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.

Bloodlance states: "Any enemy unit in the lance's path suffers a single hit" ...so, no?

Yes, it is a psychic shooting attack.

That paragraph starts with, "This power is a psychic shooting attack."

And the latest rulebook FAQ says;

Q: Do psychic shooting attacks need to roll to hit? (p50)
A: Yes.

time wizard wrote:That paragraph starts with, "This power is a psychic shooting attack."

And the latest rulebook FAQ says;

Q: Do psychic shooting attacks need to roll to hit? (p50)
A: Yes.

But we know that it is not this cut and dry, I think, don't we? We'd be fooling ourselves to simply think, "well, there's no context to any of these powers." What about Tyranid powers that automatically hit? Do they still need to roll to hit? They're PSA's. . .

What about Nurgle's Rot (touched on in another thread)? It says that every model within 6" suffers a Strength 3 hit. It's never called a PSA, but it has a range, a strength and an AP. However, it also says that every model takes a hit. Now, if I roll to hit and I miss, I'm not following the rule of the power, as not every model is suffering a hit.

Blood Lance is worded similarly. Everything in the Lances path suffers a hit. I'm not sure that it is so clearly defined as others do.

puma713 wrote:

time wizard wrote:That paragraph starts with, "This power is a psychic shooting attack."

And the latest rulebook FAQ says;

Q: Do psychic shooting attacks need to roll to hit? (p50)
A: Yes.

But we know that it is not this cut and dry, I think, don't we?

No, I think it is that cut and dry.

What about Tyranid powers that automatically hit? Do they still need to roll to hit? They're PSA's. . .

Seems like the codex takes precedence there. They clearly say they automatically hit.

What about Nurgle's Rot (touched on in another thread)? It says that every model within 6" suffers a Strength 3 hit. It's never called a PSA, but it has a range, a strength and an AP. However, it also says that every model takes a hit. Now, if I roll to hit and I miss, I'm not following the rule of the power, as not every model is suffering a hit.

Not sure I follow. If you roll and hit, then every model is hit. If you roll and miss, then you miss and nothing happens.

Redbeard wrote:
Not sure I follow. If you roll and hit, then every model is hit. If you roll and miss, then you miss and nothing happens.

Power says that everyone within 6" suffers a hit.

If I roll 12 dice and 1 is a miss, then not everyone within 6" suffers a hit. So, I'm not following the specific rule of the power.

This is going to be a matter of who gets to a topic first to reply.

Blood Lance is a codex rule that has an exception to the general rules for psychic shooting attacks, which also includes the new FAQ. Therefore because the codex rule for Blood Lance changes how you hit with it, it overrides the general rule for PSA needing a to hit roll.

The first paragraph of page 50, Psykers is all you need to read to justify that Blood Lance is a codex exception to the general rule.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

puma713 wrote:

Redbeard wrote:
Not sure I follow. If you roll and hit, then every model is hit. If you roll and miss, then you miss and nothing happens.

Power says that everyone within 6" suffers a hit.

If I roll 12 dice and 1 is a miss, then not everyone within 6" suffers a hit. So, I'm not following the specific rule of the power.

Niiice Puma.

Brother Ramses wrote:
Blood Lance is a codex rule that has an exception to the general rules for psychic shooting attacks, which also includes the new FAQ. Therefore because the codex rule for Blood Lance changes how you hit with it, it overrides the general rule for PSA needing a to hit roll.

The first paragraph of page 50, Psykers is all you need to read to justify that Blood Lance is a codex exception to the general rule.

I fail to see how. Until you roll to hit, the power does nothing. If you miss, the power does nothing. If you hit with it, then you apply the text of the power. Nothing in the power states that you don't need to roll to hit with the line, it only describes the effect of hitting with the line - all the models under it suffer a S8 hit.

One problem is the over-use of the word hit. It is being used both as an action, and also as a "potential wound". Bloodboil is using it as a 'potential wound'. The rulebook, on page 19, covers this use of the word, as they refer to minimum scores to convert a hit into a wound.

But that doesn't mean that the power hit the target. It just tells you what strength to use and what models to use it on. With the new FAQ ruling, unless the power states that it automatically hits (such as the tyranid powers), you have to roll to hit for the power to work. Once you've done that, the text of this power instructs you what results to apply - S8 potential wounds to anything on the line.

Redbeard wrote:

Brother Ramses wrote:
Blood Lance is a codex rule that has an exception to the general rules for psychic shooting attacks, which also includes the new FAQ. Therefore because the codex rule for Blood Lance changes how you hit with it, it overrides the general rule for PSA needing a to hit roll.

The first paragraph of page 50, Psykers is all you need to read to justify that Blood Lance is a codex exception to the general rule.

I fail to see how. Until you roll to hit, the power does nothing. If you miss, the power does nothing. If you hit with it, then you apply the text of the power. Nothing in the power states that you don't need to roll to hit with the line, it only describes the effect of hitting with the line - all the models under it suffer a S8 hit.

One problem is the over-use of the word hit. It is being used both as an action, and also as a "potential wound". Bloodboil is using it as a 'potential wound'. The rulebook, on page 19, covers this use of the word, as they refer to minimum scores to convert a hit into a wound.

But that doesn't mean that the power hit the target. It just tells you what strength to use and what models to use it on. With the new FAQ ruling, unless the power states that it automatically hits (such as the tyranid powers), you have to roll to hit for the power to work. Once you've done that, the text of this power instructs you what results to apply - S8 potential wounds to anything on the line.

A "potential wound?" Hahahahahahah, good one.

You are wrong starting with your second sentence.

The power works when the psychic test is passed and an enemy unit is in the path of the Blood Lance, ergo it suffers a hit. It doesn't suffer a "potential wound", it suffers a hit. That is the codex exception to the general rules for psychic shooting attacks.

Nothing in the power states that you don't need to roll to hit with the line, it only describes the effect of hitting with the line - all the models under it suffer a S8 hit.

Nothing in the power does state that you don't need a to roll hit, BECAUSE THE POWER ALREADY TELLS YOU THAT IT HITS ANYTHING IN THE PATH OF THE BLOOD LANCE.

And the FAQ does nothing of the sort. It is a general rule that tells you that psychic shooting attacks need a to hit roll which the BRB tells that exceptions to said general rule will be in the codex. Blood Lance is a codex exception.

Brother Ramses wrote:
Nothing in the power does state that you don't need a to roll hit, BECAUSE THE POWER ALREADY TELLS YOU THAT IT HITS ANYTHING IN THE PATH OF THE BLOOD LANCE.

No, it doesn't.

The text actually reads,

This power is a psychic shooting attack. Extend a straight line, 4d6" long, from the Librarian's base in any direction - this is the path taken by the Blood Lance. Any enemy unit in the lance's path suffers a single Strength 8, AP1 hit with the 'lance' type. Friendly units and enemy units locked in close combat are unaffected - the lance darts over them before continuing on its course."

Note the lack of the text "automatically hits". The librarian no more automatically hits with his straight line than he does firing his bolter. He aims it, then rolls to hit, and if he hits, whatever was beneath the path takes a S8 Ap1 hit.

The word 'hit' is distinctly used as a noun in the text of the power. It's how they define what damage is inflicted. Given the new FAQ that states all Psychic Shooting Attacks require a roll 'to hit', there is no way to read the above and conclude that this is automatic for this power.

Here's the text of a power that doesn't require a roll (from the same codex, same page, no less):

Fear of the Darkness...
This power is a psychic shooting attack that hits automatically an enemy unit within 24"...

See that extra word. That's what missing from Blood Lance.

This is same question as the JotWW etc. in another thread, and my argument is essentially same - since the power is very specific about how it is resolved which enemy unit suffers a 'hit', it is really hard to understand where one could squeeze in "To hit" roll.

Really, the whole definition of "Psychic shooting attack" as in the FAQ is problematic, because it means that powers in old codices, which are clearly meant to be "Psychic shooting attacks" (as the rule says 'instead of using ranged weapon'), are NOT PSA's if they don't have a weapon profile. Ie. Lash, Mind Worm, Nurgle's Rot, etc. So even though the RAI clearly is that these powers work same way as similar PSA's in newer codices (and in the past there was no conflict about this), now these powers apparently not only don't have to take BS test to hit, they also ignore other restrictions placed to PSA's???


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Redbeard wrote:
Note the lack of the text "automatically hits". The librarian no more automatically hits with his straight line than he does firing his bolter.

Ummm...I don't get this logic. If you can't "automatically hit" with a straight line you can put on the battlefield any way you want, then with WHAT can you "automatically hit"?

Redbeard wrote:

Brother Ramses wrote:
Nothing in the power does state that you don't need a to roll hit, BECAUSE THE POWER ALREADY TELLS YOU THAT IT HITS ANYTHING IN THE PATH OF THE BLOOD LANCE.

No, it doesn't.

The text actually reads,

This power is a psychic shooting attack. Extend a straight line, 4d6" long, from the Librarian's base in any direction - this is the path taken by the Blood Lance. Any enemy unit in the lance's path suffers a single Strength 8, AP1 hit with the 'lance' type. Friendly units and enemy units locked in close combat are unaffected - the lance darts over them before continuing on its course."

Note the lack of the text "automatically hits". The librarian no more automatically hits with his straight line than he does firing his bolter. He aims it, then rolls to hit, and if he hits, whatever was beneath the path takes a S8 Ap1 hit.

The word 'hit' is distinctly used as a noun in the text of the power. It's how they define what damage is inflicted. Given the new FAQ that states all Psychic Shooting Attacks require a roll 'to hit', there is no way to read the above and conclude that this is automatic for this power.

Here's the text of a power that doesn't require a roll (from the same codex, same page, no less):

Fear of the Darkness...
This power is a psychic shooting attack that hits automatically an enemy unit within 24"...

See that extra word. That's what missing from Blood Lance.

When the rule tells you that anything in the path is hit, anything in the path is hit. That is the codex exception to the general rule of requiring a to hit roll to determine if you have hit. Why do I need a roll to tell me if I hit if the rule is crystal clear that anything in the path is hit?

If something tells you it hits, it hits, period. You cannot duck around and call it a, "potential wound" or say that it is being used a different way. Anything in the path is hit is just as straight forward as anything the line touches must take an iniative test. There is no digging for a spot to plug a general rule into a codex expection.

the PSAs that won't need a roll to hit are ones which use a Flamer template.


a single to hit roll for all the things under the line seems fair. if you get that blood lance pointed in even slightly the wrong direction then its gone.

one to hit roll for a whole lot of hits seems balanced to me.

And don't just randomly interject phrases into the debate that are not even in the rules or FAQ. I have not seen anything about "Automatically hits" being the standard for their not to be a to hit roll.

"Q: What psychic powers count as psychic shooting attacks? (p50)
A: Any psychic power with a profile like that of a ranged weapon (i.e. has a range, strength and AP value) and any psychic power that specifically states that it is a psychic shooting attack."

That's a yes for Blood Lance.


"Q: Do psychic shooting attacks need to roll to hit? (p50)
A: Yes."

Blood Lance is a PSA, so still a yes....

Do shooting attacks with special 'to hit' rules still roll to hit?

No.

Xarian wrote:Do shooting attacks with special 'to hit' rules still roll to hit?

No.

Such a great simple point.

When shooting a blast weapon, you do not roll to hit. You do something entirely different from the general rules for shooting a ranged weapon. The same principle applies to psychic shooting attacks that are exceptions to the general rules for psychic shooting attacks.

In all my posts today not a single person has been able to point out why Jaws, MH, or Thunderclap do not have exceptions to step 3 in their rules. It has only been the new FAQ repeated over and over again.

Brother Ramses wrote:
When the rule tells you that anything in the path is hit, anything in the path is hit.

I'll grant you that. But the rule for blood lance never says that anything in the path is hit. I quoted it above. Where does it say that everything is hit? More importantly, where does it say that anything is automatically hit? It says that, if the attack is successful, they suffer a S8 AP1 hit. That's not the same thing. If I fire a bolter at something and I hit it, then the target takes a S4 AP 5 hit. But if I fire that same bolter, that would inflict a S4 AP 5 hit, and I miss, the target doesn't suffer that S4 AP 5 hit. This is what you're failing to understand. A S8 AP 1 hit is, in essence, a potential wound. But there is no way to describe the damage an attack would deal without referring to it as 'a hit' with some defined strength and AP.

That's the nature of the English language. Some words can be used in more than one way. 'A hit' is not the same as 'hitting'. You roll 'to hit' (verb phrase), and if you are successful, you inflict 'a hit' (noun). The rules for Blood Lance describes the strength of 'the hit' (noun), but they do not address the action of 'hitting' (verb).

Redbeard wrote:

Brother Ramses wrote:
When the rule tells you that anything in the path is hit, anything in the path is hit.

I'll grant you that. But the rule for blood lance never says that anything in the path is hit. I quoted it above. Where does it say that everything is hit? More importantly, where does it say that anything is automatically hit? It says that, if the attack is successful, they suffer a S8 AP1 hit. That's not the same thing. If I fire a bolter at something and I hit it, then the target takes a S4 AP 5 hit. But if I fire that same bolter, that would inflict a S4 AP 5 hit, and I miss, the target doesn't suffer that S4 AP 5 hit. This is what you're failing to understand. A S8 AP 1 hit is, in essence, a potential wound. But there is no way to describe the damage an attack would deal without referring to it as 'a hit' with some defined strength and AP.

That's the nature of the English language. Some words can be used in more than one way. 'A hit' is not the same as 'hitting'. You roll 'to hit' (verb phrase), and if you are successful, you inflict 'a hit' (noun). The rules for Blood Lance describes the strength of 'the hit' (noun), but they do not address the action of 'hitting' (verb).

It says the following;

"Any enemy unit in the lance's path suffers a Strength 8, AP 1 hit with the 'lance' type."

That still outright grants a hit outside the general rules for psychic shooting attacks. Further more it even tells you that the unit 'suffers' a hit. How does the unit 'suffer' a hit if it has not been hit?

And you are mixing up your grammer here when determining what is a verb and what is a noun,

"Any enemy unit in the lance's path suffers a single Strength 8, AP 1 hit with the 'lance' type."

What does an enemy unit in the the lance's path do? They suffers (verb).
What does an enemy unit in a lance's path suffer? A hit (noun).
What kind of hit? A single str 8, ap 1 (adjective)

Now as to your idea that a hit can only ever be the result of a to hit roll.

A psychic test is passed, a line 4d6" is drawn straight from the librarians base and is designated as the path of the lance. Any enemy unit in that path suffers a str 8 ap 1 lance type hit.

See? A hit is delivered, outside the general rules (which includes rolling to hit) for psychic shooting attacks by a codex exception

Brother Ramses wrote:
A psychic test is passed, a line 4d6" is drawn straight from the librarians base and is designated as the path of the lance. Any enemy unit in that path suffers a str 8 ap 1 lance type hit.

Doesn't say that...

You assume you pass a psychic test because the rules say take a physchic test before applying the psychic power... If the psychic test fails, nothing happens.

Now they tell us if the psychic power is a psychic shooting you must roll to hit. If the roll to hit fails, nothing happens.

The psychic power doesn't explicitly say take a psychic test but we still take one, it doesn't need to say 'roll to hit' for us to understand how to apply a 'roll to hit' to a shooting attack. People are making up rules that think they can compare it to flamer templates where they are immune from needing to roll to hit. The FAQ says you gotta roll to hit.

The simplest explanation is usually correct, and I think ChrisCP summed that up. The rules say it's a psychic power, and that it has to roll to hit.

I don't have a dog in this race. I play neither Space Wolves (JotWW follows this argument too) nor Blood Angels. You clearly are pulling for one interpretation. We're going to just have to agree to disagree until an FAQ for the FAQ is issued.

I completely agree with Brother Ramses on this. The rule says that any model along the line suffers a "hit", not that it is attacked. Look at the normal sequence for shooting as an example. When you test against your BS you either "hit" or you don't. The rule for Blood Lance removes the need for the BS test by stating that if the Librarian passes his psychic test, you "hit" anything along that 4d6" line. And just because it lacks the word automatically doesn't change that fact.

If they had said that the model was attacked I'd say the folks saying it needs a to-hit roll were correct. But the rule says "hits".

Incorrect as you still need to elect a target and roll to hit it.

Some examples of JotWW targetting from your FAQ.
"Q. Does Jaws of the World Wolf allow the Rune Priest to target specific models within squads? (p37)
A. Yes."

"Q. Does Jaws of the World Wolf require line of sight? Does it ignore terrain that blocks line of sight (i.e., impassable terrain)? (p37)
A. As a psychic shooting attack, Jaws of the World Wolf requires line of sight. The Rune Priest must have line of sight to the first model that the power affects – in effect he is treated as the target model; the power just happens to hit everybody else on its way through!"

Target model, one roll to hit, you must roll to hit with a PSA unless one is told one doesn't have to/automatic hit.

An example of a PSA which does not require a roll to hit is in the ork 'Dex - Zzap pg 37 - it says "Choose an enemy unit within LoS. If in range the target unit is automatically hit...".

ChrisCP wrote:

Incorrect as you still need to elect a target and roll to hit it.

Some examples of JotWW targetting from your FAQ.
"Q. Does Jaws of the World Wolf allow the Rune Priest to target specific models within squads? (p37)
A. Yes."

"Q. Does Jaws of the World Wolf require line of sight? Does it ignore terrain that blocks line of sight (i.e., impassable terrain)? (p37)
A. As a psychic shooting attack, Jaws of the World Wolf requires line of sight. The Rune Priest must have line of sight to the first model that the power affects – in effect he is treated as the target model; the power just happens to hit everybody else on its way through!"

Target model, one roll to hit, you must roll to hit with a PSA unless one is told one doesn't have to/automatic hit.

An example of a PSA which does not require a roll to hit is in the ork 'Dex - Zzap pg 37 - it says "Choose an enemy unit within LoS. If in range the target unit is automatically hit...".

Stealth edit!!

Was going to address snping models with Jaws does not mean that you declare a target/slash check range, and thus need to roll a hit. It only means that with my 24" line, I can place it so that the first model in LoS affected is an IC/Mek/special weapon. And you never elect a target. The first model that is in LoS that is affected by the power becomes the target model. You cannot elect a target with JAWS until the 24" line is down along the table and it affects a model withing LoS.

It only reinforces my point that Jaws is a codex exception to the general rules for psychic shooting attacks because the general rules for psychic shooting attacks do not let you normally snipe a model out of a unit.

Again, if you are going to ignore the stipulation that every PSA needs to roll hit, unless we are told we do not need to, or that it hits automatically. Yes, your interpretation works.

If one takes into account the stipulation that every PSA needs to roll to hit - unless we are told we do not need to or that it hits automatically. It's abundantly clear that JotWW must roll to hit. It is equally clear that the Ork PSA Zzap does not need to roll to hit because we are told it hits automatically.

ChrisCP wrote:Again, if you are going to ignore the stipulation that every PSA needs to roll hit, unless we are told we do not need to, or that it hits automatically. Yes, your interpretation works.

If one takes into account the stipulation that every PSA needs to roll to hit - unless we are told we do not need to or that it hits automatically. It's abundantly clear that JotWW must roll to hit. It is equally clear that the Ork PSA Zzap does not need to roll to hit because we are told it hits automatically.

"Hits automatically" is not the standard. I do not have any idea where people keep coming up with that idea.

The standard is that if the codex tells you how to resolve a psychic shooting attack diffrently then the general rules for psychic shooting attakcs (which includes the new FAQ you keep touting), then you follow the directions in the codex on how to resolve said shooting attack. This involves everything regarding the Shooting Sequence as well as the general rules that are specific to psychic shooting attacks.

So you look at the psychic shooting attack, Blood Lance:

1. Do you follow the general rules for LoS or targetting or do you follow the BA codex?
2. Do you follow the general rules for checking range or do you follow the BA codex?
3. Do you follow the general rules for rolling to hit or do you follow the BA codex?
4. Do you follow the general rules for rolling to wound or do you follow the BA codex?
5. Do you follow the general rules for taking saves or do you follow the BA codex?
6. Do you follow the general rules for removing casualties or do you follow the BA codex?

Here is a cheat sheet for you:

1. Codex
2. Codex
3. Codex
4. General
5. General
6. General

If you just want to focus on the specific to hit roll of Blood Lance, read the rule itself;

"Any enemy unit in the lance's path suffers a Strength 8, AP 1 hit with the 'lance' type"

What happens to an enemy unit in the lance's path? They suffer a str 8, AP 1 hit. Plain english as to what happens to them. It isn't that they might suffer a hit or that they have a chance of suffering a hit, they suffer a hit, period.

This is a clear and concise example of a codex exception to the general rules for psychic shooting attacks. You are told that the enemy unit suffers a hit without a to hit roll ever happening. This is precisely what the first paragraph on page 50 explains.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And just so you know, I do not ignore the new faq.

That is the first assumption when I see a psychic shooting attack. It is only ignored if the codex resolves step 3 of the shooting sequence differentlly then the general rules for psychic shooting attacks because that is what I am directed to do by the first paragraph on page 50.

Sorry, mate we're just going to have to disagree. As I said if you ignor the stipulation that PSA, have to roll to hit, then yes your interpretation works.

I have provided rules quotes and examples of a situation where one does not have to roll to hit with a PSA (Zzap Ork codex - look it up) and I've shown how Jaws and Lance do need to roll to hit due to their lack of specific language telling one that they 'hit automatically' or 'doesn't roll to hit'.

Again default position, one must roll to hit with a PSA, unless there is a rule (instruction) to skip this step then one can not.

And again page 50 "counts as firing a ranged weapon" and surprise, to fire a ranged weapon one must "determine if the firing models have hit their target, roll a D6 for" - you are not told to skip step 3 of firing a ranged weapon and the FAQ reiterates this.

I do not understand how you interpretation works with-in the rules, and you haven't been able to provide rules to back up your position, just "I am" "I feel" "That is the first assumption when I" (Why are you making assumptions with rules when they clearly tell you to roll to hit?).

Please, use rules. I have.

Here are rules Chris,

Page 50, Pskers:

"The psychic powers available to our models are not discussed further here, but are described in detail in the Codexes, where you will find complete rules for individual powers. The following general rules explain how psychic powers are employed. Exceptions to these rules are covered in the Codexes"

Now that means that you follow the general rules for psychic powers with the exceptions to those general rules being covered in the codexes.

So with your PSA stipulation being a general rule for psychic shooting attacks, you follow it unless you are given an exception to follow it in a codex instead.

So Blood Lance tells you that any enemy unit in the path of the lance suffers a hit. That is a codex exception to the general PSA stipulation of needing a to hit roll.

You keep touting your Zzapgun and, "automatically hits" examples as the only codex exceptions that can override the general PSA stipulation. In this you are completely wrong and setting your own limitation of what the codex exceptions can be based upon your opinion, not what each codex exception details.

Interestingly enough, I do not think you even know the difference between general rules for psychic shooting attacks and codex exceptions to the general rules for psychic shooting attacks. Case in point being that you give a general rule for firing and determining if models have hit their target, yet even that is subject to change based upon a codex exception.

How about you tackle this?

Do you roll to hit when firing a blast weapon?

You just quoted that to determine if models hit their target they need to roll a d6, yet with blast weapons you do not roll to hit.

What about rolling to hit with template weapons? Do you roll a d6 with those as well?

Barrage?

See, this lack of understanding that not all ranged hits are determined by a roll of d6, tells me you have absolutely no understanding that there are other ways, as detailed in several codexes, for psychic shooting attacks to be resolved without a to hit roll as well.

ChrisCP wrote:Again, if you are going to ignore the stipulation that every PSA needs to roll hit, unless we are told we do not need to, or that it hits automatically. Yes, your interpretation works.

But then by this interpretation, Thunderclap also needs "to hit" roll, because nowhere does it say it doesn't. Yet that doesn't make one iota of sense.

Backfire wrote:

ChrisCP wrote:Again, if you are going to ignore the stipulation that every PSA needs to roll hit, unless we are told we do not need to, or that it hits automatically. Yes, your interpretation works.

But then by this interpretation, Thunderclap also needs "to hit" roll, because nowhere does it say it doesn't. Yet that doesn't make one iota of sense.

Oh look, another codex exception to the general rules for psychic shooting attacks!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Backfire wrote:

ChrisCP wrote:Again, if you are going to ignore the stipulation that every PSA needs to roll hit, unless we are told we do not need to, or that it hits automatically. Yes, your interpretation works.

But then by this interpretation, Thunderclap also needs "to hit" roll, because nowhere does it say it doesn't. Yet that doesn't make one iota of sense.

Oh look, another codex exception to the general rules for psychic shooting attacks!

Chris, reslove step 3 of the Shooting Sequence for Thunderclap for us.