Balewind Vortex and Terrain

[LaborerDNA]

So in a game recently my DoK opponent summoned a Vortex on a terrain piece with Morathi. He claimed that by the rules Morathi gets +1 save from the Vortex warscroll and +1 from terrain because vortex and wizard that stays atop it are counted as one model. We had a bried discussion and decided that RAW it is plausible, but RAI, it's really dumb. 

Can someone clarify this moment? I might be missing something obvious. 

[King Taloren]

It sounds dumb but it is correct. The save from the vortex is not a cover save so it is legit +1 from vortex and +1 from cover save as long as he doesn’t change Morathi to her big form.( in which case he loses both vortex and cover because she is a monster and over 8 wounds.

They are counted as one model which is actually much more helpful to you since in 1.0 the vortex made the wizard virtually untargetable without shooting attacks.

[Isotop]

On 1/13/2019 at 2:13 PM, LaborerDNA said:

So in a game recently my DoK opponent summoned a Vortex on a terrain piece with Morathi. He claimed that by the rules Morathi gets +1 save from the Vortex warscroll and +1 from terrain because vortex and wizard that stays atop it are counted as one model. We had a bried discussion and decided that RAW it is plausible, but RAI, it's really dumb. 

Can someone clarify this moment? I might be missing something obvious. 

I do not really get why it is "really dumb". Do you think a character with an artifact providing +1 to its save rolls benefiting from cover is a "dumb" interaction? If your answer is "no", you should really shift the way you see things regarding the Vortex. Yes, it provided cover itself in the former edition, but works completely different now. In my opinion you should not let your personal feeling of a narrative aspect influence your view on the rules. Hope this did not sound too harsh, but in my view this is not even a RAI vs RAW topic - it is just someone (you) not feeling comfortable with a rules interaction on a personal level.

On 1/13/2019 at 2:49 PM, King Taloren said:

[...] ( in which case he loses both vortex and cover because she is a monster and over 8 wounds. [...]

She does not lose the Vortex because of her wounds characteristic, but because her model is removed when she transforms. Since the Vortex and the model on top of it count as being a single model, the Vortex goes with her (before her monster form is placed with the center of its base where the center of the Vortex was). Still the same outcome, but your reasoning is not quite correct. 

[Somanlius]

Huh, just had to reread the Balewind warscroll as I could have sworn it had to be set up 3" away from Enemy Models and Terrain Features, but I guess not. Seems a little wonky but totally legit, +2 saves when in cover on a Balewind. Not sure what kind of cover the Wizard could get on a tall model like a vortex though.