So... Harlequins

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.

**Nilok**

Happyjew wrote:
Nilok, per the rules I choose to use the Embrace. Please show permission to benefit from the Kiss's special rules when making an attack.

Please note that the "wwhen a model equipped with a harlequins kiss makes its close combat attacks" is not permission.

Ghaz wrote:

Because its still the ability of the weapon, and you would be trying to "... mix and match the abilities of several different Melee weapons..." which is explicitly forbidden by the rules, nor is there a rule letting you use the ability of a weapon just by being 'equipped' with it. The only rule we have for the special abilities of Melee weapons is by using that weapon to attack.

Then I would saw RAW is broken as some of the rules can only trigger after you have selected a weapon and thus fail to work at all.
Hammer of Wrath - "If a model with this special rule ends its charge move in base or hull contact with an enemy model," (end of the charge move)
More Than One Weapon - "If a model has more than one Melee weapon, he must choose which one to attack with when he comes to strike blows" (start of the fight sub-phase)

HIWPI would be that if the rule say you only need to be equipped with it to benefit from that specific special rule, it still works.

Time to send more FAQs to GW because they gutted their editors.

**Ghaz**

Except again, where does the rulebook ever say anything about using the abilities of an 'equipped' weapon? Where do we find in the rules what it means by being 'equipped' with a weapon versus 'attacking' with a weapon? What you're trying to do is akin to trying to shoot a bolter because you have the weapon profile but not the rules for the Shooting phase.

**Trystis**

Again the rule doesn't state that it has to be explicit, that something you have added, just that if there is conflict the codex wins.

There is obviously conflict here.

"when a model equipped with a harlequin's kiss makes it close combat attacks one of them will be a kiss of death attack".

conflicts with

"If a model has more than one Melee weapon, he must choose which one to attack with when he comes to strike blows – he cannot mix and match the abilities of several different Melee weapons."

Because based in the wording for the kiss it only has to equipped in order for it to turn on the model's close combat attack into a kiss of death.

It gives a special rule (kiss of death) to the model when in close combat regardless of whether it's the weapon chosen, the rule is based solely on the kiss being present. It doesn't say that it must be chosen or used, it says that one of the models close combat attacks will be special.

**megatrons2nd**

Not to mention the fact that the way it is worded, a model with the Kiss and any other weapon choices could NEVER use the other weapons profile as it says "will be" not "can be", or "when making attacks with this weapon".

**Nilok**

Ghaz wrote:
Except again, where does the rulebook ever say anything about using the abilities of an 'equipped' weapon? Where do we find in the rules what it means by being 'equipped' with a weapon versus 'attacking' with a weapon? What you're trying to do is akin to trying to shoot a bolter because you have the weapon profile but not the rules for the Shooting phase.

You find the rules in the rule itself. I can only find "equipped" in a very few places and is used very restrictively.
Blacksun Filter - "A vehicle equipped with a blacksun filter has the Night Vision special rule."
In the Tau Codex, most of the other rules and the Infantry version of the Blacksun Filter say 'with a' instead of 'equipped', "A model with a blacksun filter has the Night Vision special rule..."

As I have said however, if you are arguing hard RAW at this point, you are saying that the Harlequin's Embrace does nothing since you select your weapon after you are already in base to base, after Hammer of Wraith can been triggered.

**Happyjew**

Actually Nilok, the argument being made is outside of striking blows (in other words choosing a melee weapon to fight with, and rolling to hit and to wound with it), a model benefits from all gear that it is equipped with. So a model with a Harlequin's Embrace and Harlequin's Kiss will have the Hammer of Wrath special rule until such a time as you get to it's Initiative step and choose to use the Kiss. Then while making those attacks, the model no longer has the Hammer of Wrath special rule. Once the model is done attacking, it again has HoW.

Or at least that is how I'm interpreting it.

**Trystis**

If you are arguing the rules for the word equipped then you are honestly stretching. They don't define the word in the rule book, probably because it's common usage.

There are some more examples though, like with grenades. If a models is equipped with assault grenades, or defensive grenades they gain x benefit. Based off of context it seems to indicate that the model "has" that item.

A space marine is equipped with a Bolter, a bolt pistol, frag and Krak grenades and so on...

**Nilok**

Happyjew wrote:
Actually Nilok, the argument being made is outside of striking blows (in other words choosing a melee weapon to fight with, and rolling to hit and to wound with it), a model benefits from all gear that it is equipped with. So a model with a Harlequin's Embrace and Harlequin's Kiss will have the Hammer of Wrath special rule until such a time as you get to it's Initiative step and choose to use the Kiss. Then while making those attacks, the model no longer has the Hammer of Wrath special rule. Once the model is done attacking, it again has HoW.

Or at least that is how I'm interpreting it.

I find that definition to be lacking since it's saying that once the Fight Sub-Phase comes around, the model is no longer equipped with the weapon.

**Trystis**

A model always has all of his equipment. Normally he would have to choose between his equipped melee weapons, but the rules for the kiss and embrace specify that they just have to be equipped.

**blaktoof**

There is no core rule that you cannot use special rules form equipped items.

there is a core rule stating that you strike using the abilities of the weapon you choose to strike with.

which is fine.

The rules for the kiss/embrace are not tied to striking with the weapon as per the RAW unlike many weapons in the game. Therefore you can strike with a weapon, and get its chosen abilities which are required to be used when you strike with the weapon. You also would benefit from the rules for caress/kiss as they state they are given to the model when it attacks, not when attacking with the weapon as per shred/rend/etc/etc/etc. There is no conflict with choosing a weapon other than the kiss/embrace.

**Nilok**

blaktoof wrote:
There is no core rule that you cannot use special rules form equipped items.

there is a core rule stating that you strike using the abilities of the weapon you choose to strike with.

which is fine.

The rules for the kiss/embrace are not tied to striking with the weapon as per the RAW unlike many weapons in the game. Therefore you can strike with a weapon, and get its chosen abilities which are required to be used when you strike with the weapon. You also would benefit from the rules for caress/kiss as they state they are given to the model when it attacks, not when attacking with the weapon as per shred/rend/etc/etc/etc. There is no conflict with choosing a weapon other than the kiss/caress.

You are incorrect on the Caress since that is the only weapon of the three that requires that you hit with it to trigger its special rule. That is the important thing though, the special rules for the other two don't get triggered by using them, just by having them.
Caress of Death - "Each To Hit roll of a 6 made by a weapon with this special rule..."

**blaktoof**

i mistyped because sleepy, meant embrace not caress. edited to show clarification.

**ConanMan**

To be honest my 2 pence is that is the Harlequin Kiss is a buff for the model.. not really part of anything else and doesn't need to be the close combat weapon.. the reason I say this is the conspicous wording.. there are hundreds of close combat weapons with all sorts or wording but i've never seen wording like that.. it shows clarity and emphasis on distinction... also you are wrong about the spear of twlilight curse being able to be opted out (of course it can't be) also this doubles thr flaw in the argument: models ALWAYS get their statline strength / attacks and they don't need to use a weapon.. so there *was* a 4th option you say "grenades / eye or spear".. I say "grenades / eye / spear or base model stats".. and none of them get you out of the curse. Sorry. Simply garbage.

**Bhazakhain**

Agree. If you have a kiss and caress and you choose to attack with the caress then by not separating off one dice for the kiss of death you are breaking the rules. There is a reason why the rules for the kiss and caress don't say 'attacks made by this weapon......'.

Anyway, hope GW reply to my email. Love that people are arguing over one S6 AP2 attack.

**Kriswall**

Bhazakhain wrote:
Agree. If you have a kiss and caress and you choose to attack with the caress then by not separating off one dice for the kiss of death you are breaking the rules. There is a reason why the rules for the kiss and caress don't say 'attacks made by this weapon......'.

Anyway, hope GW reply to my email. Love that people are arguing over one S6 AP2 attack.

You are actually breaking the rules by mixing and matching abilities from different weapons. There is no conflict here. The BRB tells us we can't attack with one weapon and use abilities from another. The Kiss of Death is clearly an ability from another weapon. Since the Kiss of Death doesn't EXPLICITLY say that it works with other weapons, we have to assume it doesn't. Assuming it works with other weapons is adding an implied permission to override the BRB's restriction.

Implied permission = not actually a rule. It's HYWPI. Which is fine. Just mark it as such.

To be honest, this makes perfect RAI sense to me. The Kiss works by basically punching your opponent and activating the gun thing attached to your fist. If you're not attacking with the Kiss, but instead the Caress, you shouldn't get this ability.

**blaktoof**

the BRB tells us that you cannot get the benefits of a weapon striking if you are not striking with it.

the kiss/embrace unlike most weapons do not require the model to be striking with the weapon to get the effect, they require the model to be striking at all with any weapon.

is the model striking in assault?

Is the model equipped with this item?

if the answer is yes regardless of what it is striking with it gets kiss of death.

It gives the model a special rule, unlike most weapons it does not give special rules when striking with the weapon.

as such there is no conflict, you strike with a caress, and you are striking in assault and equpped with a kiss so you get 1 kiss of death attack from your total attacks.

claiming this does not work is the same as saying a model gets the benefit of no equipped items when striking in assault.

**Kriswall**

blaktoof wrote:
the BRB tells us that you cannot get the benefits of a weapon striking if you are not striking with it.

the kiss/embrace unlike most weapons do not require the model to be striking with the weapon to get the effect, they require the model to be striking at all with any weapon.

is the model striking in assault?

Is the model equipped with this item?

if the answer is yes regardless of what it is striking with it gets kiss of death.

It gives the model a special rule, unlike most weapons it does not give special rules when striking with the weapon.

as such there is no conflict, you strike with a caress, and you are striking in assault and equpped with a kiss so you get 1 kiss of death attack from your total attacks.

claiming this does not work is the same as saying a model gets the benefit of no equipped items when striking in assault.

No one is claiming a model "gets the benefit of no equipped items when striking in assault". I'm not claiming anything in fact. I'm citing rules from the BRB that state that a model can't mix and match abilities from multiple weapons when it comes time to strike blows. As there is no restriction on other non-melee weapon pieces of wargear, they should work just fine.

**megatrons2nd**

Kriswall wrote:
blaktoof wrote:
the BRB tells us that you cannot get the benefits of a weapon striking if you are not striking with it.

the kiss/embrace unlike most weapons do not require the model to be striking with the weapon to get the effect, they require the model to be striking at all with any weapon.

is the model striking in assault?

Is the model equipped with this item?

if the answer is yes regardless of what it is striking with it gets kiss of death.

It gives the model a special rule, unlike most weapons it does not give special rules when striking with the weapon.

as such there is no conflict, you strike with a caress, and you are striking in assault and equpped with a kiss so you get 1 kiss of death attack from your total attacks.

claiming this does not work is the same as saying a model gets the benefit of no equipped items when striking in assault.

No one is claiming a model "gets the benefit of no equipped items when striking in assault". I'm not claiming anything in fact. I'm citing rules from the BRB that state that a model can't mix and match abilities from multiple weapons when it comes time to strike blows. As there is no restriction on other non-melee weapon pieces of wargear, they should work just fine.

To be fair, you are telling us that the Solitaire can't use the Caress....EVER. Read the Kiss of Death rule. Does it give you a choice to NOT use the Kiss of Death attack? If you have the Harlequin's Kiss, you effectively have no other weapon, so why add it to the model if it can't use it?

**Kriswall**

megatrons2nd wrote:
Kriswall wrote:
blaktoof wrote:
the BRB tells us that you cannot get the benefits of a weapon striking if you are not striking with it.

the kiss/embrace unlike most weapons do not require the model to be striking with the weapon to get the effect, they require the model to be striking at all with any weapon.

is the model striking in assault?

Is the model equipped with this item?

if the answer is yes regardless of what it is striking with it gets kiss of death.

It gives the model a special rule, unlike most weapons it does not give special rules when striking with the weapon.

as such there is no conflict, you strike with a caress, and you are striking in assault and equpped with a kiss so you get 1 kiss of death attack from your total attacks.

claiming this does not work is the same as saying a model gets the benefit of no equipped items when striking in assault.

No one is claiming a model "gets the benefit of no equipped items when striking in assault". I'm not claiming anything in fact. I'm citing rules from the BRB that state that a model can't mix and match abilities from multiple weapons when it comes time to strike blows. As there is no restriction on other non-melee weapon pieces of wargear, they should work just fine.

To be fair, you are telling us that the Solitaire can't use the Caress....EVER. Read the Kiss of Death rule. Does it give you a choice to NOT use the Kiss of Death attack? If you have the Harlequin's Kiss, you effectively have no other weapon, so why add it to the model if it can't use it?

I don't understand what you're getting at. If a model has more than one melee weapon, it can decide which weapon to attack with. If the Solitaire has both a Caress and a Kiss, he can choose to attack with the Caress and thus would ignore all abilities of the Kiss as he's explicitly not allowed to mix and match abilities from multiple melee weapons when it comes time to strike blows.

**megatrons2nd**

Kriswall wrote:
megatrons2nd wrote:
Kriswall wrote:
blaktoof wrote:
the BRB tells us that you cannot get the benefits of a weapon striking if you are not striking with it.

the kiss/embrace unlike most weapons do not require the model to be striking with the weapon to get the effect, they require the model to be striking at all with any weapon.

is the model striking in assault?

Is the model equipped with this item?

if the answer is yes regardless of what it is striking with it gets kiss of death.

It gives the model a special rule, unlike most weapons it does not give special rules when striking with the weapon.

as such there is no conflict, you strike with a caress, and you are striking in assault and equpped with a kiss so you get 1 kiss of death attack from your total attacks.

claiming this does not work is the same as saying a model gets the benefit of no equipped items when striking in assault.

No one is claiming a model "gets the benefit of no equipped items when striking in assault". I'm not claiming anything in fact. I'm citing rules from the BRB that state that a model can't mix and match abilities from multiple weapons when it comes time to strike blows. As there is no restriction on other non-melee weapon pieces of wargear, they should work just fine.

To be fair, you are telling us that the Solitaire can't use the Caress....EVER. Read the Kiss of Death rule. Does it give you a choice to NOT use the Kiss of Death attack? If you have the Harlequin's Kiss, you effectively have no other weapon, so why add it to the model if it can't use it?

I don't understand what you're getting at. If a model has more than one melee weapon, it can decide which weapon to attack with. If the Solitaire has both a Caress and a Kiss, he can choose to attack with the Caress and thus would ignore all abilities of the Kiss as he's explicitly not allowed to mix and match abilities from multiple melee weapons when it comes time to strike blows.

The Harlequins kiss very clearly, and explicitly states: "When a model equipped with a Harlequins Kiss makes its close combat attacks, one of its attacks will be a Kiss of Death Attack"

No option, no "when making attacks with this weapon" no "When using this weapon to strike blows", it doesn't even say "may", nothing. You must use this weapon. No choice in the matter, if you have a Harlequins Kiss you WILL be using it.

**Kriswall**

megatrons2nd wrote:
Kriswall wrote:
megatrons2nd wrote:
Kriswall wrote:
blaktoof wrote:
the BRB tells us that you cannot get the benefits of a weapon striking if you are not striking with it.

the kiss/embrace unlike most weapons do not require the model to be striking with the weapon to get the effect, they require the model to be striking at all with any weapon.

is the model striking in assault?

Is the model equipped with this item?

if the answer is yes regardless of what it is striking with it gets kiss of death.

It gives the model a special rule, unlike most weapons it does not give special rules when striking with the weapon.

as such there is no conflict, you strike with a caress, and you are striking in assault and equpped with a kiss so you get 1 kiss of death attack from your total attacks.

claiming this does not work is the same as saying a model gets the benefit of no equipped items when striking in assault.

No one is claiming a model "gets the benefit of no equipped items when striking in assault". I'm not claiming anything in fact. I'm citing rules from the BRB that state that a model can't mix and match abilities from multiple weapons when it comes time to strike blows. As there is no restriction on other non-melee weapon pieces of wargear, they should work just fine.

To be fair, you are telling us that the Solitaire can't use the Caress....EVER. Read the Kiss of Death rule. Does it give you a choice to NOT use the Kiss of Death attack? If you have the Harlequin's Kiss, you effectively have no other weapon, so why add it to the model if it can't use it?

I don't understand what you're getting at. If a model has more than one melee weapon, it can decide which weapon to attack with. If the Solitaire has both a Caress and a Kiss, he can choose to attack with the Caress and thus would ignore all abilities of the Kiss as he's explicitly not allowed to mix and match abilities from multiple melee weapons when it comes time to strike blows.

The Harlequins kiss very clearly, and explicitly states: "When a model equipped with a Harlequins Kiss makes its close combat attacks, one of its attacks will be a Kiss of Death Attack"

No option, no "when making attacks with this weapon" no "When using this weapon to strike blows" nothing. You must use this weapon. No choice in the matter, if you have a Harlequins Kiss you WILL be using it.

I understand what you're saying. The piece that you're either not understanding or purposefully ignoring, is that it doesn't matter what the ability does. You're not allowed to use it per the BRB if you aren't attacking with that weapon. It makes literally NO difference what the rule says. The BRB effectively tells you that if you choose to attack with weapon A, you ignore ALL abilities of other weapons. WHERE is your permission to use the ability? You would literally need something in the Kiss of Death special rule text saying "This ability works even when not attacking with this weapon." That wording is NOT there, so the restriction in the BRB stands.

If you feel otherwise, point me to the EXPLICIT permission allowing me to ignore the BRB restriction on using abilities from multiple weapons when attacking. Implied permissions don't count. Has to be in writing to be a rule.

**megatrons2nd**

I'm not missing it. Every other weapon with an ability gives you a phrase along the lines of "when making attacks with this weapon" or similar. The Kiss does not give the option to choose a different weapon. This is the written rule for this weapon, choosing to use the Caress is breaking the rule for the kiss. Thus the Caress is pointless on a model with a Kiss.

**blaktoof**

Kriswall wrote:
blaktoof wrote:
the BRB tells us that you cannot get the benefits of a weapon striking if you are not striking with it.

the kiss/embrace unlike most weapons do not require the model to be striking with the weapon to get the effect, they require the model to be striking at all with any weapon.

is the model striking in assault?

Is the model equipped with this item?

if the answer is yes regardless of what it is striking with it gets kiss of death.

It gives the model a special rule, unlike most weapons it does not give special rules when striking with the weapon.

as such there is no conflict, you strike with a caress, and you are striking in assault and equpped with a kiss so you get 1 kiss of death attack from your total attacks.

claiming this does not work is the same as saying a model gets the benefit of no equipped items when striking in assault.

No one is claiming a model "gets the benefit of no equipped items when striking in assault". I'm not claiming anything in fact. I'm citing rules from the BRB that state that a model can't mix and match abilities from multiple weapons when it comes time to strike blows. As there is no restriction on other non-melee weapon pieces of wargear, they should work just fine.

You are claiming that a model only benefits from equipped items it is striking with, not any other equipped item.
I think you are also not properly quoting the rule.

If a model has more than one Melee weapon, he must choose which one to attack with when he comes to strike blows – he cannot mix and match the abilities of several different Melee weapons.

The rule is that the model can only choose to strike with one melee weapon, a model cannot choose to strike with more than one melee weapon. The 'flavor text' is this prevents mixing and matching of several abilities that require you to strike with a weapon in melee.

Kiss/Embrace do not require you to strike with them as melee weapons to have an effect.

You are still obeying the rule when you choose to strike with a weapon, and follow the rules for kiss/embrace which are not tied to striking with a melee weapon at all and as such their rules have nothing to do with the rule you are not fully quoting above.

**Kriswall**

So when you strike with the caress and use the ability of the kiss, you're not mixing and matching abilities? Please explain how this works.

**Trystis**

Kriswall wrote:
blaktoof wrote:
I think there is a valid RAW discussion that Harlequins kiss functions even if it is not the chosen weapon.

normally weapon rules state, and this is from harlequins caress:

"each to hit roll with a weapon that has this special rule.."

so the ability is coming from using the weapon.

in the case of harlequins kiss the wording is:

"when a model equipped with a harlequins kiss makes its close combat attacks, one of it its attacks will be a kiss of death attack"

The rules do not require the weapon the be used as a chosen weapon, just that the model is equipped. Further it does not state when making attacks with this weapon, or a weapon with the harlequins kiss rule, or anything of that nature. It states when the model makes its attacks. The model could attack with two rocks it found in its boots while dancing around, and will still gain the harlequins kiss attack if it is equipped with an item that has that rule the way it is worded.

this is a specific rule that changes the normal core rule of weapons of more than one type, in that it explicitly specifies the attacks come from the model not the weapon, and the model has to only be equipped with the item, there is no requirement that it is used as the melee weapon in the assault phase. In fact as it states the models attacks, and not the weapons attacks it is telling the reader that the special rule is not based on choosing the weapon.

so RAW harlequins kiss works regardless of if it is the chosen weapon, because it is based off the models attacks. It is not a house rule, but the actual rules as written as the rules for the kiss do not require you to choose it as the weapon you strike with to get the special bonus as it is worded in its own specific rules.

if you look at things like concussive, shred, armourbane, it specifies it comes from taking hits from a weapon, not a model.

as such it is not mixing and matching abilities from weapons, the item grants the model an ability it is not an affect from the weapon being chosen in assault to strike with.

Blaktoof, you might want to go back and read through the entire thread Ghaz posted a link to. The issue with your interpretation is that regardless of how the Harlequin's Kiss rules are written, you're not allowed to use them when a model "comes to strike blows" (the loosest interpretation of which would have to include making To Hit rolls) if that model is choosing to attack with a different Melee weapon. There is no permission in the Harlequin's Kiss rules to overturn this restriction. For the rule to be usable, the model has to be attacking with the Harlequin's Kiss. Had GW wanted you to be able to use the Kiss of Death when attacking with a different Melee weapon, they could simply have made it literally any other piece of non-Melee weapon wargear.

My take is you use the Caress when you want a chance at multiple auto wounds at AP2. You use the Kiss when you want at least one guaranteed strike at AP2 and don't really care about the rest of your hits being able to get through armour. Caress versus a Tactical Squad. Kiss versus a Captain with one wound left.

There is no need to specifically grant permission because the phrasing of the Kiss already provides it. They don't need to change the type of item because its rules is clear. The codex rule says that the kiss needs only be equipped in order for one of the models close combat attacks to be special, not be used. The codex rule trumps the rule book. Any other interpretation requires you to ignore the rule phrasing and is therefore invalid.

**Bhazakhain**

Ok put it this way. Why does the wording for kiss and embrace not say 'attacks with this weapon...'?. Don't say you assume it's because they forgot to write it the same way as they have for other codices because that's an assumption and we are talking about rules here. It is much easier for GW to use consistent wording. It saves time. Why would they not here? Why is this codex special?!

My question to you is why is the wording different between the caress in one case and the kiss and embrace in the other case.

**megatrons2nd**

A model equipped with the Harlequins Embrace has the Hammer of wrath special rule.

It gives the model the rule simply by having it.

I don't think this disagreement in the way the rules are written if the Kiss said a model equipped with a Harlequins Kiss has the Kiss of death rule.

It is, sadly, tied to the weapon. It is a poorly written rule that only allows a model to attack with the Kiss due to its wording.

It was probably intended to allow for that single attack, in addition to the other weapon, but as written you can only use the special rules for the Kiss when making attacks with this model.

Before anyone says I am Breaking a rule with this interpretation. I am applying both the core rulebooks use a single weapons ability, and the Harlequins Kiss abilities Will be S6 AP2 in equal measure. As both the core rules and the Kiss' rules timing is when the model makes its attacks.

**Bhazakhain**

The kiss also says 'equipped'. It's only the caress that mentions it applied to attacks made with that weapon.

**megatrons2nd**

Bhazakhain wrote:
The kiss also says 'equipped'. It's only the caress that mentions it applied to attacks made with that weapon.

Yes, it says equipped, but it does not give the model the kiss of death rule. It says "When a model equipped with a Harlequins Kiss makes its close combat attacks, one of its attacks will be a kiss of death attack". Oddly enough, the same time you would choose a weapon is preempted by being forced to make a kiss of death attack. The rule is still tied to the weapon, at least for now. The weapon is what has the rule, and the rule does not give a rule to the model, unlike the embrace that says "a model equipped with a Harlequins Embrace has the Hammer of wrath special rule."

I believe the kiss was intended to work with other weapons. But RAW it only allows for a single Kiss of Death attack, and no other weapons usage.

**blaktoof**

I think the issue is you are still not properly applying the rule you are saying limits this.

The rule does not say the model gains no benefit from equipped items.

the rule does say the model must choose which weapon to strike with if it has more than one.

The rule prevents you from gaining the benefits of abilities that require you to strike with a weapon if you are not striking with it.

Kiss/Embrace as pointed out many times do not require the model strike with the weapon, they give a special rule that works if the model strikes at all with anything.

This is not even an RAI point, this is actually fully within the rules as written.