ISSUE: Can a Baal Predator (whose controlling player is going first) use smoke launchers during its scout move, move and/or shoot on its first turn (turn 1a), and still claim the cover save provided by the smoke launchers during the opponent’s first-turn shooting phase (turn 1b)?
HOLDING: Yes, the Baal Predator may still claim the cover save from Smoke Launchers used during its Scout Move in turn 1b, even if it moves and fires on turn 1a.
ANALYSIS:
Justicar GiantKiller delivers the opinion of the court.
This issue arises from a GW FAQ ruling indicating that Baal Predators can use their smoke launchers during a scout move:
“Q: Can a Baal Predator use smoke launchers during its Scout move? (p36)
A: Yes.” Codex: Blood Angels FAQ v1.2 p.2 (June 2011)
The question then arises: can the Baal Predator claim the benefit of the Smoke Launchers it used during its scout move during its opponent’s first shooting phase, even if it moves and shoots in the Blood Angels’ first turn. Note: for this to be at all relevant, we must assume for purposes of this discussion that the Blood Angels player has first turn. Otherwise the Baal would have no chance to act before smoke launchers came into play. Accordingly, the Blood Angels player’s first turn (the one controlling the Baal Predator) will hereinafter referred to as 1a and his opponent’s first turn will be 1b.
We begin by analyzing the language of the smoke launcher rule. The rule for smoke launchers tells us:
“Once per game, after completing its move, a vehicle with smoke launchers can trigger them (it doesn’t matter how far it moved). Place some cotton wool or other suitable marker on or around the vehicle to show it is obscured. The vehicle may not fire any of its weapons in the same turn as it used its smoke launchers, but will count as obscured in the next enemy Shooting phase, receiving a 4+ cover save. After the enemy’s shooting phase, the smoke disperses with no further effect. Note that a vehicle may still use smoke launchers even if its crew are shaken or stunned. It is worth pointing out that some armies might use different versions of smoke launchers, which have slightly different rules. As normal, the rules in the Codex take precedence.” BGB p. 62
We note that Codex: Blood Angels is NOT a codex which uses different versions of smoke launchers. Its entry for smoke launchers refers the reader to the BGB for the rules regarding their operation. (Codex: Blood Angels p. 61).
So, looking at the rule one piece at a time, we first recognize that the smoke launcher must be used at the end of the vehicle’s move. This includes the scout move per the BA FAQ as quoted previously. The language of that FAQ entry is clear. It provides no exception or restriction.
Next we recognize that the vehicle cannot fire any weapons in the same turn as it used its smoke launchers. That means we need to figure out exactly when this scout move takes place. If the scout move is considered part of the first turn, a Baal which fired smoke launchers during its scout move would be prohibited from firing in the first turn. So we turn to the rule for Scouts:
“[A]fter both sides have deployed (including infiltrators), but before the first player begins his first turn, any scouts may make a normal move. This is done exactly as in their Movement phase, except that during this move, scouts must remain more than 12″ away from any enemy.” BGB p. 76
No ambiguity there. This language clearly indicates that the scout move takes place before the first turn begins. It is therefore not part of turn 1. The rule essentially carves out a new sub-section of the deployment phase that we’ll refer to, unsurprisingly, as the “scout move phase”.
Moving on, we recognize that effect lasts through the opposing player’s next shooting phase and ends at the conclusion of that phase. We note that there is no exception in the language for smoke launchers fired outside of the normal player turn sequence. Thus, it doesn’t matter when the smoke launchers are fired – during the scout move phase, turn 1a, or turn 3b – they last until the end of the opponent’s next shooting phase. We note further that there is no language which allows the effect to be “canceled” or end prematurely. The only way to remove the smoke launcher effect is to reach the end of the opponent’s next shooting phase.
So, based on the language of the smoke launcher rule, the Scouts rule, and the FAQ, we know the following:
1. The Baal Predator can use its smoke launchers in the scout move phase after completing its move
2. Even if it used smoke launchers in the scout move phase, the Baal Predator is NOT prohibited from shooting in turn 1 because the scout move phase is not part of turn 1.
3. The smoke launcher effect will last until the end of the opponent’s next shooting phase and is not removed if the vehicle shoots.
It has been argued that a Baal Predator which uses smoke launchers in its scout move must be prohibited from firing during turn 1a, or that the smoke launcher effect should cease to work if the vehicle fires during turn 1a – not because it follows the language of the rules, but because any other conclusion would violate GW’s intent. Of course, that argument hangs its hat on the presumption that GW intended for the smoke launcher rule to always have both a benefit (the cover save) and a drawback (being unable to shoot) and to gain the benefit while escaping the drawback is somehow impermissible. We find this argument unpersuasive. The best sources of GW’s intent are GW’s words – the rules and FAQ entries GW publishes. Thus, when the language of the rules are clear and unambiguous, the Plain Language Canon mandates that we must interpret and apply them precisely as they are written. Nowhere are we given permission to add or subtract language from rules to conform with our ideal of GW’s intent.
It has also been argued that the Baal Predator should lose the ability to fire for the duration of the smoke launcher effect because it is “unrealistic” for the vehicle to be able to see and fire through a cloud of smoke. This argument, too, is entirely unpersuasive because there’s no such thing as a baal predator. Everything, absolutely everything in 40k is fiction. These fictional units are represented by models, and how they interact with the imaginary world around them is entirely governed by the rules of the game. How these things would work “in real life” is exactly as relevant to this discussion as the precise ratio of unicorns to heffalumps in munchkinland.
The language of these rules is clear and unambiguous. We must therefore conclude that a Baal Predator can utilize its smoke launchers during the scout move phase after it completes its move. The Baal Predator may then move and fire as normal during turn 1a and neither of these actions removes the Smoke Launcher effect. The Baal Predator may therefore continue to claim the cover save from Smoke Launchers during its opponent’s shooting phase during turn 1b. So holds the court.