I'm going to just cut and paste my email to GW about this. DO NOT DISCOUNT THIS instantaneously. Don't be like those guys who play MW3 because it's "cool" when really they do it to be like everyone else forgetting how crappy of a game it is with a 9 year old graphics engine, disproportionality, inaccurate weapon specs, etc (I'm done :rolleyes: ). Read this because I think it is very very logical. Yet no one does this because they want the "cheap night goblins" who have to suffer through animosity (they forget) to suffer as they do with fanatics.

There is no way that the fanatic can "run through" your releasing NG unit because he is not his own unit until he lands and completes his entire move. Then, technically, you can release him from the back of the unit forward. Read...

Many players think that, upon release, you place a fanatic touching any edge of the unit it is leaving, as its own unit outside of the NG unit, then designate the direction and roll for distance.

However, I read the rules to say that you point out ANY particular spot INSIDE the night goblin unit, where from the Fanatic starts, then declaring direction and rolling distance and measuring from that spot and not the edge of the unit. The rule says literally, word for word "When the fanatic is released, you may choose the direction in which it travels, and the POINT ON the concealing unit from which it starts." It does NOT say unit edge. This concerns me because people think I'm cheating when I do that since what I do is if I am being charged, at 8 inches, I send them from the rear forward to intercept without running through (so they can instead be run over) for the extra few inches, further guaranteeing my chances of them landing in front of the charger unit for the 2d6 hits. They think that what I need to do is place him outside the unit, send him through, do 1d6 to myself because he is going through. (this does not pertain necessarily but even then I still don't have to do damage to myself because he is not his own unit until he is released, therefore, even if they are right, I still don't roll 1d6 damage to my own unit if he starts from the behind).

Ultimately, am I correct in thinking the fanatic is, as the wording says, not his own unit until after release, which means i declare a spot within the unit that he initiates his move from (whether it be the very middle of the unit, the last rank, between two models, etc.; as long as it is inside the unit) then upon direction and distance rolling, his "running through" my unit is not running through to cause damage, but just part of release. So I am allowed to say he, say, starts on the back row, moves forward for the extra inches, pops out of the unit, lands where he rolls to, all without causing my NGs to take 1d6 hits.

Additionally, under the rules for "running through," it seems the fanatic cannot do damage unless it either runs through or is touched by a unit. Therefore, since it can only run through after it is its own unit, upon completion of "release" from the unit, no matter how far back you place it within a night goblin unit, it will never "run through" it because it is still part of that unit.

I have also pointed out numerous times your staff have used words like "base to base contact" and "choose an edge," further proving that if you meant an edge, you would have written that, showing your capacity to do so.

I think this is an issue that needs addressing because GW employees, ex-GW employees, hobbyists, leagues, tournaments, all follow different methods, ultimately harming the use of fanatics. Please do so if you feel it is necessary as well.

Thanks for the help! And sorry for the explanation. I wanted to be as clear as possible.

Arguably I am correct in saying also that if you choose the front rank from it to leave from, it is still leaving from A POINT within the concealing unit. Therefore, it is running through that unit, by other persons' standards. Then, inevitably, any release would cause the damage to the NGs. This is not the case obviously.

Oh and look at the rules while you read it. The words are clear.

I address this because numerous players play fanatics differently, but I am now convinced no one has read the rules. Even tourney players. And highly likely a large percentage of the prostitute community.

The notion that fanatics do damage to the unit releasing them is plain retarded and if your opponent suggested that he is a large bag of douche.

As far as where they are released from I usually send mine from the front but of a gobbo player wanted to send em from the back against me and explained his interpretation of the rules I don't see why it should not be allowed!

It's good to hear I'm not crazy. Everyone says this, but no one plays OnG. Even more so I saw the flaw in everyone's arguments as to how they are played. If I get a response from FAQ I'll post it.

Also, I can't remember if I mentioned it in that email, but what really bothered me was the local GW guy says I am wrong also, that you release him from the front. But the rule says nothing about the "front," "edge," or the fanatic running through the unit. Bothered the hell out of me to realize he didn't know. But thinking about it, there is no way they would train their employees on that. I just wish it was as obvious to everyone else.

Not saying I think your interpretation of the rules is wrong, but really?

I play it as placing the fanatic on the edge of the unit, nominate direction, then rolling distance.

If an opponent doesn't like that (rare), I'll measure distance from the edge of the unit.

I don't want to split hairs about how rules are written/worded.

But can you imagine Night Goblins releasing a fanatic from a point inside their ranks? If you can imagine this (which I think is feasible, given their mushroom-induced hallucinations), I would say that the Night Goblin unit does take 1d6 hits because they are crazy/stupid enough to release the bugger before he has cleared their ranks.

If I decided to play it like you do, this is how I would reason it - fluff-wise, not RAW/RAI.

Edit: Just wanted to add after I read your third post that I think it is clear that you can release a fanatic from any edge of the unit, not just the front. I agree that the GW employee you referenced is wrong.

I agree that it doesn't make sense, but the game is to be taken literally. Adding that little assumption when it is not specified in the rule book is like me saying in chess, when I move my knight, he technically runs over everyone in his 'L' shaped movement. But this is not a rule. Terrible example, but one nonetheless. Another applicable example:

Lets say I win combat and cause a unit to flee. Behind him (in the direction in which he will be fleeing and I will be pursuing), 4 inches away is another one of his units. If I roll a 4 on the pursuit, I run into him and enter assault combat.
However, If i roll an 8, Yes I still run into combat with him, but if the fleeing enemy rolls a 7 with that next unit only being 4 inches away, shouldnt my running into that next unit cancel out the pursuit and my technical run down not run him down, allowing him to survive? No this is not the case. Unrealistically, it counts as me running him down AND running into combat with the unit that technically should have blocked my units pursuit! (Imagine this is against ogres so they don't panic from friendly units running, or similarly, goblins running away and through orcs, not scaring orcs)

My point is rules here don't often make huge sense. If the Fanatic can only do damage when it "Runs through" and the run through rules only happen when the fanatic moves INTO CONTACT (not from within), then technically, and unrealistically, doesn't it not cause damage. Plus, Sure they are goblins, but can't they move out of the way of the known fanatic in their group. Fluff wise, he eats the shroom, eveyone knows to get the hell out of the way.

You don't even need to start the fanatic in the back of the unit and send him forward to do 2D6 against a unit charging you. The fact the unit is charging you and, let's say, will complete the charge, if you want to send the fanatics at the charging unit then he will take 2D6 anyway because as they are released, he will be moving / charging through them. Charging is still a movement in the movement phase and will trigger that fanatics Death Throws.

No need to even bring the Fanatics out. If you want them targeted at the unit charging you who makes a successful charge, then he will automatically take those 2D6 hits per fanatic you decide go in his direction.


My understanding of the rules is once an enemy unit is within 8", the fanatics move 2D6 in the direction of your choosing upon their release. I consider the Fanatics released once I've taken the model and started it at the edge of the unit, anywhere on the edge of the unit. Representing the Fanatic being "pushed out of the unit by his comrades" or "released" and then moving 2D6.

It seems to work well enough and have not had any quarrels about it.

Why it would be nice to send them from the back forward is, say, I'm being charged by Iron Guts. I want a greater chance of the fanatics landing in their path rather than running through. If they are in the way, running them over by completing the charge will do 2d6 wounds, as opposed to 1d6 with nowhere near a guarantee they will swing back around. If they are sent from the back, there is a guarantee they will land in the path of the charging unit, rather than run through them by shooting the forward. At release of 8 inches, 2d6 gives you a 65-70% chance the fanatic will land in front of the charging unit in launched from the front. If you have 40+ gobbos, sending them from the back will guarantee a land in front., even if you roll box cars.

About reading it to say place the fanatic touching. It doesn't state that. That's why I'm so bummed. everyone says you place him outside the unit, but it states you designate where it starts from on the unit. When you shoot a stone thrower, it says to "place the template on...," whereby the writers would have said about the fanatics "place them touching the unit, then roll for distance after declaring direction."

I don't completely discount the possibility they start touching the unit. However, they have shown they will say that if they meant that before. That is why I have issue with the rules behind release and run through.

I always played that u measure how far he goes from the edge of the unit that releases him rather than placing him in front of the unit and measuring from the fanatics base..

That is how I play now as well to make others happy.

Well, hopefully faq will care enough about it because the language is ambiguous that either they will respond to clarify the issue.

It doesn't matter where your fanatics start from if your intention is to release them at the unit charging you. If the unit charging you is making a successful charge, then no matter what, that unit is making it into base contact.

That being the case, whether you release the Fanatics from behind, in the middle or in front of your unit, the enemy unit will charge through them no matter what since the charge is ( for sake of argument) successful.

Hell, technically you don't even have to have the fanatics on board. Just say that the charging enemy unit takes "x" amount of hits from the fanatics you decided to release into its charging direction, and they are automatically dead since they were charged through, doing "x" amount of hits ( including the death throws).

As I explained above, that isn't true. The fanatics release when a unit is 8inches away. If the charging unit makes its charge, the fanatics are released once 8 inches away. A fanatic (lets say just in this instance) will move from the front rank forward, towards the charging enemy. It moves 2d6. The shortest distance it can move is 2 inches. the longest is 12. If it moves 12, 11, 10, 9, or 8 inches, it will run through the unit doing 1d6, not 2d6. So there is a chance that it will run through and not stop in the way as I want them to.

Now if you release them from the back of the unit, lets say it has 40 goblins. The unit will be about 5 inches long. This means that it moves 5 inches up to the front of the unit no matter if the roll is 2, 3, 4, or 5. But if I roll a 12, this means that i move 5 inches through the unit, then 7 once outside the NG unit, landing 1 inch away and in front of the charging unit. No matter the roll, if you start form the back of the unit, the fanatic will land in its path and not run through. If you release as close to the charging unit as you can, there is a 70% chance it will land in its path.

Yes, Forchark has got it right. You've got to balance your own casualties and how much you want to gamble on the fanatics landing in their path instead of going straight through.

It took me until this post to see why there was a difference, but yes, if a fanatic sails through a charging unit 8 inches away it is only 1d6 damage.