KommissarKiln wrote:I see two possible interpretations to "disembarking in this manner":
1. "Disembarking in this manner" refers to disembarking at any point during the move, as opposed to disembarking before the Valkyrie moves. This interpretation is less favorable for the embarked passengers.
2. "Disembarking in this manner" refers
only to disembarking after the Valkyrie moved 20+", and the passengers must roll 2+ to survive disembarking. This interpretation means moving any distance less than 20" will allow passengers to disembark after the Valkyrie has moved this shorter distance, providing favorable positioning possibilities for the passengers.
I could see either interpretation being the intended meaning, but the rule is unfortunately rather grammatically ambiguous. I hope including the rule itself in this post may help clear things up.
The rule says: 'but if the Valkyrie moves more than 20 inches', it does not say: 'but if the Valkyrie has moved more than 20 inches'.
So all that matters is how far you're going to move the Valkyrie that phase, not how far it has already moved before you deploy the guys.
As for the second part, (that models disembarking in this manner can't be set up within 9" of enemies), you're right that it is written completely ambiguously, so I don't think you can determine with 100% accuracy just from how its written what 'this manner' refers to.
However, taken in context of how the rest of the game works (and that you have to disembark your models from a transport before it moves), personally feel safe in saying that the intent is that if you use the grav-chute insertion rule at all to disembark (no matter how far the model moves), then you have to follow the 9" restriction.