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Can a Tyranid Prime (as an IC) start the game in a unit of lictors?

the general idea: IC's without infiltrating/outflanking/special deployment rules do not gain said rules simply by joining the unit... would this force the lictors to deploy normally despite their chromeskin rules? or can a prime simple not deploy with a unit of lictors?

- turn 1 lictors + hc could be fun for ds shenanigans on turn 2

For an IC to join a unit upon deployment, you have to deploy the IC into coherency with the unit.

So it's impossible to deploy a non-infiltrating IC into an infiltrating unit... he would have had to deploy with the rest of the army, as only having the Infiltrate special rule allows you to hold him back to the Infiltrators step.



That being said, some players do allow you to join the IC to the unit before deployment, as there are a couple of issues caused by the current deployment rules not allowing certain characters to make use of their special rules.

page 48 of brb says the unit may lose its ability to infiltrate as a result of an IC joining the unit so..?

Lictors don't infiltrate.

So, actually, ignore my previous post, since it's completely irrelevant.


Lictors start the game in Reserve, and are deployed in a specific way when they become available. They don't infiltrate.


If you join the Prime to the unit in Reserves, then yes, he should be able to deploy with them. Or no, he can't, because he doesn't have the Chamelonic Skin rule.

No strict RAW answer here, I'm afraid.

Kistra: 2 things

1) lictors do not have Infiltrate; they have Chameleonic skin which dictates how they MUST deploy.

2) Chameleonic skin dictates how they MUST deploy. Therefore no IC can be joined to them pre-deployment that does not have Chameleonic Skin, or an Identically worded special rule.

The Second is more to the Thread in general.

Yes, this is yet another example of GW not bothering to proofread and/or issue errata.

The game gets stuck in a Loop since you Must deploy the Lictors in a certain way but the IC cannot do so.

i know lictors dont have infiltrate... i was just quoting the brb as it said "FOR EXAMPLE: (infiltrate)" an example can often be replaced with other variables ... my question was could lictors chrom skin be one of those variables.

sorry if that wasnt clear, and thanks gwar for not assuming i can't read

Nobody was assuming you can't read.

Your post made it unclear as to just what you were asking.

You know something has gone horribly, pathetically wrong when people go to extreme lengths to nullify rules in their own codex in an attempt to make a unit useful.

I don't really see any Rules As Written resolution for this situation. The Lictors are forced by their codex-specific rules to be completely worthless on the battlefield, whereas the basic rules don't allow the independent character any sort of exception for the situation. All told I'd say to me it 'feels' like the Prime just can't join them unless he walks up to them on the field, gives them a scy-tal fist-bump and parties hardy from there on.

Good try though, I too still have a soft spot in my heart for the heart ache and anguish Lictors used to inspire in opponents.

Gwar! wrote:Yes, this is yet another example of GW not bothering to proofread and/or issue errata.

The game gets stuck in a Loop since you Must deploy the Lictors in a certain way but the IC cannot do so.

The answer is obvious though surely? Lictors *must* deploy using their Chameleonic rule. The Tyranid Prime being a part of the unit would prevent them doing so (as you rightly point out). The rules loop around and nothing happens.

This is just a very circular means of saying "no, they cannot depoy together", something which arises naturally from the rules themselves.

You can of course throw a Prime into the unit if they manage to link up on-table.

Xyptc wrote:

You can of course throw a Prime into the unit if they manage to link up on-table.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! Now Tyranids can merge together like Transformers?

But seriously, was this question posed due to the whole discussion with Boss Snikrot and ICs joining his Kommando unit?

Gwar! wrote:Yes, this is yet another example of GW not bothering to proofread and/or issue errata.

The game gets stuck in a Loop since you Must deploy the Lictors in a certain way but the IC cannot do so.

Now, would you agree to this: by shortening the loop down to that if you join a model without Chameleonic Skin to a model with Chameleonic Skin leaves the resulting unit disallowed from deploying.

This doesn't actually break the game, as such, since any units that hasn't managed to arrive from reserves count as casualties at the end of the game. Now, I realize that the rules probably doesn't specifically have Chameleon deployment as a form of reserve, but the essence should still carry.

You then get into the issue that on one of the later turns (4 or 5 my BRB is in the van) it tells you that all remaining units in reserve automatically come in. Also in the reserves rules you must roll for every unit to see if that unit is available and if the unit is available it must be deployed.

Now you have a Unit that must be deployed, and it Must be deployed by Chameleonic Skin, and there is a model attached that does not have(and therefore cannot deploy by) Chameleonic Skin, so the unit Cannot be deployed at all and the Game grinds to a halt never able to progress past your reserve portion of that turn.

Or you have them walk on. Like the case of Dawn of war deployment.

Just a suggestion, that might not stop the game.

Kapitalist-Pig wrote:Or you have them walk on. Like the case of Dawn of war deployment.

Just a suggestion, that might not stop the game.

Yea... But it ain't the rules