No, really, it's a complete and utter fabrication. It's bullshit, plain and simple. Has anyone ever tried actually doing it?
Let's run through it. Bolters are (typically) carried by Marines, so they will hit 2/3 of the time. They will successfully score a Glancing hit on AV10 1/6 of the time - which means you require 6 hits to average a single Glance, and as you can see that requires 9 shots to average even a chance to inflict damage.
But wait, there's more.
As we all know, Glancing hits suffer a -2 penalty to the chart, meaning that the most damaging result on a non Open Topped vehicle it is possible to get with a Bolter is an Immobilised result. Now, while sometimes that can destroy a target outright, ie if it moved Flat Out in the preceding Movement Phase [side issue, this explains the FAQ wording, as without this a Flat Out Scouting Vendetta destroyed by a player going first against it would not be Wrecked...] this is a lot less likely than not Wrecking the target (and, of course, the Flat Out targets will have Cover Saves.)
Let's assume instead that the target did not move Flat Out, has 2 weapons (what self-respecting vehicle doesn't?) and has no Cover (generous to Bolters on that last, but even so...)
So, we need to generate a grand total of 4 Immobilised/Weapon Destroyed results in order to Wreck the target and generate that Kill Point...and prove the assertion and Internet Wisdom correct.
Since that's a result that can only be generated by rolling a 5 or a 6 on the Chart, that's a 1/3 chance, which means 1/18 Bolter HITS will be getting that result. Since we need 4 of these results, that's 4 times as unlikely - a 1/72 chance. Since only 2/3 of our shots hit, that means that, unless my maths is way off base, we require an average of 108 Bolter shots to statistically be killing the target.
Not only is it literally impossible for a single unit to provide that weight of fire, I don't think there is an AV10 vehicle large enough that you can fit 94 Space Marines within 12" of it, or indeed whatever combination is logistically possible, even if you can fit them into an army list, and ignore the other improbabilities of the situation.
Yes, Bolters CAN kill Vehicles - but the chance of them doing so is so slim that it is statistically irrelevant. You may as well discuss the odds of me pulling Katy Perry, because they're similar. *
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* - Disclaimer: If I *actually* pull Ms Perry, that doesn't mean Bolters destroy vehicles enough to bother discussing. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if it did happen, Bolters would be a much less interesting topic of conversation.
8 comments:
I think your chances are pretty good with Ms. Perry. It's a known fact that she likes weird guys from the UK.
Yeah, and let's be frank. Even if you only manage to have your marriage last as long as that other pommie bloke, you still will have had a win.
Or at least 2nd base.
It's nice to read a voice of reason on the subject. instead of the normal read about how this is a great strategy people are over looking.
On the off-chance that Zooey Deschanel is reading my blog, I only named Katy Perry because you're so much further out of my league. I mean...wow.
Katy, you're hot, but, c'mon. You wouldn't say no to Zooey.
Anyway...fester, who said anything about marriage? I didn't expect it to get that far, but it'd be nice I guess. Any excuse for a party.
Drkmorals - perhaps it's a more common reference than you realise.
Your chances with Katy Perry are 1/108? Impressive.
And much like being that 1 in 108 with Katy Perry, the story of taking down a vehicle with bolter fire would keep getting better in the retelling.
As someone who has played Necrons for the last 4 years now, I can say I think you missed the point of it all. I don't want my bolters wrecking vehicles as that would be a little ridiculous. I just want that one immobilize or weapon destroyed result. My gaussing of vehicles had to be strategic and simple enough to achieve results. You don't glance av 10 to death, you simply render a threat useless. An immobilized land raider isn't delievering its payload where it needs to be. A cannonless vibdicator isn't killing many people. The internet wisdom of boltering is stupid, but it exists because someone found the merit of it somewhere in application and others tried to copy it. 1/108 is to far of a long shot for trying something, 1/18 to get the particular result you want isn't that bad if there isn't anything else to shoot at sometimes.
Psst.... Skimmers moving flat out are only destroyed if immobilized in their own movement phase. As in, you tried to land in difficult terrain and rolled a one. It can't be done by enemy shooting.
Psst, I'll let you read pg 71 BRB, Shooting At Skimmers paragraph 2 before you get back to me. ;)
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