Bloodletter FYI

By Doc9, in Warhammer Invasion Rules Questions

Hi guys. Sorry to jump in like this, but one question came up in our last game. There is a Bloodletter in play and you attack a zone that is defended by a unit with 3 defense. You assign 2 damage to the unit, it becomes 4. The unit dies but what happens with the 1 damage that is left over? I suppose that it's lost because it wasn't intended to go to the section of the capital. I only need a confirmation from you guys so that we won't argue about this in our future games.

The left over damage doesn't get transferred to the capital.

When you attack a zone, you have to assign enough damage to the defending units to destroy them, and only if you have more damage left over to assign, can you assign any to the capital. The assigning of damage to units and zone is one step though, you don't destroy the units first and then see if there's any damage left. So in your example, if your attackers are dealing five points of damage, you have to assign two to the unit (enough to destroy it, thanks to Bloodletter), and you can assign three to the capital. It doesn't matter what happens to the unit and its assigned damage after that, you have already assigned all your damage. So in your example, the unit is destroyed, and the capital zone it dealt three damage. Keep in mind you can assign more damage to a unit than it takes to destroy it, in case you're expecting your opponent to use some damage cancellation effect and want to make sure it is destroyed. So you could assign all five of the damage to the unit, much more than should be needed. The downside of this is that you lose the extra damage if it turns out it wasn't needed after all. There'd be no point to not always doing it if the left over damage transferred to the capital. You can also compare it to the defending unit being returned to hand, in that case the damage assigned to it just fizzles, it's not transferred to the capital.

Mallumo said:

The left over damage doesn't get transferred to the capital.

When you attack a zone, you have to assign enough damage to the defending units to destroy them, and only if you have more damage left over to assign, can you assign any to the capital. The assigning of damage to units and zone is one step though, you don't destroy the units first and then see if there's any damage left. So in your example, if your attackers are dealing five points of damage, you have to assign two to the unit (enough to destroy it, thanks to Bloodletter), and you can assign three to the capital. It doesn't matter what happens to the unit and its assigned damage after that, you have already assigned all your damage. So in your example, the unit is destroyed, and the capital zone it dealt three damage. Keep in mind you can assign more damage to a unit than it takes to destroy it, in case you're expecting your opponent to use some damage cancellation effect and want to make sure it is destroyed. So you could assign all five of the damage to the unit, much more than should be needed. The downside of this is that you lose the extra damage if it turns out it wasn't needed after all. There'd be no point to not always doing it if the left over damage transferred to the capital. You can also compare it to the defending unit being returned to hand, in that case the damage assigned to it just fizzles, it's not transferred to the capital.

I agreed with your first line of it not carrying over, but then your example went to a point that did not make sense. The unit would have to suffer an even amount of damage since the damage isn't doubled until after it's been assigned meaning there's no chance to re-assign that excess 1 damage. By this I mean his example is as follows.

-He attacks with a blood letter with 3 power and 3 health.

-The defender defends with a unit with 3 health.

-He has 3 damage to apply and the first is applied to the defending unit making it suffer 2 damage.

-He then applies the second to the unit, causing it to suffer 2 more for a total of 4 damage total thus far.

-He only has 1 damage left and applies it to the capitol. The capitol would suffer 1 damage (not 3) and the unit would have suffered 4 damage, the excess 1 being waisted (unless the opponent had toughness or something else of the sort)

What your suggesting sounds like:

-He has 3 damage to apply

-He applies the first to the unit, making it suffer 2 damage out of it's 3 health.

-He applies the second to the unit, making it suffer 4 damage but then somehow reassign the 1 excess after it's already been assigned to the unit.

-He then applies the last

The problem is it sounds like you doubled all the bloodletters damage and then assigned it but that's clearly not how the card works. It says that it doubles all damaged assigned to units as it's being applied. If you don't assign it to the unit then it's not doubled.

You misread. He didn't say he's attacking with a Bloodletter, just that there's one in play. I then said "in your example, if your attackers are dealing five points of damage, you have to assign two to the unit (enough to destroy it, thanks to Bloodletter), and you can assign three to the capital".

Mallumo said:

You misread. He didn't say he's attacking with a Bloodletter, just that there's one in play. I then said "in your example, if your attackers are dealing five points of damage, you have to assign two to the unit (enough to destroy it, thanks to Bloodletter), and you can assign three to the capital".