Homing Beacons in IA8

[littlemac]

What do homing beacons do? Just got Imperial Armour 8 and I can't find what page their on, yet everything seems to be able to get one for an upgrade. Where are these discussed?

[RedCuffs]

It was one of many items that did not have any description in IA8.
I phoned Forgeworld directly after I bought my IA8 a couple of years ago.
The answer I got (I wrote them all down immediately) follows.

Any unit attempting to deep strike within 12" of the beacon (you can pre-measure) may re-roll the scatter if they wish to.
The beacon carrier may move as normal before or after the deep strike.

I found out a lot from thoe couple of phone calls I made. I should post up these findings in a thread when I get around to it.

[littlemac]

Thanks a bunch! ;D

[tkevin8412]

Not sure if this is threadomancy, but I think my questions would be better here as opposed to a new thread.

First off, I want to clarify that if the beacon carrier is in a vehicle, the beacon can still be used, as long as the rest of the rules are followed, and that it's range is measured from the hull of the vehice.

Secondly, and these next questions are going to be more open to opinion, does the GK Warp Quake affect the homing beacon? Fluff-wise I would think so, but because the beacon doesn't not prevent, but only mitigates scatter, I am inclined to believe it can be used.

Finally, can units using a Valkyrie's Grav Chute Insertion rule use the beacon to reduce scatter? This question is in the same vein as whether Storm Troopers are allowed to Grav Chute Insertion with their own Airborne Assaulr rule.

[RedCuffs]

As far as I am concerned if there is nothing in the rules or codex saying that I can't use something in a particular situation then I'll use it.

So there's nothing that I can see saying that a Coy Cdr cannot use his homing beacon whilst sat in his Valkyrie.

As for where you measure it from ... well the hull is as good a place as any? you've got to measure it from somewhere haven't you?

I see no reason why a homing beacon cannot affect Grav Chute Insertion. The rules don't contradict each other in any way. In fact I'd say they were made to be used with each other.

I'd say it also allows you a third go at rolling the scatter dice for stormtroopers with Airbourne Assault

As for warp quake ... dunno mate, I don't know anything about Grey Knights

[tkevin8412]

Thanks for the response, but I'm pretty sure it's stated somewhere in the rule book that you can only reroll something once for a total of 2 rolls.

I wait for a GK player/opponent to respond to that one.

[RedCuffs]

So it does, One Re-Roll only. It's like rule number one in the book.

[tkevin8412]

Hey, it's me again, with the coming of 6th edition and new speed, and fragility, of flyers, I thought of an idea, but it might be a bit questionable.

Here's the question:
Is there anything stopping a unit from benefiting from it's homing beacon when they themselves are deep striking? I plan to use this when performing Grav-Chute Insertions since my gaming group considers that a deep strike.

[RedCuffs]

I've got a strong feeling that the homing beacon must be on the board already for any unit to benefit from it.

If you use valks you could use this to get the desired effect. As you know a Tauros may embark onto a Valkyrie as a dedicated transport.

So, Homing beacon on your tauros.
Tauros into the Valk/V-Dett starting onto the board.

Start the game "Op Rolling Thunder" stylee ...

Hope the homing beacon survives until the successful reserve rolls.

As far as I'm concerned The beacon is on the board and therefore you can benefit from it.
Doesn't have to be a Tauros, could be your Coy Cdr.

By the way, In Forgeworld Apoc 2nd ed It considers the Venator as simply a version of the Tauros in the same way a Vendetta is simply a version of the Valkyrie.

To upgrade a Tauros to a Venator costs 20 points so a venator costs total 10 points more than in IA8.
Both types of Tauros are the same in every other respect.

I use this method as well as having another valk could have the LRGS in to twin link said DS ing units.