/holster a weapon right before the charge hits them because they don't have to focus on anything but meeting that charge.

I understand that the rules don't always meld with the narrative as seamlessly as we'd like but at a certain point I think it's up to us to interpret them and insert the narrative that works for each individual scenario. At the end of the day I enjoy the game for the fun social outings it offers me, I enjoy the fluff for the grimdark sci-fi universe it lets me explore. When game and fluff work together it's a bonus but if they don't I just enjoy them separately for what they are.

Sorry for long post.