As Scooby Doo would say, "Ruh-Roh!" I wonder if there is an errata in the offing?

Darkheyr said:

Hmm... that is troubling. Well I guess we could ask FFG which is right and as long as they don't say they both are we will have a consensus.

Let's find out, but regardless if yours says good and the GM can verify it, or trusts you I don't see a problem. Just note it in your rules if it ever comes up again. I know I will SBx3 here I come just need some easier to obtain good quality muscle grafts.

It *could* be a simple translation error. To be fair, there aren't all that few of them.

Then again, it does already incorporate errata and possibly other corrections. *sigh* There's also discrepancies with additional ship armour (-1 maneuverability instead of -3) and the trophy room bonuses (+100 instead of 50).

my book says best for the unnatural as well.

Yes, so does my english pdf. My german book is insistent, though, and more recent - but translated.

Well here's what I got back.

The German translations of our product are handled by partner companies in Germany. FFG's english version should be considered correct in the case of any discrepancies, however issues with discrepancies or mistakes should be brought up with the company responsible for the translation.

The errata for the English version of the book does not address mistakes made in foreign translations.

Hope this helps!

Sam Stewart
RPG Designer
Fantasy Flight Games

So its not going to get me good quality muscle grafts with SBx2, but it is what it is i guess. Like I said though ultimately up to your group since the official comment is English trumps translations when there is a conflict. I am pretty sure my GM's book says the same as mine, but I will have to ask him about that later.

Good luck.

I'm inclined to agree anyhow - translations are simply another possible source of mistakes. Just slightly annoying.

Darkheyr said:

One thing worth keeping in mind is that, assuming you are able to close to melee range, you can prevent your opponents from taking full-auto shots as well- might be worth it, depending on what kind of opponents you run into (very useful against autogun-armed Space Pirates, not so much against Orks...).

NGL said:

Furious Assault, though it burns your reaction, gets you two attacks vs the 3 from lightning attack, and at +20 WS, which eliminates the need for double team. Add in wall of steel and counter attack, and if anyone's alive, you might get that 3rd attack after all. The big thing I disagree with is this- I firmly believe that late game, melee Greatly outpaces ranged combat. Sure, you need to close in, and that's where things like jump packs or the power boards come into play. But everyone lists the best case scenario for ranged weapons, and ignores the worst case scenario. Cover, for instance- in battles on ships, bulkheads providing 32 Armor Cover are not uncommon. Add to that the fact that, depending on your BS roll, you might not get 8 attacks. Even in optimal situations, you might only get 4. In sub-optimal situations, you'll be lucky to get any. Also, dodge can only apply to a single melee attack (and there are numerous ways to get several), whereas a single dodge might completely negate your 8 attacks w/ the storm bolter.

Even in optimal situations for the bolter, flat ground combat w/out anything interesting to be seen, melee can still often have the edge. Assume you didn't get hideous strength- but got the muscle grafts, and are using a power fist (you should be, imho, though there are arguments for other weapons of course). You were smart and came from a death world, maxed strength, and are wearing power armor (if you're going into melee combat, no excuse to not be doing so). You have a SB of 9, and it is multiplied by 3 (per Deathwatch rules- there are arguments for it being 4, but we're doing worst case for melee). That's 2d10 + 27. +1 for a best quality weapon, +2 for crushing blow, and it's 2d10+30 w/ 9 Pen, vs. 1d10+7 w/ 4 Pen for the storm bolter. The issue is that melee damage Scales much better than ranged- at Rank 8, w/ all possible upgrades, you're only doing 3 or 4 more damage w/ a ranged weapon than you are at rank 1, if you can get your hands on it. Sure, more hits, much more hits, but can you see how you need to have more than double the number of hits (very possible, but certainly not guaranteed), have the target have a combined Armor and Toughness of 4 or less (not likely), and have no cover bonuses (only if he's an idiot) for it to be a better option to use the ranged weapon? Vs for example a space marine- unnatural toughness + power armor resulting in 20 or more points of soak. Subtract your 4 pen, and you need your 1d10+7 to do 16 points or more of damage to even hurt him. Good luck. With a melee attack, you need your 2d10+30 to do 11 or more points of damage. He'll be hurting.

At the end of the day, my point is this- against numerous, tightly grouped, weak enemies with poor armor, ranged on full auto is the far superior option. In almost any other scenario, as long as you have a consistent means of closing, melee is not just the more consistent, but the superior option as well.