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.

So- in a game last night, I ended up charging a hell cannon with miners and hammerers. The hellcannon had two handlers left- I inflicted 5 wounds, all at the ASL initiative step and three of these randomized on the crew. To be safe, and since the rules didn't seem to say one way or the other, I figured I "lost" the extra wound (i.e. three wounds dealt to two handlers) and only dealt two to the Hellcannon itself.

How would/do you play it?

I think that's right... it's pretty clear that you can't kill anything (unit, character, etc) for more wounds than it actually has, and the only exception I'm aware of is challenges.

You caused 4 wounds 2 handlers 2 cannon. The 3rd handler wound is lost as there wasn't a handler to take it.
On that note i thought only shooting attacks are randomised and in CC the handlers are untouchable, unless the cannon has it's own rules for that.

As far as I am aware you would deal 3 wounds to 2 dwarfs (which die because your str 6 or something crazy and they dont get saves against that then the cannon takes 2 as said.

Hope your opponent and you managed to come to a conclusion without too much of a fight.

As hover said, unless the hellcannon has special rules the handlers are markers only, so you cannot hit them in CC

Wait, what? Doesn't the monster/handler rule randomization work in combat? I have to go through the trouble of hitting and wounding the monster, then randomize to see what I've actually hit, right? Page 72 (or 73).

BRB, p. 73 wrote:When the monster suffers an unsaved wound, roll a D6 - -

In close combat, the handlers can direct their attacks against any enemy in base contact with their monster - -

Wounds are randomised just the same, be they from shooting, terrain, close combat or whatever.

Only reference to close combat deals with what the handlers can hit in cc.

"...so we ignore them for most gaming purposes, treating the monster itself as the extent of the unit" - so while you randomise, you can only hit with models in base with the monster.

Hover and me are probably gettig mixed up with the hydra, whcih has an additional rule whereby handlers cant get hurt at all...

I'm doing badly today, apparently, sorry for the confusion!

Well derp i started a chain of fail that turned out to be contaigous

All attacks from any form ( shooting, combat etc) are directed against the monster then after saves you roll to see whether the monster or handlers suffer casualties. Hydra is different that you don't make this final roll so against hydra you just treat it like a normal monster but gains a few extra attacks plus better characteristics

Right- so my original question is pretty much this:

When striking at the same initiative, can you "overkill" the handlers? That is, if three wounds randomize on to two remaining handlers, that third wound is just wasted rather than going back on the monster, correct?

You have no ability to overkill, so excess wounds are lost