Independent Characters and a Squad in an Assault

Here is a question that comes up often and I’ve heard it argued both ways….

If you have an independent character attached to a squad and that squad is involved in an assault, do the wounds that the squad takes need to be spread to the independent character?

We already discussed how the IC gets into assault, but now let’s go over what happens when he’s there.

On page 49 is the description of ICs in an assault. Essentially, they are treated as a separate unit and the assault becomes a “multi-unit” assault at that time. This means that the IC can only beat up on those in base contact with him.

The first misconception I hear is that only those models in base-to-base contact with the IC can attack him. I can understand why people believe this. The IC must be in b2b, so the theory goes that anyone attacking him must be in b2b. But this isn’t true.

The IC must be in b2b contact with “the enemy to be able to attack” (pg 49). As long as he is touching a unit, he can attack it. The IC can then be targeted separately by “models that are engaged with them”. Who is engaged? Go back to page 45: all models in b2b and all models within 2” of those who are b2b.

The reason they specify that the IC must be in b2b is because an IC is a single-model unit. It doesn’t have anyone within 2” of him that is part of his unit in assault because he is a separate unit. Yeah, sounds like a circular argument.

So the IC needs to be in b2b, but the other unit that he is fighting needs to just be “engaged” in combat with him.

So, now that you’ve attacked the unit that the IC was attached to, how do you allocate wounds?

For example, let’s say a Space Marine Captain (an IC) was attached to a 10 man tactical squad. You caused 15 wounds on the tactical squad, but none on the Captain. How does the Space Marine player distribute the wounds?

Does the Captain and every member of the squad each get one wound and the four remaining wounds are distributed among the rest of the squad?

Does the Captain take no wounds and the squad has to distribute all 15 amongst themselves?

From the book (pg49 again): “Once all attacks have been resolved, these characters are once again treated as normal members of the unit they have joined (from determining assault results onwards).”

The only time you consider the Captain as part of the squad is AFTER the attacks have been resolved. But when it that? Before or after the saves? The key is what was added to the sentence in the parenthesis: “from determining assault results onwards”.

Go back to page 39 and read the paragraph headers: “Allocating wounds”, “Taking Saves”, “Removing Casualties”, “Determining Assault Results”, and “Check Morale”. THAT is what they are referring to.

Determining Assault Results is AFTER taking saves/removing the dead and BEFORE checking morale. This is actually what makes an IC different in a multi-assault than a full-blown second unit in a multi-assault.

In the example above, all 15 wounds would need to be spread around to the 10 man tactical squad.

So now let’s look at the No Retreat! rule (page 44). It states that a Fearless unit will suffer the number of unsaved wounds they lost a combat by (armor saves allowed). I have heard about a tactic where if a Fearless IC attached to a unit attacks you, then focus on the unit since you can cause more wounds on the unit than the IC and, if they lose, the IC himself will take the number that his side lost by.

This is simply untrue. Remember the order: Allocate Wounds, Take Saves, Remove Casualties, Determine Assault Results, Check Morale.

The Fearless IC is now back to being part of the squad when you are checking morale. He is not a separate unit anymore and so the wounds caused by the No Retreat rule will be spread around the squad as a whole, not the squad and IC separately.

Now, if a big single-unit fearless monster attacks you alongside a weaker unit and the big monster is NOT considered an Independent Character, then by all means, attack the smaller unit first. This will cause two things: a) you are more likely to win the assault because you caused more wounds and b) the big ugly fearless monster will need to suffer the number of wounds HIS SIDE lost by. But this is a situational tactic, mostly used against Nids. This is why it is important to start asking “Is that big ugly fearless bug an independent character attached to that squad or just a single-model unit?”

Everything in this game is done in steps and those steps have a very specific order. From moving to shooting to assaulting, everything must follow an order. IC’s break apart from the squad at one step, then re-enter at another. It’s important to remember these steps when looking at the exceptions to the rules and where they fit in.




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