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Hey guys,

This may be a silly, but the Alpha Legion foward operatives matched play rule says you can move your unit 9” before the start of the first turn. I have two questions about this to see what other people think. Namely:

1. Does this strategem take place before or after the initiative seize has been performed?
2. Does the 9” movement take obstacles into account or can you move “through” them? Or how about vertical movement? I.e. Would it be possible to place something 8” away but 4” up (thus total movement 8+4=12)?

Thanks,

Gryph

1) After you know who has first turn
2) No. It’s granting you a move, but nothing tells you to ignore the movement rules.

Gryphonne wrote:
Hey guys,

This may be a silly, but the Alpha Legion foward operatives matched play rule says you can move your unit 9” before the start of the first turn. I have two questions about this to see what other people think. Namely:

1. Does this strategem take place before or after the initiative seize has been performed?
2. Does the 9” movement take obstacles into account or can you move “through” them? Or how about vertical movement? I.e. Would it be possible to place something 8” away but 4” up (thus total movement 8+4=12)?

Thanks,

Gryph

As a heads up, the errata to the stratagem is not just for matched play, it's for all forms of play.

1. It happens after the initiative seize has been performed but before the first turn begins. The battle round does not start until the turn order is determined. In summary, it goes Deployment (Where you activate the stratagem) > Roll to Seize > Resolve "At the start of the first battle round but before the first turn begins" effects > First Player takes their turn.

2. It's a normal move that does not occur in the Movement phase (i.e. FLY doesn't apply). So you can move in any direction, up to a maximum of 9". You can't move 8" horizontal and 4" up because that is 12" of movement, not 9" of movement. You move models Horizontally then Vertically, not diagonally.

1. It is within the first Battle Round but before the first Turn, which means it is after the determining who goes first.

2. It is a move, and so all the normal rules for movement apply. You have to work out the path the unit will take, which must be no more than 9". However if they can FLY or have other special rules it might alter that.

 Stux wrote:
However if they can FLY or have other special rules it might alter that.

As I already pointed out, FLY does not apply. The latest errata for the BRB states:

If the datasheet for a model says it can FLY, then during the Movement phase it can move across models as if they were not there, and when moving across terrain features, vertical distance is not counted against the total it can move (i.e. moving vertically is free for this model in the Movement phase). If the datasheet for a model says it can FLY, then during the Charge phase it can move across models (other than BULDINGS) as if they were not there.

Emphasis mine. "At the start of the first battle round but before the first turn begins" is not the Movement Phase. The beginning of a turn is the beginning of the Movement Phase as per page 176 of the BRB. Since the move happens before the first turn begins it must happen before the Movement Phase begins, therefore it is not in the Movement Phase.

I fully expect to be called every name under the sun for pointing out what the rules say, however.

 BaconCatBug wrote:

I fully expect to be called every name under the sun for pointing out what the rules say, however.

No, I agree with you. Was an oversight in my part. Your post wasn't there when I started writing mine.

I don't think anyone minds when you point out what the rules say, BCB. Personally, I think it's incredibly helpful when you do so. Also personally, I don't much care when, after stating the rules, you (and others) then act as though not playing by that rule is wrong. Even when the rule contradicts all common sense. And I feel like that's what 99% of the arguments and "hate" comes from. Being a strict RAWist isn't a bad thing UNTIL you push that inflexible mentality onto others.

Thanks for the insight and clarification guys, it's much clearer to me now