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So, over in the general discussions forum is a "Beat this Unit!" thread. A unit was posted to beat mine and I test rolled it, test rolls showed favor to my unit with only an IC survivng.

Now, my question: if an IC is part of a unit during an assault, then at the end is the only one left and s/he manages to flee the melee, is he able to rally as he/she is now on his own? Or is he/she restricted from rallying as they were part of a unit that suffered more than 50% casualties?

You do not count ICs for the purposes of determining if a unit is below half strength or not

See 40k General FAQ, Characters section

Q: How do Independent Characters that have joined a
squad effect working out if a squad is below half
strength or not? (p48)
A: Independent Characters are not counted when
working out if a squad is below half strength or not.
The exception to this is if an Independent Character is
with a Retinue (in which case he is counted when
working out if the squad is below half strength).

Note that the exception is largely irrelevant at this point as I don't think any retinues exist anymore :3

Ah, thank you. I wasn't aware that that was in the FAQ. Thanks very much for that bit of info.

Or a better way to make a ruling on this matter.......an IC reverts to IC status once the turn is over and auto rallies their next player turn, as long as there's no enemy within 6 at the end of the movement phase.

KGatch113 wrote:... and auto rallies their next player turn,

It's not automatic. They have the ability to rally, since they are a unit of 1... but they have to roll for it like everyone else unless they have a special rule (such as ATSKNF) that lets them rally automatically.

Thank you very much for this post. I have been thinking about similar questions and the responses here have triggered additional questions for me.

So based on the original scenario posted by the OP, when the IC is the sole survivor, they have the potential to regroup during future movement phases since the IC is a Unit of 1 and is affectively at full strength. That is awesome!

But if an IC and a few members of the unit the IC is attached to survive but the unit is under 50% (not counting the IC), then none of them can regroup because the unit cant recheck when below 50% and the IC can't leave a unit that is falling back. Not so awesome.

So when I think about this, as an opponent killing a IC and it's unit, it almost sounds like it could be a detriment to finish off a unit that is with an IC since they won't ever be able to regroup after failing a morale check (not considering any special rules circumventing this). Also if it is my IC in a unit, I'd almost prefer that the unit gets finished off so that the IC has the ability to regroup if a morale check is failed and the IC falls back. Do I have this right? Granted, IC usually have high leadership, but if it is a lost CC and the unit takes a negative modifier on the check, that can easily result in a failed check even on a IC's high leadership value.

Based on the FAQ that was posted in this thread, the IC is not counted when working out half strength of the unit. What about when calculating 25% loss in a phase? Does the IC count then?

Also, an Ork specific question but on a similar note: What about mob rule? The codex doesn't specifically address the impacts of IC joining a unit. Does a unit of 10 orks joined by an IC (both the boyz and IC have the mob rule special rule) count as a Ld 11? I am assume this is a yes and the IC is only not counted in the 50% and 25% ?

Thanks in advance.

They have mob rule, so for the purposes of that the IC counts - however they are Ld10, NOT 11. They cannot go to 11, ever

Ah yeah, sorry about that. At mob size of 11 they go fearless but still Ld 10. Gotcha.

Any thoughts on if the IC counts towards the unit size when calculating 25% loss in a phase?

Edit: Or any thoughts about the advantage of having the unit get completely killed off seems bass akwards since it helps your IC regroup in the future?

The only stat that can ever go above ten is AV on vehicles.

As for your question, I'm honestly not sure. Given that it's in the same area of thinking as the FAQ entry above, I'd say no, but that is just how I'd rule it and not RAW.

edit:

Sidenote: so does completely killing a unit in assault only to get shot at in your opponents next shooting phase, as opposed to being safe if they were locked in combat with even one model.

nosferatu1001 wrote: They cannot go to 11, ever

I'm sorry, I tried to hold back but I just can't resist...

"The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven." Nigel Tufnel

I set em up, you knock em down

nosferatu1001 wrote:I set em up, you knock em down

I agree with wanderingfox that the IC probably doesn't count towards the unit size when figuring if the 25% casualty limit is triggered since it is a very similar issue as the 50% unit size that was addressed in the FAQ. It would be nice to get a bit more consensus or if anyone knows of true RAW that would govern the situation.

Edit: I'm also still struggling with the concept that in some circumstances I could be rooting for my unit's complete demise in order to forcibly separate an IC from that unit and avoid failing a Ld test from which the IC and survivors would not be able to regroup.