Curse of Years

[Tronhammer NZ]

Just wanting to make sure I have the correct interpretation on how this resolves.

If I manage to get this ability to trigger on a 1+ (and then subsequently <1), does it fail on the roll of a 1, or does the unit just get removed, seeing as though it is impossible to roll less than a 1, allowing it to trigger until there are no wounds left? That seems to be the intent of the spell text.

I realise most tournament packs count 1's as automatically failing, but I just want to check the 'vanilla AOS' effect of this.

***

I had a 3 player game today where the TK player had managed to throw enough Mystic Shields onto the unit of 6 Necropolis Knights to give them a 1+ Save. Arkhan came in, cast Curse of Years on them, and rolled:

1st Roll: 2 Sixes
2nd Roll: 1 five and 1 six
3rd Roll: 1 four
4th Roll: 1 four
5th Roll: 1 three
6th Roll: 1 five
7th Roll: 1 two

By this point, my ally (at the time) said that he thought the unit would be deleted. I thought there was a chance it would fail on a 1, so I kept rolling to see. Ended up causing 25 mortal wounds before I rolled a 1.

That spell is insane if you get lucky up front. Turned the tide of battle for sure, and saved my Aelven ally's butt. Alas, he only repaid me with betrayal.

 

[Jimbo]

RAW it would appear that once you get to 1 it's auto wounding and therefore deletes the unit.

but as you say, most comp systems count a 1 as an auto fail.

[Knight of Ruin]

Indeed the FAQ previewed on the AoS facebook page says that there is no such things as auto fail on a 1. The example was mystic shield i believe, where you can stack it until you have a 1+ save, thus auto passing the save.

So unless mentioned otherwise in a specific ability, getting it to a 1+ means it will auto pass.

[Ben]

I'm not certain but I think that at SCGT they ruled the unit would be auto deleted! ask @Dan Heelan

[Sangfroid]

This happened once at the Cheltenham Warchiefs the odds of it happening are incredibly slim so will not happen very often, we also played it that the unit was deleted, though that may have been influenced by the fact the unit in question was a big block of 10 retributors...........

[Nico]

Even the one is an auto-fail on a hit or wound roll (house rule) only applies to a genuine wound roll from a weapon - not to a completely bespoke rule for a spell. Similarly, adding +1 to Wound to Arkhan would not buff this spell.

[Naishy]

As the person at SCGT who had this happen to him, yes at 1+ it will auto delete a unit.

In my case it was 30 orcs who met their untimely end, made more dramatic by my opponent only rolling 1 six out of the initial 10, then a 5, then a 4........

[Jimbo]

At least it's a good story Naishy!

[Tronhammer NZ]

Yes, it's a very fun spell - the tension when it is cast... will it go atomic? Or will it fail miserably (more likely)?

Those few times it does go off certainly make for great stories.
 

Thank you for the replies everyone.

[Terry Pike]

Just read the spell again and also agree that if you successfully get to rolling 1, the target is removed from play. A roll of a 1 in most packs is considered a fail but as this isn't a hit, wound or save I'd say it doesn't apply, in the same way rolling a 1 for the strength of the Warp Lightning Cannon automatically does 6 mortal wounds

[Soldier of decay]

RAW does it mean if I have a moral mound save I can stop the spell? 

Ex opponent rolls 2  6s first

Nurgle save blocks only 1 so he re rolls his 2 6s and gets a single 5

nurgle save fails he refills his 5 gets a 4

nurgle save blocks.

is the spell over now since he did not inflict any wounds?

[rokapoke]

25 minutes ago, Soldier of decay said:

RAW does it mean if I have a moral mound save I can stop the spell? 

Ex opponent rolls 2  6s first

Nurgle save blocks only 1 so he re rolls his 2 6s and gets a single 5

nurgle save fails he refills his 5 gets a 4

nurgle save blocks.

is the spell over now since he did not inflict any wounds?

No, the entire effect of the spell is resolved before rolling your resistance. So if your opponent rolls 10 wounds, then you roll your 10 “saves”. If your opponent rolls very well so that he’s rolling 1+ for the spell, he’s got infinite hits and rampages through whatever resistance you have. 

[Soldier of decay]

2 minutes ago, rokapoke said:

No, the entire effect of the spell is resolved before rolling your resistance. So if your opponent rolls 10 wounds, then you roll your 10 “saves”. If your opponent rolls very well so that he’s rolling 1+ for the spell, he’s got infinite hits and rampages through whatever resistance you have. 

So a spell that can cast on a 4 (with Arkhans bonus) can wipe anything in the game with a few lucky rolls. How is that not OP.

i have face it going off 5 times and three of them it got down to 1+ so looking like 50% chance to wipe anything? At 18” range. Seriously???

[AverageBoss]

5 hours ago, Soldier of decay said:

So a spell that can cast on a 4 (with Arkhans bonus) can wipe anything in the game with a few lucky rolls. How is that not OP.

i have face it going off 5 times and three of them it got down to 1+ so looking like 50% chance to wipe anything? At 18” range. Seriously???

There are actually quite a few instant death things in the game. Arkhans is way on the lower end of success as it usually putters out after 2-3 wounds (less than 16% of reaching 1+ if I remember right). Can be a bit funny if he tags something that can bounce mortal back though and reaches 1+ as he effectively kills himself at that point as well.