Righteous Zeal and How It Works
When you look at our humble codex, most people would believe it to be pretty straight forward. Well, it isn't. Depending on how you look at it, this could be a good or a bad thing. Sure the units are pretty simple and basic, as are the equipment those units use. But it takes a certain amount of finesse to build a proper 5th Edition list out of our outdated book. Partially because of our special rules, which leads me into my topic of discussion: Righteous Zeal.
It has long since been decided how Righteous Zeal (henceforth RZ) works. Or has it? I won't quote rules because you likely have the BT codex and the 40k rulebook sitting nearby. Basically what we've been telling new players is that if your BT unit takes a casualty from enemy fire, it must take a Leadership test. If failed, the unit falls back like normal. However, if it passes, it makes a consolidation move towards the nearest enemy unit. Due to the rules of consolidation, you needed not move at all.
During a B&C discussion regarding RZ, Bigdunc made good points here and here that our original stance was flawed. He argues that the word "Identical" in the RZ rules causes problems. And he is right. If you read those two links to completion, you should be on the same page. Righteous Zeal is NOT identical to consolidation moves because it forces you to move in a certain direction. That leaves us with a conundrum.
In one hand, we could play the rule exactly as a consolidation move. This means that we may move up to D6", in any direction should we pass the RZ test. I don't think this is in the spirit of the rule. The other option is to force the affected unit to move (up to D6", but more than 0") and it has to be in the direction of closest enemy unit once the RZ test is passed. I believe this to be the closer interpretation. It is also the way I'll be explaining the rule from now on and how I'll be playing it.
"So what's the big deal? Nothing much changed." This is true. You still can move 0.0000001" forward and be allowed to function normally in your turn. It is more important to me and others to provide a consistent interpretation for new players, so there are correct rule usage in games. It would be rather embarrassing for the BT community if someone were to play two separate Black Templars players who played the RZ rule differently.
It has long since been decided how Righteous Zeal (henceforth RZ) works. Or has it? I won't quote rules because you likely have the BT codex and the 40k rulebook sitting nearby. Basically what we've been telling new players is that if your BT unit takes a casualty from enemy fire, it must take a Leadership test. If failed, the unit falls back like normal. However, if it passes, it makes a consolidation move towards the nearest enemy unit. Due to the rules of consolidation, you needed not move at all.
During a B&C discussion regarding RZ, Bigdunc made good points here and here that our original stance was flawed. He argues that the word "Identical" in the RZ rules causes problems. And he is right. If you read those two links to completion, you should be on the same page. Righteous Zeal is NOT identical to consolidation moves because it forces you to move in a certain direction. That leaves us with a conundrum.
In one hand, we could play the rule exactly as a consolidation move. This means that we may move up to D6", in any direction should we pass the RZ test. I don't think this is in the spirit of the rule. The other option is to force the affected unit to move (up to D6", but more than 0") and it has to be in the direction of closest enemy unit once the RZ test is passed. I believe this to be the closer interpretation. It is also the way I'll be explaining the rule from now on and how I'll be playing it.
"So what's the big deal? Nothing much changed." This is true. You still can move 0.0000001" forward and be allowed to function normally in your turn. It is more important to me and others to provide a consistent interpretation for new players, so there are correct rule usage in games. It would be rather embarrassing for the BT community if someone were to play two separate Black Templars players who played the RZ rule differently.
