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Is there a consolidated list of uses/rules for using this thing?

I know it lets you reroll dangerous terrain tests and that it can tank shock. I assume dismounted units in cover get cover saves from it. Can units simply get out of its way by passing a leadership test? Vehicles rammed by it resolve D6 S10 hits against the facing armor. Does the vehicle that was hit count its speed in determining the ramming or is it simply d6 S10 hits? I also realize that the deffrolla doesnt add to the dimensions to the vehicle. Can I simply count its footprint as part of the vehicle, measuring from its foward edge consistently to determine distance traveled?

kaiservonhugal wrote: I assume dismounted units in cover get cover saves from it.

There's been some debate over that. It's not defined as a ranged attack, so some feel that cover saves shouldn't apply. Others feel that the cover save rules aren't really that specific, so they should get cover as normal.

Can units simply get out of its way by passing a leadership test?

The Deff Rolla hits any unit successfully tank shocked. Since the unit moving aside from the Ld test is what constitutes a successful Tank Shock, no, it doesn't let them avoid the effect of the Deff Rolla.

Does the vehicle that was hit count its speed in determining the ramming or is it simply d6 S10 hits?

The D6 hits from the Deffrolla are a separate effect to the Ram. Probably. Either way, you don't add anything to the Deffrolla effect... the speed addition is a part of the Ram mechanic, not the Deffrolla.

Can I simply count its footprint as part of the vehicle, measuring from its foward edge consistently to determine distance traveled?

Nobody really knows how it's supposed to apply on the table. Some choose to ignore it for everything. Some count it as a significant part of the vehicle.

Insaniak's on the ball

Thanks Insaniak - thats what I was looking for. Too bad there's alot of debate left in there. Are there any other questions/concerns I should know about?

Skimmers dodging a Ram is the other big issue... Opinions are divided as to whether dodging the Ram also means the Deffrolla hit is negated or not.

Let's all just hope that they don't make us wait too long before the Orks get an actual 5th edition codex to replace the current horribly written 4th/5th-ed hybrid.

Let's all just hope that they don't make us wait too long before the Orks get an actual 5th edition codex to replace the current horribly written 4th/5th-ed hybrid.

I'd say it was very unlikely they will get a new dex until 6th ed or they will get a 5th/6th Ed one like last time. Their codex was written with 5th ed in mind (allegedly) so I can't see them giving the Orks another 5th Ed codex. Not even Vanillas get 2 codexes for 1 edition. Especially considering the Ork codex is still highly competitive...

true true, still too many ancient codexes still running a foot ... I'm starting to feel really bad for all the BT and DA players

A skimmer dodging a deffrolla ram would not take the str 10 hits.

A vehicle that fails to ram a skimmer due to it zipping out of the way is not a successful ram/tank shock

That's one of the arguments, yes.

The opposing argument is that the Skimmer rules don't say that the Ram is unsuccessful, or negated... just that neither vehicle takes any damage from the attempted Ram. But since the Deffrolla is a separate entity to the Ram action, just triggered by it, the fact that no damage actually occurs does not negate the Deffrolla from kicking in as usual.

Personally, I go for the 'no damage' interpretation purely because it makes more sense.

insaniak wrote:Personally, I go for the 'no damage' interpretation purely because it makes more sense.

Not debating the Skimmer/Deff rolla, just pointing something out here, about "what makes sense":

A tank Shock on a unit that gets out of the way of the incoming tank still inflicts the DR damage to that unit. This does not make any Sense. It is as if the Sgt(or equivalent) sees the BW coming, Knows that it is driving straight at his unit intending to crush them beneath it's wheels, and Tells his troops to Hold position until just before the front bumper/Tires actually Strikes the Unit. Now When the Deff Rolla is on the Front of the BW he does exactly the same thing, completely ignoring the fact that a Giant Spiked Steam Roller is attached to the front of the BW allowing it to crush 1-6 of his own men before he valiantly orders them to get out of the way of the rest of the battle wagon behind it.

Good point Kel. Lol

I'm somewhat klad (and disappointed) that its not clear as to whether the rolla is part of the vehicle.
(Too used to MTG and the bastards changing rules vs whats written all the time).

I vote for it NOT being part of it.
Cause if it was part of the hull, that means you can destroy the vehicle by shooting it, but also means that your orks can run on top of it like in some crazy cartoon and shoot from there.
On the flipside, being unable to disembark an open topped vehicle from the front seems like a rather annoying side effect (even if it is because theres a big FO spikey mass in the way).

EDIT: Spelling

Further edit: If its not part of the hull, then you can effectively tank shock, stop short (or hit friendlies) and have the models end up UNDER the rolla.
+4 cover save maybe?

if a unit gets hit by it even if they get out of the way, than I feel the skimmer should as well ... even if it gets out of the way.

jdjamesdean@mail.com wrote:if a unit gets hit by it even if they get out of the way, than I feel the skimmer should as well ... even if it gets out of the way.

On the surface, that seems reasonable. However, you have to look at the different way that a Tank Shock works as opposed to a Ram.

A Tank Shock forces a unit to move. So a successful Tank Shock is one in which the unit was forced to move.
A Ram does not force the enemy vehicle to move. If the skimmer dodges, the Ram was not successful... it caused no damage, because the skimmer dodged out of the way.

So while it seems on a certain level that consistency would require them to work the same for the Deffrolla, the fact that the two rules revolve around completely opposing movement mechanics would seem to indicate otherwise.

Ah I see. For some reason I was thinking of jetbikes rather than skimmers, which are of course vehicles.

While I don't have my book near me at the moment, wouldn't it make sense for the eldar player to have to take the skimmer dodge test against each successful hit of the 1d6 hit from the deffrolla?
I'm probaly wrong, but I would like to know why.

Because the "dodge" is to dodge the RAM, and not "deffrolla hits"

So if my skimmer doesn't make the dodge roll, it gets rammed and takes the deffrolla hits.
If my skimmer makes the dodge roll, it doesn't get rammed and takes the defrolla hits.

It makes the dodge roll so it got out of the way of the vehicle attempting to ram it but not really. I get it now.

I call Shenanigans on you and your whole team...

Filthy Sanchez wrote:So if my skimmer doesn't make the dodge roll, it gets rammed and takes the deffrolla hits.
If my skimmer makes the dodge roll, it doesn't get rammed and takes the defrolla hits.

It makes the dodge roll so it got out of the way of the vehicle attempting to ram it but not really. I get it now.

I call Shenanigans on you and your whole team...

Hmm...

So if my unit doesn't make the death or glory roll, it gets tank shocked and takes the deffrolla hits.
If my unit makes the death or glory roll, it stops the tank shock and takes the defrolla hits.

It makes the death or glory roll so it stopped the vehicle attempting to tank shock it but not really. I get it now.

As has been pointed out, the rolla rules don't adhere strictly to "what makes sense". Just like most of the 40k ruleset.