What about Skills with Shaken Leaders?

[Stefano G.]

Hello... have Leaders to be in Good Order (Not Shaken) in order to use their Skill?

e.g.: in HotM there is "Deadly" Skill that lets units (with Leader stacked) to fire against 2 adjacent hexes: if Leader is shaken can units use the Skill?

I suppose they can not, but where can i find a confirm in the Rulebook?

Thank you

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

The Skills rules/description could benefit from some clarifications This is particulary true about when to use them.

The skill you describe seems to be Plough The Row, not Deadly. In most case, I would tend to allow their use even with a shaken leader.

 

[Stefano G.]

Thank you Stéphane...yes, you're right...Skill is "Plough The row".
As far as regard my question, i doubt GO units can benefit of a shaken Leader Skill, i think the same situation for Leadership Modifier; you can not use LM if Leader is Shaken....what do you think?

 

[Renzo Bulli]

Surprisingly, there seems to be no provision either in the rules or in the Player Aids regarding the use of skills by shaken leaders. I was sure I had seen something somewhere months or years ago but I could not find it in the Core Rules nor in any of the other documents I have, including errata and FAQs. It's hard to believe the question has never arisen before.

In any case, I think most skills are automatically negated by the fact of being Shaken, as they involve being able to fire or move towards the enemy. Personally, I would allow those which improve the morale of the leader or his chances to pass a damage check (e. g. Die Hard or Stiff Upper Lip).

There are quite a few ambiguous cases, though. What about Fanatic or Decisive, for example? Should the leader be GO to enable shaken units in his hex to attempt to rally if engaged in melee? Can we have an official ruling on the matter?

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

You are absolutely right, the rules don't say anything about the need for a Leader to be in GO to "use" its skill. I do see that A Leader's Leader (HOTP) specifically mentions that the leader must be in GO to use it so one could infer that you don't have for other skills.

And apart from that, there are other ambiguities. For example, can you play The Ambush skill on the other player turn, as a kind of opp skill or are you limited to use a skill on your turn only? Can the Lucky Man skill be played after seeing the die roll or you must gamble, deciding if you are going to use it or not before said die roll?

 

[Stefano G.]

Yes, Stéphane and Renzo...there are many ambiguities in several Skills..."Ambush" skill, for example: if an enemy stack moves adjacent units with Hero "ambush" skilled. when can additional "Ambushing" friendly units be placed?...can they be placed before Opportunity Fire against adjacent enemy (and it does mean that additional ones can partecipate to OP) or have i to perform OP first and then to place friendly units after???...it's very important to know! ...an official clarification is necessary