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Can swooping hawks elect to skyleap on the turn after they go to ground?

-mark

Skyleap doesn't mention this as one of the listed restrictions on who can't. Gone to Ground units cannot move, but since Skyleap doesn't have to do with Moving....

I'd say yes!

IMO, seems like an oversight. But legal.

A bit abstract here, but I would say no. Units that are Pinned cannot Skyleap. Being Pinned means the unit has GTG.

Fragile wrote:
A bit abstract here, but I would say no. Units that are Pinned cannot Skyleap. Being Pinned means the unit has GTG.

Hmmm...all this is true....
But Pinning is involuntary G2G. That might make a difference?

I can see the reasoning Fragile has offered. But strictly RAW, yes, they may skyleap as they are not locked in combat, pinned, or carrying an objective. Being pinned is not the same as going to ground, although they do have the same end result. If they were my hawks, I wouldn't mind at all if my opponent wanted to play it so they cannot, so long as it was agreed beforehand. If it came up randomly in a battle without prior discussion, I would have to go with the strict RAW.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
To address the pinning vs going to ground issue:

Nowhere in the "go to ground" text does it say that the unit is pinned. Simply because the pinning special rule invokes the "go to ground" action on a failed Ld test does not mean they are mutually inclusive. It is a one way chain of effects.

or: Units that are pinned go to ground, but units that go to ground are not necessarily pinned.

Why would pinning be prohibited, instead of prohibiting G2G, unless they meant for units that have G2G voluntarily to be able to Skyleap? Seems like RaW and RaI is that this is allowed.

Pyrian wrote:
Why would pinning be prohibited, instead of prohibiting G2G, unless they meant for units that have G2G voluntarily to be able to Skyleap? Seems like RaW and RaI is that this is allowed.

Probably because there is no difference. Define what being "Pinned" is. Other than being forced to G2G, there is nothing more to being pinned. If a unit has G2G, then it does not take pinning tests. So where is the difference. One is voluntary, the other is forced, but the result is the same.

Fragile wrote:
Probably because there is no difference.

Nonsense. If there's no difference, it is only because there is no such thing as being "pinned".

Fragile wrote:
Define what being "Pinned" is.

If there is such a thing as being "pinned", and the existence of the reference suggests that there is, then it can only mean a unit which is currently subject to the effects of pinning. (This was actually confirmed by a FAQ in 5th edition, but that's out of date now.)

Fragile wrote:
So where is the difference.

The difference is that you absolutely cannot claim that a unit which voluntarily went to ground is "pinned", but you could reasonably make a statement to that effect regarding a unit which went to ground by failing a pin check. If we quibble about the latter, the only effect is that a unit is NEVER pinned, as such a state is not defined in the rules.

EDIT: Here's the FAQ entry. It's not current, though, so take it for what it's worth.

Q: If I find a reference to a unit that is ‘pinned’, does it
mean a unit that has gone to ground? (p24)
A: Yes, ‘pinned’ is simply a short way of saying ‘gone to
ground by failing a pinning test’.

Ask your self this. Can you move while gtg?

Skyleap is not technically a form of movement. The rule simply says "remove the unit from the board". If removing things from the board were movement, then pinned/G2G units would be immortal. Can't remove casualties, because they're not allowed to move!
Also, G2G does not prevent wargear or special rules from being used. You can even cast psychic powers while gone to ground.

That said, I can see the (completely logical) argument of why they SHOULDN'T be allowed to skyleap, which is why I mentioned earlier that I would be happy to play it either way if discussed prior to the game.

Also:

The term "Pinned" means you have failed the leadership test forced by taking a casualty from a weapon with the "pinning" special rule. Once you have failed that test and are "pinned" you are forced to evoke the completely separate action called "Go To Ground".

If the two were the same then that would mean G2G should require a failed leadership test. Which in turn would mean that every weapon in the game has the pinning special rule. This is clearly not the case.

A unit that is "pinned" is under the influence of a weapon's special rule.
A unit that has gone to ground is not.

As the FAQ Says pinned is going to ground Via pinning.

They can skyleap after voluntarily going to ground as they were not pinned.