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What happens if I charge Emperor’s Children troops into Death Guard and my guys are in range of the Foul Blightspawn’s Revolting Stench aura?

The wording of Revolting Stench is as follows:

“ Enemy units that charged this turn and are within 7" of this model at the start of the Fight phase are struck by a stench so foul that they falter, losing their impetus. Such a unit does not get to fight first in the Fight phase, but can be chosen to fight like other units that did not charge. This ability also affects units who have abilities that would enable them to fight first as if they had charged.”

The Emperor’s Children legion trait (Flawless Perfection) says my guys get to fight first, the only caveat being that they have to alternate with units charged them or have other “fights first” abilities. It doesn’t say they fight first “as if they had charged”, it just says they fight first. But then, I can’t think of any examples of units with “fight first” abilities where the words “as if they had charged” are added, so it would be strange for GW to give the Foul Blightspawn an ability to counter an ability that doesn’t exist.

So does this mean (1) they have to fight last, or (2) they just count as having not charged, in which case their legion trait applies and they still fight first?

It's unknown, GW don't really write the rules properly. Honestly, I'd say the EC ability wins out because the DG rule doesn't affect that particular type of fights first.

Isn't this covered by the "Rare Rules" section in the BRB? Pages 361-362.

"Always Fight First/Last"

Seems to suggest that, in this case, you would go with whomever's turn it was in order to resolve the fight. So if the Emperor's Children charged the FBS in their turn, they would get to go first if so chosen by the player. Am I reading that wrong?

Tycho wrote:
Isn't this covered by the "Rare Rules" section in the BRB? Pages 361-362.

"Always Fight First/Last"

Seems to suggest that, in this case, you would go with whomever's turn it was in order to resolve the fight. So if the Emperor's Children charged the FBS in their turn, they would get to go first if so chosen by the player. Am I reading that wrong?

Revolting Stench doesn't apply Always Fights Last, so that doesn't work. They're just kicked into the 'normal' fight sequence.
And that still leaves the situation as which rule gets priority (attacking normally, or attacking first).

'Attacker's Priority' _might_ apply, but it doesn't really seem set up for it, as the attacker/defender distinction seems... off.

I would say the fight as if they hadn't charge which means the legion trait actually applies.

Makes fight first abilities for more interesting too.

The Emperor's Children trait:

"Units with this trait always fight first in the Fight phase even if they didn't charge. If the enemy has units that have charged, or that have similar ability, then alternate choosing units to fight with, starting with the player whose turn is taking place."

Notes:
1. This is clearly an "Always Fights First" ability.
2. Welcome to the latest repetition of GW's "These rules were written in the last edition, with redundant text, and now you have to figure out which round hole of the new edition the square peg goes in."

So the question is only whether the last sentence of Revolting Stench
"This ability also affects units who have abilities that would enable them to fight first as if they had charged." is supposed to be equivalent to "This ability also affects units who have Always Fights First."?

Look at abilities like Quicksilver Quickness:
"This unit always fights first in the Fight phase even if it didn't charge. If the enemy has units that have charged, or that have a similar ability, then alternate choosing units to fight with, starting with the player whose turn is taking place."

The rules use "always fights first ... even if it didn't charge" and "always fights first ... as if it had charged" interchangeably.

I suppose the simpler question is this: do units affected by revolting stench fight last *full stop* or do they simply count as having not charged?

They still count as having charged - abilities that trigger of charging like hateful blows still trigger.

So basically they simply lose their legion trait when charging into a foul blightspawn's aura, and they mess up the fighting order when they are getting charged.

 Jidmah wrote:
They still count as having charged - abilities that trigger of charging like hateful blows still trigger.

So basically they simply lose their legion trait when charging into a foul blightspawn's aura, and they mess up the fighting order when they are getting charged.

I mean they count as having not charged for the purposes of the rules on who gets to fight first.

The foul Blightspawn’s rule says they can still be chosen to fight like other units that didn’t charge. As for losing their legion trait, it doesn’t say they fight first “as if they charged”, it just says they fight first (a bit like the distinction between “shooting” and “shooting as if it’s the shooting phase”). That’s what’s confusing for me.

As Solkan lined out, " fight first as if they had charged" and "fight first in the fight phase even if they didn't charge" are the same thing.

The only weird thing about this rule is that part of the 8th edition basic rules has been incorporated into the EC's legion trait. "starting with the player whose turn is taking place" no longer matches the core rules and therefore has the unintended effect of reversing the fight order.

solkan wrote:So the question is only whether the last sentence of Revolting Stench
"This ability also affects units who have abilities that would enable them to fight first as if they had charged." is supposed to be equivalent to "This ability also affects units who have Always Fights First."?

Look at abilities like Quicksilver Quickness:
"This unit always fights first in the Fight phase even if it didn't charge. If the enemy has units that have charged, or that have a similar ability, then alternate choosing units to fight with, starting with the player whose turn is taking place."

The rules use "always fights first ... even if it didn't charge" and "always fights first ... as if it had charged" interchangeably.

So there is another ability that’s worded like the emperor’s children one. Why does that show that the rules “use always fights first ... even if it didn't charge" and "always fights first ... as if it had charged" interchangeably?

Because the rules don't support "fighting first" without "as if they have charged". See "charging units fight first" in the Fight phase rules:
"This means that units that did not make a charge move this turn cannot be selected to fight until after all units that did make a charge move have fought".

So a rule that would allow you to fight first, but not as if you have charged would be meaningless, as you still cannot select them to fight before all units that actually are charging or fighting first as if it had charged.

This is covered in the Rare Rules section of 9th. Is there really a question that needs answering after that?

 alextroy wrote:
This is covered in the Rare Rules section of 9th. Is there really a question that needs answering after that?

Foul Blightspawns don't let you fight last, therefore the rare rules section doesn't tell us how to handle them.