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I had this one come up today, and...I'm really not sure how best to approach it. I'm sure this has been discussed to death, but what's the proper procedure for when a player forgets to roll for reserves on their turn?

So, what happened was my turn rolled around, I moved all my units, then fired one unit at another (I got through the To Hit rolls, nothing more). Almost as soon as the dice hit the table, I went, "Oh, shoot, I forgot to roll for my flyer. Lemme just do that now."

My opponent just glared at me and said, "No, way too late for that. You already started shooting."

We go back and forth a bit, my argument being that it's not an optional roll; you can't just ignore it because I started shooting. I've had other people pull that line on me before, so I did it here. He eventually relented after we got someone else in to break the tie, but was I in the wrong here? I mean, ignoring the fact that you're supposed to roll reserves prior to movement phase (so technically I should have had to wait the instant I moved a unit, much less shot one), it's not as though one unit coming in was going to affect my entire shooting phase after that. I'll admit that it could have, but in my case it was just one flyer.

Which of us was right in that situation? Is it proper to just assume that I failed the roll? What if it had been turn 4, and the unit had to come in?

YMTC won't have a rule for when you break rules.

What I would do is give me opponent the option. Do you want me to roll, or do you want me to skip it until next turn?

That way, "forgetting" can't be used to an advantage (not rolling when you want the flyer on the following turn).

Sometimes you have to learn the hard way to remember for next time.

-Matt

There are two common points of view on this one... both of which you seem to have covered fairly well.

Some feel that it's compulsory, so you should go back and do it.
Others feel that if you forgot it, too bad.

Of course, which side of the fence people wind up on seems to often depend on whether or not the forgotten rule is something beneficial to one player and not the other...

There's also the possibility where rules like Reserve rolls are concerned that the forgettee did so on purpose, because they don't want their reserves on just yet, so opponents will often insist on you going back and doing it regardless.


For myself, it does depend somewhat on the situation. If going back and completing the forgotten action will cause more problems than it solves, I'm inclined to just let the game keep going. If it's not a hassle, then go back and do it.

the people i play with are very strict, (and i like that.) If you forget reserves they are dead.

I'm not sure of the official ruling. if we are being nice we will let people roll right there or at the start of their next turn. learning from mistakes is good practice.

My local group just make you roll for it next turn, unless you move 1 model then go "oh, reserves" and roll.

I do like the "theyre dead" answer though.

I have intentionally 'forgot' to bring my reserves in during 1 game though, but that may be because my opponent only had 1 model left by the end of turn 1, so felt it would be nicer for him to not see 2 flyers turn up.

My local gaming group goes with the "tough, try again next turn".

But if it is someone who hasn't played for a while, or its their first game (as was the case last week) we would be more sportsman-ly and point out before they started shooting "have you rolled for your reserves?". We're nice like that.

My gaming group makes you wait until the next turn to roll for reserves if you forget.

If you get to roll reserve after all other moves are made (or some shooting) you are possibly gaining an advantage on where to place your reserves or bring them in. Things can change drastically in the movement phase with difficult terrain and such. Doing reserves last could be a big factor and almost cheating in some situations.

I always go for the no redoes approach, i find it it helps both me and my opponents to forget less. When it occurs i usually go through the "oh shoot" phase and quickly follow it up with a "live and learn".

I've had this happen once or twice, mostly when I haven't played for a while. Since it's so hard to determine if forgetting is intentional or just an honest mistake, I always ask my opponent how they want me to proceed. I will say I have never had anyone tell me that they are dead, though.

Truthfully it depends on where you're at in the turn. However in the shooting phase is a bit late to remember.

It is both players resposibility to remember the reserve rolls as they are required. As I have a check list to keep track of everything for all the turns (don't judge me) its rare that it happens.

You can't just say they "don't come out this turn" becasue I have played agaisnt to many people who like to act like rolling on reserves is optional. Generally they will do it so thier army doens't come on piecemeal or to have a scoring unit come on late to seize or contest.

If both me and my opponent forget and it is friendly I will just roll everything back to the start of the turn. If it is a timed event and we both forget I will generally let them just roll and then bring on the units as long as nothing has shot.

Its why I remind my opponent to roll solves the dang problem. Heck I even remind them if they forgot to shoot something. I like dice rolling and dont want to win based on forgotten steps. I expect the same but people never recipricate unless Im playing my good friend..

Id let you do it whether its beneficial to you or I or not.

HawaiiMatt wrote:
YMTC won't have a rule for when you break rules.

What I would do is give me opponent the option. Do you want me to roll, or do you want me to skip it until next turn?

That way, "forgetting" can't be used to an advantage (not rolling when you want the flyer on the following turn).

Sometimes you have to learn the hard way to remember for next time.

This. 100% this. It's the fault of the player who forgot, so he should not gain an advantage from it. At that point the best approach is to let your opponent decide what they prefer.

 Mannahnin wrote:
This. 100% this. It's the fault of the player who forgot, so he should not gain an advantage from it

What if it's to his advantage to bring his reserves on a turn later...

 insaniak wrote:

 Mannahnin wrote:
This. 100% this. It's the fault of the player who forgot, so he should not gain an advantage from it

What if it's to his advantage to bring his reserves on a turn later...

Then the opponent should make the decision of rolling them right away or waiting for the start of the next turn.

That way the offending player can not gain any perceived advantage.

Right. The opponent decides. Either to back up and force you to move the unit on, or to wait and bring it on the next turn. Whatever's better for your opponent, or what he feels comfortable with.

Qutie honestly, if you have already started shooting i wouldnt let you do it. Simply for the fact that now you have shot and you can strategize the entry based on what has happened. Maybe its an important target he shot, and it must die, now he gets another shot at it. Or maybe he killed it and can decide on another target and bring in the model to shoot another model not yet shot at.

You shoot, you lose your reserves should be fair.

But sometimes it's to your advantage for your unit to stay off for an additional turn, so it can't be targeted or whatever. That's why I advocate the choice being ceded to the opponent.

It can also be argued that it's not just up to the one player to ensure that compulsory events occur. Both players are playing the same game... In an ideal world, both players should be familiar with all of the applicable rules for that game. So as a compulsory event, ensuring that Reserves rolls happen is the responsibility of both players, not the the player having the current turn.

Well, really it depends on where you are, what damage was done, what is beneficial to each player, etc.

Worst case scenario i would say roll for it but you cant shoot with it, not even snap shots.

 Praxiss wrote:
My local gaming group goes with the "tough, try again next turn".

But if it is someone who hasn't played for a while, or its their first game (as was the case last week) we would be more sportsman-ly and point out before they started shooting "have you rolled for your reserves?". We're nice like that.

I played Heroclix for awhile and one of their spills is that "If I let my opponent make a play error, knowingly, I am also at fault/cheating." Basically, their deal is that it is up to 'both' players to make sure everyone is playing to the best of their abilities within the rules.

The reverse can be said for the reserves not being rolled for, that is, they are not there to shoot me. If I have no counter, sure I wouldn't want them on the board yet.

That being said, I almost always remind my opponent, sometimes we both forget, but we get it done asap. I think that is a philosophy that people should play by, otherwise, is it even 'fun' winning if you 'knowingly' let your opponent do something 'wrong?' (or to forget to do something all together?)