THE NOVA 40K 2015 DRAFT FAQ INTRODUCTION

The NOVA FAQ’s primary purpose is to provide players with answers to difficult or unclear

questions oriented around the rules and codices of Warhammer 40,000, and to provide players

with rules and guidelines followed at the NOVA Open.

We are aware that many players and tournament organizers throughout the community may use

the NOVA FAQ for other purposes, such as a form of argument justification, or for their own

events. Regardless, it is not designed with consideration for these other uses. It is purely

designed for the benefit of the NOVA Open staff and attendees.

The NOVA FAQ is designed to answer unclear, ambiguous questions; it is not designed to answer

questions that can be easily found in the rulebook. It is intended to be kept at a length that

allows players to quickly leaf through it, and enables the NOVA Open to affordably publish the

document within all attendees’ Guide Books.

Be aware that GW has made it a practice of updating some digital books while not releasing

Errata. The most current rules will overrule previously published rules.

SUBMITTING QUESTIONS AND ARGUMENTS FOR THE FAQ

In order to submit a question or argument for the NOVA FAQ, please include all rules quotes and

page references, and submit a dispassionate argument to novaopen@gmail.com, cc’ed to

mvbrandt@gmail.com.

NOVA POLICIES

CONVERTED AND COUNTS-AS MODEL POLICY

Although converted and creatively modeled miniatures may be used, you may suffer penalties as

a result of how they are modeled, and may never gain a benefit:

Example – You’ve creatively modeled a greater demon twice the normal height; as a result, it

would be more difficult for you to GAIN cover saves, but easier for you to DENY cover saves to

your opponent / gain line of sight. In practice and by rule, you might end up being required to

measure line of sight from where the actual model would be (or as close as can be

approximated), yet would be drawn line of sight TO using your actual model’s full size.

Effectively, no amount of creative modeling may alter the course of play beyond what would be

for a “standard” GW miniature for the unit in question, except when such alteration would incur

a disadvantage for the creatively modeled unit.

Please understand we wish to encourage exceptional creativity in modeling, and even have

separate awards dedicated to it; that said, we cannot permit unfair advantages of any kind for

models being larger, smaller, or of a different shape and size than their unit’s official miniatures.

When in doubt, call a tournament organizer or play the model(s) in question as close as possible

to the way the actual unit should appear.

In the event of units that do not currently have a Games Workshop-provided model, please

consider checking with the tournament organizer with photographs and/or descriptions prior to

attending, so that you have a ruling going with you into the event.

If you wish to use alternate models or scratch builds to “count as” something else, you must be

extremely clear with your army list, modeling, unit differentiation, and information provision to

your opponents. If a game or an opponent’s experience is negatively impacted by an extremely

unclear army due to counts-as modeling, the head judge and convention organizer both

maintain the right to modify your army list or remove models from play. Please note - this has

only been done once over the course of 5 years of NOVA Open events, so do not consider the

policy so severe or routinely applied as to discourage you from building an evocative or creative

counts-as force. Simply uphold our tradition of excellence in this regard by committing to clarity

with regard to the models and gear you are fielding.

ARMY LIST POLICY

While the NOVA Open does not require pre-submission of army lists, if any portion of your list is

found invalid, the NOVA Open reserves the right to amend your list independent of your input,

and/or to force losses upon you if errors are caught once play begins. You will be required to

provide one army list during on-site registration, and one army list to each opponent.

BASING POLICY

Models must be played on the bases provided with them. In the event that two different base

sizes have been provided by GW, either may be used.

Models that are only provided with Fantasy / square bases may be played on these by RAW, but

should be placed on the closest approximate 40k/round base if possible.

Models may be played on scenic bases of identical size to the bases provided with them. If you

have a question, ask ahead of time. As with the Converted Model Policy, any base of

inappropriate size will incur any disadvantages, while ignoring any advantages, even if such

advantages/disadvantages change situationally within a given game.

Skimmers must be mounted (but not necessarily glued) on the bases provided with them, save

for situations where the rules allow for / require otherwise.

We recognize some skimmer bases are largely impractical for mounting your units on; if you

have a different basing route you’ve gone with, simply give us a heads up ahead of time – we’ll

work with you to make sure your models are both playable and stable.

JUDGE POLICY

Note that rules judges hold final say on all tournament issues. To drive home the point, it is

entirely possible for them to instruct players to begin a new round within the 15 minute time

window, grant a loss to someone they repeatedly catch in the act of cheating, etc. This is to

ensure play with integrity, good sportsmanship, and honesty – players will not be permitted to

“abuse” the rules in place in order to gain unfair advantages. Individual judge rulings are NEVER

binding precedent.

YOUR ARMY / GAME RULES

You MUST possess either a published, iBook/eBook, or printed copy of any and all rules used by

your army (up to and including Universal Special Rules, unit stats, army special rules, points

costs, wargear details, etc.).

RULEBOOK AND CODEX FAQ

GENERAL

■ Units embarked on a transport count for scoring purposes as measured from the Hull of their

transport vehicle.

■ Units which are normally allowed to fire more than one weapon in the Shooting Phase are

allowed to fire more than weapon at other pertinent times, including Overwatch and Intercept.

■ An IC on a Chariot loses his IC status.

■ An Infantry Unit containing a Bike such as with an IC on a bike joining a Unit, can be Pinned but

cannot Go to Ground voluntarily.

■ A Unit may not Deep Strike into a Building.

■ Models with a Power Weapon or Force Weapon must list the specific type of weapon, and that

weapon must be displayed on the specific model as WYSIWYG.

■ Units composed of mixed model types (Jetpack, Jetbike, Bike, Infantry) may perform

movements per their individual restrictions. This includes movements made in the Shooting

phase, such as Run or Turbo Boost, as long as the unit remains in coherency. However, you

may not Run/Turbo Boost and Shoot, unless specifically allowed to by a superseding rule.

■ Objectives are considered infinite height. Swooping FMCs and Zooming Flyers may not control

or contest an objective (as noted in the main rules).

■ The Relic is an objective. As such, it can be controlled or contested by a unit within 3” even if it

is not the unit in possession of the Relic.

THE MOVEMENT PHASE

■ A Tank’s initial pivot when “aiming” is not considered part of the Tank Shock; models displaced

by the pivot may not make “Death or Glory” attacks (unless they are in the path of the tank

shock itself).

■ Vehicle models on Skimmer bases that are affected by Difficult/Dangerous Terrain use their

Hulls for determining whether they are on/over it.

■ If a Skimmer is forced to end its move over friendly or enemy models, move the Skimmer the

minimum distance required so that no models are left underneath it, or within 1” of the hull.

This does not apply when the Skimmer is deep striking; mishaps are suffered normally.

■ Vehicles do not test for dangerous terrain when they only pivot during their movement phase.

■ When using long or oval bases (cavalry/bike/monstrous creature), you may not pivot the base

on the spot to gain additional movement like vehicles without a base would.

■ No part of a model may intentionally hang of the table, other than parts that are explicitly

ignored for Line of Sight.

THE SHOOTING PHASE

■ Models that Turbo-boost in the Shooting phase can move any number of inches (up to the

maximum for their unit type) in any combination of directions.

■ A Unit may elect to Jink when it is intentionally targeted by an attack. This includes Units which

have a blast or template touching them when the shot is declared but aren’t necessarily the

Unit declared as ‘the target’. However, if a blast scatters onto a Unit which was not directly

targeted, it cannot elect to Jink.

THE ASSAULT PHASE

■ Units are considered locked in close combat as soon as any enemy model moves into base

contact with them. This prevents the unit from firing Overwatch against other units charging

them later in the same phase.

■ It is never possible for a single model of any kind to perform a multiple assault.

■ Models may Jink when targeted by Overwatch shooting.

■ Wall of Death applies even when being charged by an Invisible unit.

PSYKERS/PSYCHIC POWERS

■ Independent Characters with the Psyker rule are considered separate units for purposes of

manifesting Psychic Powers. For example, 2 Farseers with the “Psychic Shriek” power attached

to a unit of Warlocks may each attempt to manifest “Pyschic Shriek” within the same Psychic

Phase. Units comprised of a number of non-IC Psykers or with the Brotherhood of Psykers rule

may not manifest the same Psychic Power multiple times in the same phase, as normal (i.e. a

unit of Warlocks does not have the Brotherhood of Psykers rule, but may not manifest the

same power multiple times).

■ A Psyker who has already opted to take the Primaris Power by forgoing one of his random rolls,

cannot then gain Psychic Focus for that discipline and must roll at least one of his remaining

powers on a different Discipline.

■ A Unit with a special rule which causes it to always hit on a specific value in close combat, such

as Kharn, will always hit on those specific values against an Invisible unit.

■ If the Terrify psychic power causes a unit locked in close combat to fall back, they leave combat

and make a normal fall back move. If they were the only unit locked in combat with the enemy,

the enemy may neither Consolidate nor perform a Sweeping Advance.

■ Zooming Flyers and Swooping Monstrous Creatures suffer all the effects of the Objuration

Mechanicum psychic power.

■ As per the rulebook, nova powers hit ALL units (even Invisible ones).

■ A psychic pilot vehicle which is removed from play due to rolling a “1” on the Perils of the

Warp chart will also remove any Passengers from play.

■ Psykers may not generate more powers than their Mastery Level unless explicitly permitted to

do so.

■ Chaos / Chaos Daemon units that obtain the Primaris power from their chosen discipline for

free may still gain the Primaris from another discipline due to Psychic Focus if they only

GENERATE powers from that specific tree during psychic power generation.

■ The same restrictions that apply to Psykers while inside Transports also apply to Psykers while

inside a Building.

■ Bonuses to Deny the Witch may never be applied to attempts to deny Blessings or

Conjurations unless explicitly permitted by the wargear or unit rule in question.

■ When manifesting Witchfires or Focused Witchfires that do not follow the normal shooting

process, make one to hit roll to see if the power connects, such as in the case of Psychic Shriek.

■ Conjured units are considered part of your army, but are not considered part of a specific

Detachment, and thus do not follow any special rules or effects granted to units part of a

specific Detachment (i.e., Objective Secured). They follow the ally matrix and are considered as

part of the Faction of the Codex containing their rules for determining if One Eye Open rolls are

necessary.

■ Conjured units may Deep Strike within 12” of the Summoner, even if they are Desperate Allies

or Come the Apocalypse.

■ Multiple values of the same malediction will stack.

UNIVERSAL SPECIAL RULES

■ Models making a Hit & Run move that encounter an obstacle they are not allowed to move

through or over (such as Impassable Terrain or the edge of the board, for example)

immediately end their move.

■ A model that fires during an opponent’s turn using the Interceptor special rule may still fire

Overwatch if assaulted in the same player turn, even with the same weapon used to intercept.

■ A model that fires during an opponent’s turn using the Interceptor special rule may not

override the normal restrictions for unit firing (in other words, may not fire separate weapons

with the Interceptor Rule at separate targets).

■ Unless specified otherwise, attacks that cause Instant Death on a to wound roll of 6 still need

to be able to wound the target model for Instant Death to be inflicted.

■ A model that mishaps during its Deepstrike, which is then placed by the opposing player, may

not be placed in a location that would cause it to mishap again.

■ Units or models with the Infiltrate special rule, including those that receive it from a Warlord

trait, must infiltrate, and therefore cannot assault on turn one.

FLYERS AND FLYING MONSTROUS CREATURES

■ Automatic hits / damage / effects inflicted by passive or unusual abilities affect Swooping FMC

and Zooming Flyers unless explicitly prohibited (i.e., blast and template weapons may not be

used when snap shooting)

■ Per the BRB, all hull-mounted weapons have both a Vertical and Horizontal 45 degree firing

arc; this arc is not 45 degrees in each of multiple possible directions, but a net 45 degrees

vertically and/or horizontally. When incorrectly modeled or difficult to ascertain, determine

vertical firing arc parallel to the plane of the tabletop.

■ When Deepstriking, FMCs cannot change their facing after the scatter roll in the turn they

arrive.

■ FMCs may leave the board with a run move.

■ A template or blast can hit a Swooping FMC if fired by a model with Skyfire. Blasts fired at

ground units by models with or without skyfire will hit FMCs when scattering.

BLAST & TEMPLATE WEAPONS

■ Template weapons may generate hits on models from a target unit out of the firing weapon’s

Line of Sight. You still may not allocate wounds / vehicle damage results to models out of Line

of Sight (unless the weapon/firing unit’s special rules permit them to ignore Line of Sight).

■ If a Blast or Template weapon is placed so as to intentionally hit multiple units with the “Jink”

USR, any unit intentionally placed under the template/blast may choose to Jink. This does not

apply if a blast weapon scatters from the initial target and hits a unit not originally placed

under the template/blast.

■ Blast and Template weapons will hit all models underneath the blast or template. Keep in mind

Levels of Ruins is a dated rule explicitly removed by Games Workshop as of 7th Edition. This

includes blast weapons with the Barrage special rule.

FORTIFICATIONS

■ At NOVA, the following fortifications are legal:

Vengeance Weapons Battery

Firestorm Redoubt

Aegis Defense Line

Skyshield Landing Platform

Imperial Bastion

■ At NOVA, Fortifications may not be placed on pre-placed Terrain. If the fortification cannot be

placed at all, consult a judge who may move a single piece of terrain the minimum required

amount at his discretion.

■ Fortifications/gun emplacements do not generate Points of any kind when destroyed, do not

benefit from special abilities that affect models/units, and are unaffected by

maledictions/blessings.

■ If a model on a building’s ramparts fails a morale test and must fall back, they do so through

the building and out the ground-level access point. If the building is occupied by enemy

models, the fleeing unit is immediately destroyed.

■ A Comms Relay may be used by both players with models within 2” as long as they are

unengaged. Reserve modification from a Comms Relay affects all detachments in your army.

■ For purposes of Assault, models on top of a Skyshield Landing Platform are always considered

to be visible to the Assaulting Unit (not creating un-assailable platforms with units like

Scarabs).

■ The legs/non-platform portion of the Skyshield grant a 4+ cover save.

TERRAIN

■ At NOVA, many terrain elements will be given the Battlescape qualification, and only as

Difficult Terrain instead of Dangerous Terrain. Please consult the mission packet for specific

piece-by-piece rules.

■ The distance between two levels of a building or ruin is 3”.

INDEPENDENT CHARACTERS

■ A unit comprised entirely of Independent Characters does not need to be deployed together as

one unit (e.g., Farsight Command Team, Sanguinary Priests) unless explicitly required to do so.

CODICES

MULTI-CODEX

■ To prevent issues with glued-shut doors, Drop Pods are never considered to block Line of Sight,

though they grant cover normally.

■ Models disembarking from a drop pod can make a normal move ending wholly within 6” of the

pod. Models disembarking are considered arriving by deep strike as well, thus treat difficult

terrain as dangerous for purposes of their disembarkation.

■ When a Drop Pod deploys in Difficult/Dangerous Terrain and fails its Difficult Terrain test, then

it loses a total of 2 Hull Points (one for suffering an “Immobilized” result, and one for suffering

said result once already Immobilized). Note per the Drop Pod rules that it does not lose a Hull

Point for being Immobilized by virtue of drop pod deployment, so a failed dangerous test upon

deep striking into terrain will not automatically kill a Drop Pod.

■ Storm Bolters, Hunter Killer Missiles, Deathwind Missile Launchers, and Multi-Meltas selected

as upgrades for various vehicles are pintle-mounted unless otherwise stated

■ Stormravens and Dreadnoughts – If a Dreadnought is inside a Zooming Flyer when it is

destroyed, apply any damage results per the Stormraven’s rules first (S4 hit to rear armor in

the case of an explosion, nothing in the case of a wreck). Then, apply a S10 hit with no AP to an

armor facing randomized by d3. Determining the armor facing is a rules addition/clarification.

■ Drop Pods from all detachments are pooled to determine the 50% that must arrive on turn 1.

ADEPTA SORORITAS

■ Attacks and special rules that reduce a characteristic or apply an ongoing effect to Saint

Celestine (e.g., the Entropic Strike special rule) still apply if she returns to the game via

Miraculous Intervention.

■ The Exorcist’s weapon is considered turret-mounted.

ASTRA MILITARUM

■ When rolling for Reserves with an Infantry Platoon, always roll once for all units. Separate units

from the same platoon may arrive via separate means (e.g., a Combined Squad arriving from

Outflank due to an attached IC while the Platoon Command Squad arrives via regular reserves).

■ A Manticore’s Missiles only count as Separate Weapons when determining Weapon Destroyed

results. This means you may not use abilities such as Power of the Machine Spirit to fire more

than 1 rocket per turn.

■ A Manticore’s Missile Rack is limited to a 45 degree arc of fire for purposes of Line of Sight /

subtracting BS from scatter.

■ Whenever a rule refers to Imperial Guard (e.g., Longstrike’s Preferred Enemy), all effects apply

to units from Astra Militarum as well.

■ If Pask’s Battle Tank is removed as a casualty, you can score First Blood and Slay the Warlord,

but the entire squadron must be removed to score any victory points.

BLOOD ANGELS

N/A

CHAOS DAEMONS

■ Warp Storm results that inflict damage on enemy units on a “6” do not affect units embarked

on a transport or within a building.

■ You may determine the type of Daemon unit summoned by the Portalglyph after rolling the D6

for the # of models generated. This unit is treated as part of the same Detachment as the

model which placed the Portalglyph. Please note this means the summoned units do not count

as part of a Detachment if conjured from a Portalglyph that was placed by a Summoned herald.

■ Kairos Fateweaver may not re-roll the end-of-game roll or any rolls that do not occur during a

Turn (e.g., Stealing the Initiative).

■ Hellforged Artefacts cannot be chosen when conjuring units if they were created pre-game

from exalted Rewards in your army list, nor may they be duplicated during the course of play.

■ Screamers may never make more than 1 attack per assault phase using Lamprey’s Bite (even

charging)

■ Enemy Psykers within 12” of any number of Fiends of Slaanesh suffer a -1 penalty to their LD.

■ A model’s Feel No Pain rule can never be improved beyond a 2+ (Warpflame stacks)

■ When rolling for a model’s Daemonic Rewards, Warp-forged Armor and the Unbreakable Hide

Greater Reward are not considered to be duplicates.

■ Before attempting to Manifest “Flickering Fire,” you must declare the precise level of the spell

you are casting. If you fail to manifest enough warp charges for the declared level, you may not

use a lesser number of successes to manifest a lesser level of the power.

■ Exalted Flamers of Tzeentch cannot be Conjured when using Sacrifice

■ A Psyker of Tzeentch’s +3 modifier has no effect on the Leadership tests required for any Perils

of the Warp result.

■ A Portalglyph has no specific height, and may be represented by a small blast marker or other

marker of the same size.

CHAOS SPACE MARINES

■ A Chaos character that wins a challenge against Yarrick or Celestine will only roll on the Chaos

Boon table if the model fails to return to the battle.

DARK ANGELS

■ Ravenwing Grenade Launchers apply their negative effects the moment they successfully hit an

enemy unit (and so are in effect when the same unit’s firing is resolved to Wound, etc.).

■ A unit containing Belial that uses the Gate of Infinity psychic power to Deep Strike does not

scatter. Also, the unit does not need to roll to see if a model is claimed by the warp.

DARK ELDAR

■ The Crucible of Malediction may not be used when the model is embarked on a transport that

moves more than 6 inches.

■ A Court of the Archon can be taken even if no Archon is present in the army list.

ELDAR

■ A Wave Serpent’s Serpent Shield is considered part of the hull facing

directly forward. That means it can fire up to 22.5 degrees to either side

from the front facing. For clarification, see the inset image.

■ The Wave Serpent’s Serpent Shield may not be removed due to a

Weapon Destroyed result.

■ The Serpent Shield does benefit from twin-linking due to Laser Lock.

■ Doom only permits re-rolling failed rolls to wound and/or failed Armor Penetration rolls (note

that glancing hits may not be re-rolled).

■ A model on a Death Mission may still activate its Force Weapon.

■ The paired powers for each Runes of Battle result are considered separate for all purposes (i.e.

casting the same psychic power twice in one turn).

■ While wounds inflicted by Mind War may be reallocated via Look Out Sir, the WS/BS reduction

may not be reallocated.

■ Weapons with the Bladestorm and Monofilament special rules wound models whose

Toughness is high enough to otherwise prevent it when they roll a “6” to wound.

■ You must declare which weapons are firing BEFORE rolling to Hit with Scatter Lasers and

determining Laser Lock.

■ The bearer of a Scattershield is considered the “attacker” for purposes of passing Blind tests.

■ The Disarming Strike Exarch Power cannot affect Tyranid Close Combat Biomorphs.

■ The Fast Shot Exarch Power may be used to fire any weapon being used by the Exarch an

additional time; this does not overrule the restriction on a UNIT throwing more than one

grenade in a Shooting phase.

■ Crushing Blow modifies a model’s base profile (therefore, prior to modifiers/doublers).

■ Illic Nightspear may deploy directly into base contact with an enemy model, but does not

count as assaulting, being locked in combat, or in any way engaging the model in assault; as

soon as either model moves in the Movement Phase, it must finish its move at least 1” away.

■ Bonuses to Fuegan’s profile are retained even if lost wounds are regained (e.g., Renew).

■ Swooping Hawk wings do not confer Skyleap or Herald of Victory.

■ Warlocks are split off to join other units immediately AFTER determining Warlord Traits, but

before determining psychic powers.

■ Battle Focus may ONLY be used to Run (in other words, no battle focused turbo boosting

jetbikes).

■ A Ghost Helm can only be used by a Farseer to negate a wound suffered from Perils of the

Warp, never to negate the effect caused by that POTW. For instance, the Ghost Helm cannot

be used when the Farseer fails his LD check in the case of a (1) Perils result, and the Farseer

would still lose a power in the case of a (2) result, and so on.

■ When a Ghost Helm is used to negate a wound suffered from Perils, it must be a Warp Charge

remaining in the pool, and not one that was just used to manifest the power (e.g., you may not

use the 4th success of 4 to negate a perils wound during an attempt to manifest a ML3 power).

■ Swooping Hawks do not lose ongoing effects (such as Soul Blaze, Falling Back, etc.) if they are

off the table due to Skyleap, but are also not affected by them until they return to play.

ELDAR: IYANDEN SUPPLEMENT

■ The Voice of Twilight psychic power is a blessing that does not target a specific unit (and thus

does not require Line of Sight); any unit within range when it is cast subsequently retains the

blessing’s benefits, regardless of its distance from the caster.

GREY KNIGHTS

■ A Grey Knight unit from the Nemesis Strike Force Detachment still benefits from the Rites of

Teleportation Command Benefit if an IC from another detachment is joined to them.

Conversely, an IC from the Nemesis Strike Force Detachment joined to a unit from another

detachment does not benefit from Rites of Teleportation.

HARLEQUINS

N/A

IMPERIAL KNIGHTS

■ Look out Sir rolls may not be taken against Stomp attacks that roll a 6.

■ If a Knight has set its shield to a side facing, when hit with a Barrage weapon, roll a die (d2) to

randomly determine which side is hit.

INQUISITION

■ Inquisitorial Detachments never benefit from Objective Secured.

■ “I’ve Been Expecting You” only applies to models that arrive from reserve. Models that arrive

from another part of the table (e.g., Gate of Infinity, Veil) are not affected.

■ A Null Rod does not allow a unit to ignore the effects of Psychic Powers cast on other units

(e.g., Invisibility on a unit targeted by a Null Rod-equipped model/unit).

LEGION OF THE DAMNED

Legion of the Damned must arrive via Deep Strike and cannot arrive embarked on a Transport.

NECRONS

■ The twin-linked tesla destructor on an Annihilation Barge is a hull-mounted weapon.

■ Although a chariot and its passenger is treated as a single model, the passenger may not

benefit from Jink saves normally taken by the barge itself.

■ Deathmarks are considered deployed as soon as they or a transport they are embarked upon

succeed their Reserves roll. Nominate your marked unit immediately once this unit or its

transport (presuming they are embarked upon it) is placed on the table.

■ A Canoptek Harvest Formatoin may only ever contain 1 single Canoptek Spyder.

■ Lance weapons treat Quantum Shielded vehicles as AV12 (or less) for armor penetration rolls.

ORKS

■ Models with a Gitfinda may take advantage of Augmented Ballistics even if they have moved.

■ The Warlord trait granted by the Finkin Cap is generated after any regular Warlord Traits, and

does not benefit from a command reroll. However, if a duplicate is rolled, it may be rerolled.

OFFICIO ASSASINORUM

■ All successful hits with the Deadshot rule, except those fired as Snap Shots, can be freely

allocated by the owning player.

SPACE MARINES

■ Vehicles benefit from the effects of cover and invulnerable saves against damage inflicted by

Graviton Weapons.

■ Graviton weapons inflict an additional hull point of damage when resolving a “6” against

vehicles that are already immobilized.

■ When determining what is required to wound units with a mixed armor save using a Graviton

weapon, use the MAJORITY armor save. Where there is an equal number of all armor save

types, use the HIGHEST, synonymous in this case with WORST (even if this means rolling to

wound against an armor save of “-“).

■ When firing at a chariot with Graviton weapons, the target model’s owner allocates the hits to

either the rider or the chariot. Then, the roll to wound vs the Rider’s armor save, or to

glance/immobilize the vehicle, are made.

■ Marneus Calgar may only roll on the Space Marines Warlord Table.

SPACE WOLVES

■ Thunderwolf Calvalry, or any model mounted on a Thunderwolf mount, has a base strength of

4 and is given a bonus of +1 Strength, among other modifiers. Therefore, it’s strength with a

Power Fist or Thunderhammer would be 9 (4x2+1).

TAU

■ The roll made for Aun’Va’s Paradox of Duality may be taken in addition to any save the model

may attempt. Weapons that ignore cover do not negate the Paradox of Duality roll.

■ When a model with the Skyfire special rule uses the Seeker markerlight ability to fire a Seeker

Missile at a Zooming Flyer or Swooping Flying Monstrous Creature, the attack is resolved at

BS5. If the firing model does not have Skyfire, the attack is resolved at BS1.

■ A model firing Overwatch cannot use the Target Lock support system to target a non-charging

enemy unit.

■ Marker Lights may only benefit shots fired against the unit the Markers were on (you may not,

for instance, expend 2 Marker Lights to Ignore Cover on other units fired at using rules such as

Target Lock).

■ Smart Missile Systems do not need Line of Sight to fire Interceptor on models that can do so.

TAU – FARSIGHT ENCLAVES

■ O’Vesa may join units; other Independent Characters may NOT join a unit containing O’Vesa,

however.

TYRANIDS

■ A Mawloc making use of Terror from the Deep cannot choose to Deep Strike onto an ongoing

close combat initially. If the Mawloc happens to scatter into a combat, models will be affected

as normal. Terror from the Deep is not affected by or inhibited from inflicting damage due to

the Invisibility psychic power.

■ Note a hive tyrant and tyrant guard are scored separately for Points, even joined together.

■ Any unit of Termagants spawned by a Tervigon is worth Points as normal, and is considered

part of the Detachment the Tervigon that spawned it belongs to.

FORGEWORLD

Forgeworld is allowed at this event, but all units are 0-1. This includes a unit that selects

Forgeworld-specific wargear, thus becoming 0-1 as well. Furthermore, while Forgeworld Army

Lists are legal, units selected from a non-Forgeworld Codex as part of the Forgeworld Army List

(e.g., a Space Marine Tactical Squad using a Forgeworld Chapter set of rules) are considered 0-1

as soon as / as long as they benefit from Forgeworld Army Rules.

Please note – as the NOVA Open is new to using Forgeworld within the confines of the 40K GT,

we would like to thank Frontline Gaming / the West Coast ITC for its FAQ work on Forgeworld

Units. This FAQ was used as the basis for our Forgeworld FAQs.

IMPERIAL ARMOR

Point values and rules for Imperial Armor units must always be the most current published

version.

Abilities that specify they affect a vehicle/building, such as Tank Hunters, have no effect when

rolling armor penetration against a Power Field/Void Shield.

CHAOS (CHAOS DAEMONS & CHAOS SPACE MARINES)

Blood Slaughterers of Khorne:

Fury of Khorne does not apply when a unit makes a Disordered Charge.

An Impaler cannot fire Snap Shots and may never drag a Zooming Flyer or Swooping

Monstrous Creature.

The Heat Blast attack on a Chaos Dreadclaw/Kharybdis Assault Claw may not affect a Zooming

Flyer and/or a Swooping Flying Monstrous Creature.

Chaos Dreadnoughts of all varieties (Chaos Contemptor Dreadnoughts, Emperor’s Children

Sonic Dreadnoughts, & Ferrum Infernus Dreadnoughts) only gain the +1A bonus to their profile

if both their arms are equipped with a melee weapon, not just one.

A Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought Hellfire Reactor’s S2 hit on Psykers does not cause the

Contemptor to Pile In at the I10 step.

For a Ferrum Infernus Chaos Dreadnought, Wounds caused by the Host of Daemonic Iron

special rule are resolved in the same Initiative step that the Dreadnought is damaged, and are

allocated like close combat wounds back onto the enemy unit that caused the damage.

The Baleful Aberration special rule allows a Hell Blade/Hell Talon to be repositioned up to

D6+2”, not necessarily the full distance rolled.

If a Chaos Infernal Relic Achilles manages to regain a Hull Point, the benefit for having lost that

Hull Point from the Fuelled by Hate special rule is also lost.

When a destroyed Chaos Rapier Carrier explodes, determine cover saves and vehicle armor

arcs from the center of the blast.

A Giant Chaos Spawn’s Sword-Spines Mutation attack does not cause the Spawn to Pile In at

the I10 step of combat.

DARK ELDAR

The Aerial Assault special rule (on the Dark Eldar Reaper/Tantalus) allows a vehicle with the

rule to fire all of its weapons at full BS on a turn it moved at Combat Speed, instead of the limit

of two weapons, which is normally the case for a Fast vehicle.

Dark Eldar Tantalus:

Cover saves can be taken against Scythevane hits, but only if the attacked model is actually

in or touching a piece of cover between them and the starting position of the Tantalus or

they have an ability that always provides them a cover save. Use the final position of the

Tantalus for wound allocation for these attacks.

A Scythevane hit against a vehicle is resolved against the enemy vehicle’s armor arc that

the Tantalus was most in when it began its Flat Out move.

ELDAR

A Shadow Spectre’s Spectre Holofield cover save lasts until the start of the unit’s next turn.

If you use Farseer Bel-Annath’s alternate force organization chart, every unit selected within it

is considered a Forgeworld Unit for purposes of the 0-1 restriction applied at NOVA.

IMPERIAL (ADEPTA SORORITAS, ASTRA MILITARUM, IMPERIAL KNIGHTS &

INQUISITION)

‘Imperial Guard’ equates to ‘Astra Militarum’ and ‘Sisters of Battle’ to ‘Adepta Sororitas’.

The Aquila Lander is a Fast Attack choice for an Astra Militarum or Adepta Sororitas

detachment and a dedicated transport choice for an Inquisition detachment.

For the Centaur Carrier Squadron, ignore the reference to the Gun Deployment special rule.

Cyclops Demolition Squad:

A Cyclops unit only ever counts as being destroyed if all its operators are killed. Destroying

an individual Cyclops does not count as destroying a unit.

A Cyclops does not make a pile-in move at I10 when detonating.

Cover saves may not be taken against a Cyclops demolition charge and casualties caused to

either side do count towards combat resolution.

Cyclops models may embark/disembark on Transport vehicles.

A Cyclops that has lost all of its operators or is more than 48” away from them cannot hold

nor contest an objective.

Earthshaker, Hydra & Manticore Platform Batteries:

Are immobile vehicles, not artillery, so they have no crew and never fall back.

Hydra Platform Batteries do not have Auto-Targeting Systems.

Field Artillery Battery (Heavy Mortar & Heavy Quad Launcher):

This unit has the Gun Carriage special rule as described on page 188 of Imperial Armour

Volume 1, 2nd Edition.

For the Heavy Quad Launcher, ignore the Shell Shock special rule.

Hades Breaching Drill:

Has the Melta Cutter ranged weapon.

If a Hades arrives under a vehicle and just manages to wreck it, place the Hades at the

arrival spot on the vehicle wreck; the Hades counts as having moved into difficult terrain.

If a Hades arrives under a building and this results in the building suffering a Total Collapse,

place the Hades as close as possible to its intended arrival point outside of the destroyed

building.

When a Hades rams during its arrival, it always counts as hitting its target in rear armor,

while the ram back against the Hades is resolved against its front armor.

When a Hades suffers a Misplaced Deep Strike mishap result, the opponent still decides

where it arrives on the table, even though the Hades may have already made a ram attack

against a vehicle or building.

When a Hades Assault Squad suffers a Misplaced Deep Strike mishap result the opponent

still decides where that unit arrives on the table as normal, even though they normally

have to arrive from the same spot as the Hades.

If Trojan Support Vehicles are included as part of a Heavy Artillery Carriage Battery, they form a

separate vehicle squadron that does not take up a Force Organization slot but is otherwise a

Heavy Support unit. Ignore all references to them being part of the battery.

A Manticore taken from Codex: Astra Militarum can replace its Storm Eagle Rockets with either

Sky Eagle Rockets or Manticore Missiles for +0 points. Note that only one Manticore selected in

such a way could do this.

When a destroyed Rapier Carrier explodes, determine cover saves and vehicle armor arcs from

the center of the blast.

Sentry Gun Battery (Tarantula):

Uses its listed Toughness of 6, not Toughness 7 as is normally the case for gun models.

The firing mode for each Sentry Gun must be declared when the unit is deployed.

Note that the Targeting rule can force a Sentry Gun battery armed with differing weaponry

to fire at more than one target unit.

Trojan Support Vehicles have the Artillery Tractor special rule as detailed on page 76 of

Imperial Armour Volume 1, 2nd Edition; replace any references of ‘Centaur’ with ‘Trojan’.

Valkyrie Sky Talon Transport:

If a Sky Talon is destroyed while zooming, vehicles being transported aboard take a S10 hit

against their rear armor. If the Sky Talon was hovering, they suffer a S4 hit instead.

If a vehicle squadron is being transported using multiple Sky Talons, all of these Sky Talons

must remain within 4” of each other, even if one gets immobilized. If any part of the

squadron is forced to disembark then the entire squadron must immediately disembark.

Ignore Captain Maximillian Weisemann’s Hardened Crew special rule, as it is redundant.

For the Dominus Armoured Siege Bombard: the first (upper) profile listed on page 268 of

Imperial Armour Volume 1, 2nd Edition for its Dominus Triple Bombard is the ‘Mobile’ profile,

while the second (lower) one is the ‘Static’ profile.

Cerastus Knights:

For purposes of the Warhammer 40K GT at the NOVA, you may not include any Cerastus

Knights as Lords of War (all Super Heavy and Gargantuan Lords of War are prohibited) and

you may include no more than 1 Cerastus Knight of any kind within a Knight Detachment.

Colonel Snake Stranski:

Use the fire point rules in Codex: Astra Militarum for his Chimera. Stranski can fire out of

his Chimera’s turret cupola in addition to the normal Chimera fire points.

Ignore his Mechanized Infantry Warlord Trait, as it is redundant.

General Myndoras Odon:

Ignore the Supreme Commander special rule. Instead, he has the Voice of Command &

Senior Officer special rules from Codex: Astra Militarum, and can issue up to 3 orders per

turn up to a range of 24”.

Careful Planner counts as Odon’s Warlord Trait when he is chosen as Warlord.

Replace his ‘Regimental Banner’ with a ‘Regimental Standard’ from Codex: Astra Militarum.

Inquisitor Lord Hector Rex:

Is a HQ choice for Codex: Inquisition, not Codex: Grey Knights.

Rules for his Psybolt Ammunition and Psyk-Out Grenades are found in Codex: Inquisition.

Ignore the listed psychic powers. Instead, generate powers normally from the

Daemonology (Sanctic), Divination, Pyromancy, Telekinesis, and Telepathy disciplines.

Ignore the reference to Rex’s retinue being from Codex: Grey Knights. Instead, if desired,

he may take an Inquisitorial Henchman Warband from Codex: Inquisition.

Ordos Xenos Inquisitor Solomon Lok is a HQ for Codex: Inquisition, not Codex: Grey Knights.

NECRONS

Always use the updated rules for the Gloom Prism found in Games Workshop’s Codex: Necrons

FAQ (or in the updated digital version of the codex).

A Canoptek Tomb Sentinel’s Exile Cannon only causes hits to a unit equal to the number of

models from that particular unit that are under its blast.

Sentry Pylon:

The portion of the Canoptek Artillery special rule forcing enemies to consolidate after each

round of combat is ignored while an Independent Character is joined to a Sentry Pylon unit.

A Tesseract Ark’s Seismic Lash follows all the same clarifications as the Doom Scythe’s Death

Ray (e.g., cannot cause casualties/destroy vehicles that are entirely out of LoS). Also, it only

causes a number of hits to a unit equal to the number of that unit’s models under its line.

ORKS

The Dread Mob Army List Update PDF contains newer profiles for some Ork weapons from IA8.

Replace all references of ‘Armour Plates’ with ‘Extra Armour’ for all Imperial Armour Ork units.

Big-Zzappas have the Zzap special rule for all Imperial Armour Ork units.

Each Grot Sponson on a vehicle may fire at a different enemy target, fired at the same time as

the rest of the vehicle’s shooting. Their shooting is resolved at BS3 and is unaffected by how

fast the vehicle moved and any crew shaken/stunned results their vehicle has suffered.

Always utilize the Kustom Force Field and Ramshackle rules as printed in Codex: Orks, not as

they are found in the Imperial Armour books for all Imperial Armour Ork units.

Big Squiggoth:

Embarked units can fire from a Squiggoth just as firing from an open-topped transport,

with range and line of sight drawn from the howdah. If the Squiggoth moved more than 6”

total that turn (including running) before the embarked unit fires, then they may only fire

Snap Shots. The embarked unit is allowed to fire even if the Squiggoth is locked in combat,

just obviously not at the enemies it is locked in combat with.

When a Squiggoth is killed, embarked units must disembark exactly like a wrecked vehicle.

1-3 Big Trakks can be taken as a single Heavy Support choice in an Orks detachment. Use the

unit entry for the Big Trakk found in the Ork Dread Mob Army List Update PDF .

A Flakk Trakk comes equipped with Flakka-Gunz as well as its 2 Big Shootas.

The Go, Go, Go! special rule (for Flakk Trakks & Flakk Trukks) applies if their target is a Flying

Monstrous Creature, and not just a Flyer.

Ignore the text for the Fighta-Bommer’s Grot-Guided special rule. Instead, that special rule

allows the weapon to re-roll its scatter dice for determining where its blast marker lands.

Grot Tank Battle Mobs:

The random distance rolled for their movement represents the maximum amount

they can be moved, not the distance they have to be moved.

If a Gun Wagon takes the ‘Ard Case upgrade, then it has 3 Access Points and 2 Fire Points, the

locations of which can be modeled as desired.

For the Kustom Meka-Dread’s Fixin Klaws, ignore the final portion of the rule in parenthesis

that says the Rage special rule has: ‘already been included in the Meka-Dread’s profile’.

If a Lifta Wagon rolls a Flyin’ result on the Jury-rigged Lifta-droppa Mishap table, then roll again

(not on the Mishap table) to see what effect is resolved against the Lifta Wagon, re-rolling any

further ‘1’s that are rolled.

Treat a Mekboy Junka’s Junka Force Field Generator as a Kustom Force Field.

If a Jam is rolled for a Warkopta’s Rattler Cannon, the weapon is immediately destroyed

without firing any shots that round.

Mek Boss Buzzgob:

Has the Ere We Go! special rule.

Ignore his Warlord Trait, as it is redundant.

Zhadsnark Da Rippa:

Has the Ere We Go! special rule.

Ignore his Exhaust Cloud special rule. Instead, if he Turbo-Boosts, he counts his cover save

as being 1 point higher than normal until the start of his next turn.

He may not perform a Tank Shock while joined to a friendly unit.

His Biker Boss Warlord Trait applies only to his detachment.

SPACE MARINES (ALL CHAPTERS)

Models with the Carcharodons Chapter Tactics only gain the Rage special rule when causing an

enemy infantry unit to fall back from combat, not from shooting or by any other method.

Any Space Marine with Void Hardened Armour is treated as having regular power armor in

standard tournament games where the Cold Void rules are not in effect.

A Keeper of Relics (page 243 of Imperial Armour Volume 2) for a Blood Angels detachment is a

Chaplain (not a Reclusiarch), and for a Space Wolves detachment it is a Rune Priest (ignore the

requirement of ‘the Saga of the Beast Slayer’).

A Caestus Assault Ram’s Teleport Homer can be used to aid allied teleporting units, but cannot

be utilized the same turn the Caestus arrives from Reserve.

A Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought only gains the +1A bonus to its profile if both its arms are

equipped with a melee weapon.

Damocles Command Rhino:

Its Teleport Homer can be used to aid allied teleporting units, but cannot be utilized the

same turn the Damocles arrives from Reserve.

For its Command Vox Relay, decide which Reserve roll modifier to apply (if any) after each

Reserve roll is made.

When firing a Deathstorm Drop Pod’s Whirlwind Launcher, nominate a target within 12” and

roll a D3 to see how many whirlwind shots are fired at it. Then declare which type(s) of

whirlwind blast (vengeance or incendiary castellan) are being used for each shot fired,

resolving them as a multiple barrage if more than one shot is being fired. After that, nominate

another target within 12” and repeat until all units within 12” have been targeted.

Ignore the entire Grey Knights MK IV Doomglaive Pattern Dreadnought unit entry on page 215

of Imperial Armour Volume 2, 2nd Edition. Instead, a Grey Knights Dreadnought with the

Venerable Dreadnought upgrade may replace all of its weapons with a Psycannon and

Doomglaive with built-in Incinerator for +15 points. A Doomglaive is a Dreadnought Close

Combat Weapon with the Force and Daemonbane special rules.

Ignore the entire Grey Knights Vortimer Pattern Razorback unit entry on page 212 of Imperial

Armour Volume 2, 2nd Edition. Instead, a Grey Knights Razorback may upgrade its Twin-Linked

Heavy Bolter to a Twin-Linked Psycannon for +25 points.

Land Speeder Tempests in the same squadron must always make the same choice as to

whether or not to use their Afterburners special rule.

A Dreadnought arriving in a Lucius Drop Pod does can elect to remain embarked upon the pod

if desired. If it does so, it cannot be targeted while embarked as normal.

When a Template weapon hits a Lucius Drop Pod with a Dreadnought embarked upon it, the

D6 No Escape hits inflicted on the Dreadnought are resolved against its rear armor.

A Mortis Dreadnought (both the Contemptor-Mortis & the Mark V Mortis) needs to remain

stationary in its own movement phase in order to gain the Skyfire & Interceptor special rules.

When a destroyed Space Marine Rapier Carrier explodes, determine cover saves and vehicle

armor arcs from the center of the blast.

Space Wolves Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought:

Ignore the option to take a Wolf Tail Talisman and Wolftooth Necklace, as they no longer

exist.

The last part of each Night Saga (after the semicolon) is a completely optional goal for the

Dreadnought. There is no penalty if this goal is not achieved.

Tarantula Sentry Gun Battery:

Uses its listed Toughness of 6, not Toughness 7 as is normally the case for gun models.

The firing mode for each Sentry Gun must be declared when the unit is deployed.

Note that the Targeting rule can force a Sentry Gun battery armed with differing weaponry

to fire at more than one target unit.

If Ahazra Redth re-rolls a failed psychic test using his Talisman of Sundered Souls, all the dice

must be re-rolled (even the successful ones).

Ignore Armenneus Valthex’s Master of Machines special rule, as it is redundant.

Cover saves may not be taken against Bray’ath Ashmantle’s Burning Wrath attacks.

Ignore Captain Mordaci Blaylock’s Terminator Attack special rule, as it is redundant.

The target of Captain Pellas Mir’san’s Master Duelist special rule is declared at the start of the

fight sub-phase, after any potential challenge has been accepted or refused.

Captain Silas Alberec:

The special Deny the Witch test against Force weapons granted by his Hexagrammic Wards

special rule is just a standard Deny the Witch test, but with successes being rolls of 4+.

When using the Soul-Seared Champions special rule to re-roll failed Deny the Witch tests,

all the dice must be re-rolled (even the successful ones).

Ignore Chaplain Dreadnought Titus’ Immovable Object Warlord Trait, as it is redundant.

If Hecaton Aiakos uses his Groundstrike attack, he Piles In at the I1 step before making it.

Knight-Captain Elam Courbray:

When attacking with Excellus, Courbray counts has having the Smash universal special rule

as found in the main rulebook. This means Excellus is always AP2 and he can also elect to

make a single double-Strength attack with it instead of making his normal attacks.

If a Delayed Deep Strike mishap returns Courbray back into reserve, he does generate an

additional Firefall attack each time he arrives again via Deep Strike.

Models wounded by Lias Issodon’s Infiltrate, Isolate and Destroy special rule may take a cover

save if they are actually standing in cover or have an ability that provides them a cover save.

These attacks cannot cause a morale check.

When Lord High Commander Carab Culln is attacking with his Blade of the Scorpion, he counts

as having the Smash special universal special rule as found in the main rulebook. This the Blade

of the Scorpion is always AP2 and he can also elect to make a single double-Strength attack

with it instead of making his normal attacks.

While Lugft Huron is laid down on his side due to the Shadowed Fate special rule, he cannot be

charged or otherwise affect the game. If he stands back up, he cannot be placed into base

contact with an enemy model.

Activating Sevrin Loth’s Armor of Selket doesn’t require a psychic test and cannot be nullified.

Harath Shen’s Sacred Trust special rule is only used in a mission where every unit destroyed

generates a victory point, such as with the Purge the Alien mission.

Shadow Captain Korvydae has the Chapter Tactics (Raven Guard) special rule and his Raiding

Tactics special rule only applies to the detachment he is part of.

Tyberos the Red Wake must declare how he will split his combat attacks between his two

melee weapons (Hunger & Slake) at the start of the fight sub-phase, after any potential

challenge has already been accepted or refused.

Vigilator-Sergeant Hamath Kraatos:

Kraatos has the Chapter Tactics (Minotaurs) special rule and may only be taken as an

upgrade for a Devastator unit that shares the same Chapter Tactics.

When firing an Assassin Bolt at a non-vehicle model, the attack requires a roll of 4+ to

wound, even if the target’s Toughness is 5 or less. Against vehicles, Assassin Bolts are S4.

Wolf Lord Bran Redmaw:

Ignore the Wolftooth Necklace and replace ‘Rune Armour’ with ‘Runic Armour’.

The Axe Langvast is a Power Axe with the Shred special rule.

In the Patient Killers special rule, ignore reference to the Behind Enemy Lines special rule.

Only roll to see if Bran Redmaw succumbs to the curse on a turn where he starts on the

table (i.e. not while in reserve). If he succumbs while embarked on a vehicle, he

immediately disembarks. If joined to a unit when he succumbs, he immediately counts as

having left the unit (although he may rejoin it later).

The Redmaw’s unit type is Monstrous Creature, not Infantry; this means he also has all

the special rules that monstrous creatures naturally have.

TAU

The XV84 Crisis Battlesuit’s Networked Markerlight & Target Lock do not use up any of the

model’s normal ability to select weapons and/or support systems.

XV9 Hazard Close Support Team:

An Ethereal’s Storm of Fire special rule does affect a Pulse Submunitions Rifle.

Each Hazard Shas’yr may select a different Additional System if desired.

Tau Battlesuit Commander R’Alai:

An Ethereal’s Storm of Fire special rule does not affect R’alai’s pulse submunitions rifle

when firing any experimental ammunition type.

Check range for the Eclipse Shield Generator once per enemy unit firing at R’Alai (not

separately for each firing model).

Sensor Tower Grid:

Each Sensor Tower taken in a Sensor Tower Grid is independent and fires separately.

Each Sensor Tower is attacked/affected exactly like an individual Gun Emplacement.

TYRANIDS

N/A

CLOSING REMARKS

The Warhammer 40,000 FAQ process begins with NOVA staff canvassing the community for

rules questions and discussions. Special thanks go out to the wide variety of individuals directly

involved with its production. Any questions answered explicitly by the rules in the books/codices

(even if not popularly understood) are left out of the FAQ to streamline its length.

After rules are collected, put into the FAQ document, and given their initial answers, the Chief

40k Rules Judge makes final rulings on contentious issues, and the Draft FAQ is published. Within

the week, the Draft FAQ is given a final revision, with especially contentious or overlooked rules

once more revisited.

If you are interested in helping participate in the NOVA Open 40k FAQ process, send an e-mail

following the Convention to mvbrandt@gmail.com, cc novaopen@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you at the NOVA Open 2015!

- The NOVA Open 40k Team