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What happens when someone doesn't roll for reserves for a unit? I know in RAW, they must. But, sometimes people do honestly forget to roll for a unit. How do you handle this situation?

I see three possibilities, going from least punishing to most:
1) The unit just counts as having failed their reserve roll for that turn.
2) The unit counts as destroyed.
3) The offending player is cheating and forfeits the game.

Grakmar wrote:What happens when someone doesn't roll for reserves for a unit? I know in RAW, they must. But, sometimes people do honestly forget to roll for a unit. How do you handle this situation?

I see three possibilities, going from least punishing to most:
1) The unit just counts as having failed their reserve roll for that turn.
2) The unit counts as destroyed.
3) The offending player is cheating and forfeits the game.

I play as 3, because 1 is too open to abuse (I "forgot" to roll that unit, honest!) and 2 is just silly.

1) Friendly game:

Depends how far we have come. If its still their turn and they can't gain an advantage from postponing (and I believe they actually forgot) then they can just do it when its remembered. Otherwise it counts as failed.

2) Tournament:

First choice is they counts as failed. If the TO steps in obviously its up to them.

If I'm the one that is forgetting I ask my opponent if I should go back and roll, whatever he says goes.
If my opponent "forgets" it depends fully on how much I want that unit to come in.

It is up to both players to remember because both must follow this rule.

Else, it is up to the TO.
Else, the game breaks...

It really depends how far we went. If my opponent is still in his movement phase then I usually let him/her roll it to see. If it is the next turn, we may not have a problem.

I have him/her roll it, if they would have come in I talk to the TO. If they wouldn't have come in anyway, then I just play on.

Sanctjud wrote:It is up to both players to remember because both must follow this rule.

Good point. While it should be primarily on your opponent to remember stuff for his own army, its up to both of you to make sure the rules are followed.

And I can's tell you the number of times I've forgot my outflanking/tunneling gutter runners in fantasy...for some reason it's much easier to remember in 40k.

Like with some other questionable rules, make them up or if you really really have to, ask for a 3rd opinion.

HIWPI

If it is still early movement phase, roll and bring them on if the roll is passed. Ofcourse, being careful to make a note of where units were at the start of the turn (so no moving unit A, 'remembering' to roll reserves and moving unit B into the position unit A was occupying at the start of the turn, and other such instances)

If it near to the end of the movement phase, or in a subsequent phase... roll the die, if it is passed you come on automatically next turn. There is still some abuse to be had, but in my FLGS we generally remind each other if we forget reserves, forget to move/shoot/assault with a unit, etc so this doesn't come up much. Also if you know your opponents reserves are coming it for sure next turn, you can attempt to prepare for such an instance, so there can be an advantage either way.

Grakmar wrote:1) The unit just counts as having failed their reserve roll for that turn.
2) The unit counts as destroyed.
3) The offending player is cheating and forfeits the game.

I would usually actually play 4) If it's still the Movement phase when you remember them, make the roll and carry on with the turn. If it's any later in the turn, count them as failing their Reserve roll and move on.

'Cheating' requires deliberate intent. If the opponent legitimately forgot, that's not cheating. It's being forgetful. And as others have pointed out, the Reserves were declared at the start of the game anyway, so it's up to both players to make sure that the rules of the game are followed.

Usually i either let them try the reserves or have them do it next turn, depending on the player/game being played

Personally, I would never even suggest that because my opponent forgot to roll for reserves that the unit would be destroyed. I'm with Insaniak. If it were still the movement phase, I would remind him and ask him to roll then. If it were the shooting or assault phase, I'd just keep it in mind and remind him next turn.

A house rule I've played and find fair is they can come in during the movement phase, but if the player has begun shooting, then the unit has to roll the next turn as though it were the previous turn
e.g they forget turn 2, so in turn 3 they require a 4+