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Coming from the monolith /ds thread I have come to an interesting question. What is normal movement?

If we assume it is only the movement allowed in the basic movement section for a vehicle on page 71, what rules can be applied to this and still allow it to be a normal move? At what point do changes to this movement, via special rules, make it not normal?

I look at the wording normal movement and see a vague reference to movement. I then look at normal and therefor have to look at the definition of normal where things get tricky. When I look at normal I see several definitions but none of them clarify at what point we have to consider what level at which to apply normal to movement. If we assume it is only the up tp 12" with turns as described at what point does changing that make it not normal? If we look at each model and consider it's movement's mode as it's normal movement then we end up in a strange place.

For instance is a RPJ changing a normal move distance to 7"/13" altering it enough to make it a non-normal move? If we assume that it continues to be a normal move that how much of a change do we need for it not to be "normal"? A Monolith can only move up to Combat Speed. so 6", is this still a normal move? A skimmer can ignore terrain as well as models in it's path, is this still normal? If all of these things are normal then at what point do we stop using the term normal to describe the movement? If a model has the ability to Deep Strike each turn is that it's normal move? If we assume that we can look at a model and "change" it's normal move so that the special rules can be used at what point do we draw the line at it not being Normal.

I have fell back on looking at normal as defined and those definitions can apply to all forms of movement in this game.

Normal is how a model "normally" moves. So for an infantry model, this would be 6". For jump infantry, it would be 12" etc.
Ask yourself this:
Can this model do this in the movement phase all the time assuming no other restrictions?
If yes, then it's normal movement. I'm pretty sure this question was answered on the DS thread too, so not sure what you're trying to achieve here?

He's trying to figure out what normal means; and I'm pretty sure it wasn't clarified with actual rules in the DS thread.

Tactical_Genius wrote:
Normal is how a model "normally" moves

A given model has several movement modes available to them depending upon the circumstance.

Starting with a basic squad of marines. If in open terrain, it moves 6". When in difficult, they move the highest of 2D6. Looking at just that we could define Normal as being movement not impacted by other rules; e.g. Difficult Terrain.

However, if that's the case what about skimmers? By being a skimmer it's "normal" movement rules allow it to essentially ignore almost all of the terrain rules.

This leads to the question of: Is "normal" therefore defined by the unit type? The follow up being, for those units with multiple movement modes (vehicles), are each of the speeds available to be considered "normal"? There are certainly cases where not all speeds are available or that they are further restricted. Immobilized is one example especially in relation to a drop pod that counts as having moved it's first turn but from that point on is to be considered immobilized... In this case the unit type is Vehicle which normally grants certain movement; however it is limited due to special rules.

There are other cases where units have special rules which change their movement (Red Paint Job). RPJ is a special rule that extends movement for that specific model.

All of which means that "normal" is not just defined by the unit type, but also by the special rules of that particular model. So the rabbit hole gets deeper. There are certainly units in the game, (teleporting cryptek), that have the ability to DS on every single game turn.

Does this mean DS is therefore considered a normal move for that unit? And if it is, what separates a special rule granting multiple DS from the DS rule allowing a single one from reserves in relation to "normal"?

Tactical_Genius wrote:
Can this model do this in the movement phase all the time assuming no other restrictions?

That's a good question: Here's another one: can you point to any rules support (or even just show the logic trail) for making that question a requirement of defining normal movement?

Thank you clively that was the basics of why I bring this forward.

"Normal" is a relative term. In almost all rules contexts, it means nothing more than "without further changes from this particular rule". It's not a license to add imaginary restrictions to what something could *ahem* normally do.

Pyrian wrote:
"Normal" is a relative term. In almost all rules contexts, it means nothing more than "without further changes from this particular rule". It's not a license to add imaginary restrictions to what something could *ahem* normally do.

Which brings you back to the question, originally asked " what is normal movement, RAW" Consider the Orc battle wagon, normal movement is 6/12. If you buy it a RPJ it can now 7/13, is that still normal movement since it is always active, or is it non-normal movement since it now has a special rule applied tot he base vehicle movement rule?

Movement-

Normal moves are outlined by the basic movement rules which include the movement rules outlined under the unit type per the movement section.
"Vehicles, Jump Pack units, Bikes and certain other units move in different ways to represent their greater mobility, and these will be discussed in full detail later on" page 10 BRB

Correlate this with Basic vs. Advanced and you get a pretty good idea what types of moves are normal and what is not.
"Basic rules apply to all the models in the game, unless specifically stated otherwise. They include the rules for movement, shooting and close combat as well as the rules for morale ... The advanced rules that apply to a unit are indicated in the entry for the unit in their relevant Warhammer 40,000 codex."

Modifiers-

Some SRs will modify things about the 'normal' movement of a model but in a permissive rule set that does not change the type of movement unless otherwise stated.



Of course this is based on the assumption that basic = normal.