101 - Disabled Boxed Destroyed

101 Articles     (Edit)
Models Model Types The Statblock Card Icons Gameplay Game Turn Movement & Combat Charges Within Attacks & Actions Making Attacks & Actions Damage Type Spray Attacks AOE Attacks Free Strikes Disabled Boxed Destroyed Battlegroup Warcasters Warjacks Warlocks Warbeasts Other Army List Construction Concealment & Cover Terrain Rules Terrain List
LPG Articles (Intermediate)
LOTS Articles (Advanced)

This article is part of Warmachine University's Crash Course (101) series, which is "Basic Training" aimed at new players who are still learning the core rules.

 

The 101 series is intended to help you understand the rulebook, but you shouldn't be reading this instead of the rulebook.

---

Disabled-Boxed-Destroyed

Gerlak Slaughterborn has two abilities that trigger when he destroys an enemy (Overtake and Berserk). If he can destroy a single enemy, he gets to advance 1" and gains one free attack. There is no limit, so if the enemy are clumped up he can mulch enemy infantry like a super-sized Pac Man.

Exemplar Errants' main defensive tech triggers at disabled (Self-Sacrifice). If they're attacked by Gerlak, they'll use Self-Sacrifice to halt the disabled-boxed-destroyed chain. This means Gerlak will never be able to destroy a model and he'll never get to start his rampage versus them.

Most other games on the market don't complicate the "death" of a playing piece - it's either alive and in play, or dead and not. Those games might have a 'Saving Throw', but that's about it.

Privateer Press, on the other hand, wanted a system where different "death" abilities could be resolved without ambiguities or conflict about which happens first. So we have a more nuanced four-step process for what happens when a model loses its last hitpoint.

1. Disabled
   • You've been hit hard enough to stop fighting.
   • Things that trigger at this step are normally either something to let you keep fighting (such as Tough and Inhuman Resolve) or a booby-trap to punish the enemy for killing you (like Thrall Bomb and Fiery Explosion).
2. Boxed
   • You're all but dead. Last breath, walking towards the light, etc.
   • Things that trigger at this step are normally something of the attacker's that uses the last of your life energy for one last malicious act (like Pyscho Venom, Bone Shaker, or Eruption of Ash).
3. Destroyed
   • Now you're dead. (Or a wrecked construct or a non-ambulatory undead, respectively.)
   • Things that trigger at this step are mostly an attacker's bonus for successfully killing an enemy (like Berserk, Overtake, or Run & Gun); but occasionally it's a nearby survivor getting a bonus to help them get revenge (like Righteous Vengeance).
   • After resolving those abilities, you then resolve the collection of any corpse token and soul token that might be relevant.
4. Remove from table
   • Moving the physical model off the table is a separate step to it being destroyed. Mainly because several of the abilities triggered at step 3 depend on the exact position of the destroyed model.
     It is a bit rude to yank models off the table before your opponent has a chance to measure any Step 3 abilities.
   • Note that "Remove from table" is quite different to "Remove from play." More on that in the intermediate training article.

Mnemonic of Death

Dannon Blythe & Bull have Take Down which triggers at disabled and prevents the damaged model making a Tough check (which normally also triggers at disabled).

Disabled ⇨ Boxed ⇨ Destroyed.

Memorising the correct order to trigger abilities will streamline your turns greatly, rather than constantly looking up the rule book for "was it boxed first then disabled, or ...?"

A useful mnemonic device is "Don't Be Dead" when you're being attacked, or "Do Be Dead" when you're the one doing the attacking. Just repeat these to yourself before you start rolling dice and you'll never need to consult the rulebook again.

See Also

The related intermediate article LPG - Add, Return, and Remove From Play