Deployment Question

[reddevil18]

I dont think this has been asked before and a search kept giving 40k results.
Me and my group play it as we get all our models out then deploy one unit each alternating, following normal rules for warmachines and heros.
Now for my question, do we have to show our whole army during deployment or only once there placed?
Im just curious as say with my ogres, if my opponent sees two iron blasters, 2 scrap launchers and alot of maneaters ready to be deployed hes going to be very careful of all my shooting, but if he doesnt know its coming until its there he cant react to it until its placed.
So would it be legal not to show my units until they are placed?

Thanks in advance
reddevil18

[kefkah]

In a tourney he knows your army so it dosent matter anyways, but how you do with friends is up to you. I always played it as, and always seen other play it as, that you declare what units you have before deployment. Like " this is the maneaters, this is the hellcannon" etc etc.

Otherwise i think itcould get quite nasty, if you got scouts and such.

[reddevil18]

Yea once they are deployed we say what it is. But we play closed lists I was thinking that doing this keeps them closed until the end of deployment.

[-Totenkopf-]

I see what you're saying, and yes, it's ok to keep your models in the case on the floor or chair, down below the table and bring them up one at a time.. I play in a tightly knit gaming community and we all have a good handle on the models the other has.. The most fun I ever had was during a border princes escalation campaign that forced us to use a lot of obscure lists and we deployed in such a way that it was a surprise as to what we were facing.. I've been playing a long, long time and there are some strange folk out there so never bank on your deployment going a certain way.. Keep an open mind and have fun

[catosil]

Why do you have to show army lists before tournaments? after all some spells say (reveal magic items/then disable it) high elf vauls unmaking for example. why is it a secret to reveal for spell if your opponent has already looked?

[reddevil18]

Why do you have to show army lists before tournaments? after all some spells say (reveal magic items/then disable it) high elf vauls unmaking for example. why is it a secret to reveal for spell if your opponent has already looked?

In alot of tournaments you play with open lists or semi-open
Open is handing your list to your opponent
Semi-opem seems to be one of two things (depending on tournament) Its either you see units but without magic items and such, or you see the magic items, fanatics ect are in the list somewhere but it does not show where.

[Artiee]

I look at it this way. Each army has "scouting" (not the a unit of Scouts). They report to the general when they see something. They can see the unit type, what regular weapons are used, unit size, etc. They can not see the magic items until someone uses them. Your "scout" sees what the units are as the army marches to the battlefield. (ie setup to be deployed). So as you deploy, the "scouts" tells your general where they are on the battlefield.

Armylists should already be written, so they would not be able to change their list bases on what they see. So its really shouldn't matter if he sees your army ready to be deployed. Our gaming group, we do not even put our armys out while the opponent is making a list. Sometimes we even fool the "scout" by putting a few extra models. like a monster or scary unit that never gets deployed.

[reddevil18]

Our lists are always written before we turn up for the game so no worry about it changing depending on the models seen.

[kefkah]

Well if it is with mates then its all for graps, so to speak. I always go for "the spirit of the game" kinda thingy.

But, one thing we all do is not revealing scouts. All other units we just put on the table for the ease of deployment, but i get what you mean.

For scouts though they are in the box till we deploy em, since most just do a 12 inch count on every warmachine, but in this way they can be suprised and i think thats what scouts are meant to do.

But if you just play for the fun of it ( wich all should ) then there is no rule. The tourneys impose a rule that you have to submit your list not in the rulebook there is no mention of a rule that you have to say what you gonna bring. Though, your opponent needs to know the amount of drops your making, when deciding if to deploy first or not, so hiding them may break that spirit of the game.


I find it more "realistic" to be suprised so in a sense its more fun not knowing what theyr gonna deploy next. Just get around with your mates and deicide wich way its gonna be.

[Moss]

In my group we all do it differently. I like having all my units ready to go on the side of the table. My one buddy is a slob and is also always late. He assembles his units at placement, right from his box. There's nothing in the rules to say either way is right, so do whatever you want.

[hamsterwheel]

My gaming group tends to do open deploying so your opponent will see everything before anything is placed. We also tend to do printed lists as there can be no question about tailoring units and lore choice if it's all on paper before anyone starts.

I have heard of tournaments using a closed deployment by placing a partition between the two sides so that you can't see what your opponent places or even where and then once everything is deployed, the partition is raised and you go at it.

[Danny76]

But the question was about people deploying differently if they see what's there.
Not changing the list because of what's there.
So it still could make a difference (not deploying right forward for instance)

[T10]

I think it is safe to say that the rules don't deal with the issue, except of course for the underlying theme that the game should be fun for both players. If getting surprised and outplayed by your opponent during deployment is your idea of fun then you are probably doing it right.

Personally I think the thrill of the game should be stretch out to include not only writing army lists, ferrying models to the venue, arranging them in neat regiments and placing them on the table, but also actually using them in a game that lasts the duration. Crazy? It's the way I roll, dude!

-T10