Hi I've recently returned to the hobby and I have lots of questions after some practice skirmishes.

1. Brutal Power Attacks: It says that rules that effect strikes don't apply to BPAs, but it lists Heroic strength as one of these dispite Heroic Strength not applying to the models strikes at all, only its strength for that phase. Seems odd. Would this mean that monsters can ignore effects like the spell Wither by using BPAs?

2. Brutal Power Attack: Hurl. Is the distance hurled measured from the base of the monster or target?

2.5 Brutal Power Attack: Hurl. "All models passed through...." do you use the target's base to see what is passed through? Or a line?
Seems like models like Radagast on his sleigh could be hurled to kill a small army in 1 go.

3. When a rule says "within" is it wholly within or partially within the radius?

4. Fight phase, Backing Away: In what order are models chosen to back away?

5. Fight phase, Backing Away: Can a model Make Way for multiple models in one phase? As in multiple combats happen and the model Makes Way for each fight.

6. Heroic combats: If a model hasn't used their throwing weapon this turn, are they allowed to use it when they charge again due to the heroic combat?

7. Heroic combats: If a war bat is part of a heroic combat, can they use the Pluck rule again?

8. Cavalry, Knocked Flying: If a rider is knocked flying, are there any rules on where around the mount they must be placed? Who chooses this?

9. Brutal Power Attacks and prone models: If a monster is prone and wins its fight, can it use Brutal Power Attacks? The rules state that a prone model may make no strikes, but the rules state that Brutal Power Attacks do not follow the rules for strikes or anything that effects them.

10. Special strikes, Feint or Stab: What does it mean by "including Supporting models"? If it was referring to all allies in the fight then it would also need to mention other people as part of a multiple combat, but it doesn't. Does a hobbit fighting with Aragon against an orc use either Feint or Stab? If they are using Feint, does this reduce the fight value for duel rolls for both the hobbit and Aragon?

11. Legendary Legion, Depths of Moria, ...and Flame: Can the Balrog use ...and Flame while in a combat?

12. The Goblin King, Goblin Projectile: Does this rule follow the rules for standard shooting attacks, such as bows? The rule sounds like it's stating the context in which is may be used, but is it including the context of standard shots as well? Standard shots may not be taken if in combat so it sounds like you ignore all other rules for shooting.

13. Matched Play, Sudden Death: When does this occur? What about with rules like Set Ablaze's end of turn damage or Ashrak's Death-Touch?

14. Special rules, Swift Movement: Shelob is walking along a wall such that her base is more than 1 inch away from an enemies base, but her model is unable to pass due it touching the enemies model. How do you rule this? By the rules you use control zones to know if someone is able to move around, but this breaks down when models are not moving on a relatively flat surface.

14.5 Special rules, Swift Movement: This rule allows a model to ignore obvious obstacles, but what about things like a street lamp (long vertical pole)? I've found this really annoying since large spider models can get blocked by all kinds of things.

Thanks for reading. Took a while, but I finally asked most of my questions.

Alright, here is my best crack at some answers.

1. The rule states that “special rules and heroic actions that would affect a Monster model’s strikes.” Since strikes are made by comparing strength to defense so it seems to me that altering either strength for defense of the respective models will “affect” the strike by changing the number that needs to be rolled to cause a wood. As to wither, the rule speaks only to “special rules and heroic actions,” and not to spells. It could be read from those words that things that are not special rules or brutal power attacks can affect strikes in concert with brutal power attacks: Meaning spells like blade wrath, wither, and even enchanted blades would be usable. Now, the examples listed include doubling strikes for trapped models and special strikes, which isn’t either a special rule or a heroic action. This could be taken to mean that, even though the rule only says it applies to “special rules and heroic actions that would affect a Monster model’s strikes” it really covers every rule in the game that isn’t expressly exempt (see heroic defense). Now, there doesn’t seem to be a clear answer in the rules and there isn’t an FAQ for it either. Once I figure out how to send one of these to GW’s ME team, I’ll send this along. For now, it is just a decision that you are going to have to make between the people you play as you go.

2. I’ve always seen it played as being from the base of the monster doing the hurling and I believe that is the implication from the words. If you look at the little example picture on pg. 78, I think the image supports this as being correct because it shows the arrow being generated from Beorn, indicating that his base is the point being measured from.

2.5. The target’s base. Yep, that sort of makes it a little better considering what a terror that sleigh is normally.

3. It’s always been played as partly within unless the rule is specifically written to be wholly within. I think it’s just the way GW always used the word in all there games up until the recent editions of AoS and 40k. ME never adopted the wholly within change in meaning.

4. In the order chosen by the player controlling the models that are doing the backing away.

5. Yes.

6. No, the wording of the relevant rules makes it seem possible, but GW game out with an FAQ that says that wasn’t intended and that it cannot be done.

7. I don’t have the rule in front of me, so I don’t know if it specifies phase, but there is no FAQ saying that it cannot. I would still play that it couldn’t be done based on the throwing weapons FAQ mentioned above and that a model cannot do magic either. It seems to be that the as a model moves/charges rules are supposed to be move phase specific.

8. The newly unseated models controlling player decides where the dismount is placed. This doesn’t let you escape combat though, so you have to put the model into base contact with what it was fighting when mounted as best you can.

9. Rules as written; you can use brutal power attacks. I would think this is an oversight in that the older wording from the combat resolution rules wasn’t updated to account for brutal power attacks and since monsters are almost never prone, no one has noticed.

10. Supporting models means a model that is supporting in combat with a spear, pike, halberd, or the chittering horde rule and not other friendly models engaged with the same enemy model. Using feint only affects the fight value of the model using the special strike. In your example, the hobbit could feint, and Aragorn’s fight would not change.

11. I don’t have the book with that rule in front of me, I’d imagine so.

12. I’ve not got this rule in front of me either and I’ve seen it so infrequently that I can’t even guess how it works. Hopefully someone else can take this one.

13. The end of the turn is at the end of the end phase. Or between the end of the end phase and the start of the next priority phase. However you think of it, it happens after things that are resolved in the end phase occur.

14. I think the rule for cavalry and doorways (pg. 58) is the most applicable here. If the mount and base can fit through a door, the whole model is assumed to be able to do it. A degree of realism and player compromise is required. Applied to your spider question, if Shelob’s body can fit through, the space and it’s just her leg that is catching, then its fine to let her through. If it is her body stuck between the wall and the body of another model, then she either must to climb higher no she can’t make it through.

14.5 You can either pay the movement to climb up and down the pole or move her around it. Since spiders can climb up the side of the obstacle and then around it, but she still needs to pay the movement to put the base vertical on the side of the obstacle and then come back down. It looks really dumb, but it is the same thing as having the spider going up a wall, then along it, and then back down: only done in a very condensed way.

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