Warpstone Sparks Order of Operations

[adamtrunzo]

Do you have to use the allegiance ability for warpstone sparks before a casting attempt or can you roll first and then decide to use one to re-roll?  Additionally, can you wait to see how much damage a shooting attack gets through before buffing it with +1 damage?  What is the relevant rule regarding the order of operations that would prevent this?  Thanks!

[Kirjava13]

So, Rules As Written seem to say that you can chow down on your tasty green Smarty warpstone spark whenever you want. The wording is as follows:

Quote

Each warpstone spark can be used once per battle to carry out 1 of the following warpstone spark abilities:

• In the hero phase, pick 1 friendly CLANS SKRYRE WIZARD. You can re-roll casting, dispelling and unbinding rolls for that WIZARD until the end of that phase. At the end of that phase, roll a dice. One a 1, that WIZARD suffers D3 mortal wounds.
• In your shooting phase, pick 1 friendly CLANS SKRYRE HERO. Then pick up to 3 different friendly CLANS SKRYRE units that are wholly within 13" of that HERO. You can add 1 to the Damage characteristic of missile weapons used by those units until the end of the phase. At the end of that phase, roll a dice. On a 1, that HERO suffers D3 mortal wounds.

We won't look at the combat phase option because a) you didn't ask and b) Skryre heroes shouldn't be in combat anyway so who cares.

GW have, in many other cases, stated specifically if an ability must be announced as being used before whatever action it is affecting. There is no such wording here. The phrasing "In the hero phase" and "In your shooting phase" encompasses the entire phase, and there is nothing to suggest it must happen before any dice are rolled. 

I have a nagging suspicion that this is not Rules As Intended, but as Ian Malcolm said: 

[Overread]

I don't read it that way, I can see how you can interpret it like that, but I think its more of a case of looking for a loophole and grabbing at one. The way the wording is phrased suggests very strongly that the spark has to be the first action performed on the unit when you activate it for the phase. Getting to re-roll a dice requires that you first roll it whilst the ability is active - in a permissive rules system the rule is not in any way permitting you to use it after the role; whilst the wording strongly leans toward upon unit activation 

[adamtrunzo]

While I tend to agree with Overread that the phrasing leans that way it leaves a lot of ambiguity as other rules in the book clearly state when a rule has to be enacted before a roll (like using More-more warp lightning! on  the Warp Lightning Cannon)

[Kirjava13]

1 hour ago, Overread said:

I don't read it that way, I can see how you can interpret it like that, but I think its more of a case of looking for a loophole and grabbing at one. The way the wording is phrased suggests very strongly that the spark has to be the first action performed on the unit when you activate it for the phase. Getting to re-roll a dice requires that you first roll it whilst the ability is active - in a permissive rules system the rule is not in any way permitting you to use it after the role; whilst the wording strongly leans toward upon unit activation 

"Suggests" is all well and good, and one can argue about intention until the cows come home, but there are plenty of times when the specific time an ability should be used is stated, and it is not stated here. I imagine it will be errata'd if that is the case, but until it is, make warphay (?) while the sun shines, as it were.