This spell seems to bring out the rules lawyer in many of us - it already did before the Erratum, and it does so even more after the Erratum. Perhaps understandably as most of us have a Steam Tank or some such we would like to benefit from this spell.
There was no confusion. Wishful thinking, yes, but no confusion. In the original version, it was indisputable that single model units (
i.e. units that can only ever consist of one model, like the Steam Tank) cannot benefit from this spell, as they cannot be targeted in the first place. Basically: if you cannot ever resurrect a unit, you cannot heal it either. Not that it stopped people trying to argue otherwise.
However, you may note that, in the original spell, multi-wound models from multi-model units (like Ogres or DGKs) could not be healed, unless they had lost a full model first - which in fact contradicts the wording of how the spell works for MW models. This internal contradiction and disadvantage compared to single wound models is what the Erratum tries to address.
By doing so, did the Erratum also allow the Steam Tank and similar units to benefit from the spell? The proponents usually quote the Erratum in isolation, and leave it at that, but, of course, we need to read the Erratum in its proper context:
The rest of the spell has not changed and still requires a strict order in which the wounds are regained. To apply this to the Steam tank, the proponents have tried two options:
- A minority unsuccessfully tries to argue that the Steam tank is in fact a R&F model.
- The majority chooses the easier way, and simply "dispels" the rest of the spell. Based on what? Based on the fact that they otherwise cannot apply it to the Steam Tank. It is simply a teleological interpretation.
They are equally at a loss to explain the problems resulting from their interpretation:
1. For normal units, the point cost per wound restored gravitates around 10 (give or take up to 5). Note that cavalry counts as two wounds. For instance, our pistoliers cost 18 points and use 2 wounds = you gain 9 pts/wound. A Steam tank costs 250 points and would need to use only 1 wound: you gain 25 pts/wound Other single model units would have an even higher ratio. Ask yourself the question: is it likely that it is easier to use Regrowth on the far more powerful Steam Tank than on a pistolier? Or are our pistoliers perhaps more dangerous than a Steam Tank?
[Edit: the cavalry issue is another example of how this spell brings out the rules lawyer in us, as there is a recurring but patently false argument that monstrous cavalry would not be cavalry, and thus would not need to use two wounds to be recovered, instead of 1.]
2. The ToV version of the spell has not changed:
BRB p. 496 (Throne of Vines): Regrowth instead restores D6 +1 wounds worth of models.
It still can never ever be used to heal a Steam tank. So, here is the second paradox: the more powerful version of the spell cannot be used at all on single model units.
3. The proponents usually refer to the stated exception: “Regrowth …cannot be used to heal characters or their mounts,” inferring from this that everything else is permitted. [Edit: However, Warhammer is a permissive system. It tells you what you can do. You cannot infer anything from the exception as such - you still need something telling you that you can. This brings us back to the R&F argument.]
You may well ask: "Why, then, are characters specified here as an exception, and not single model units?" Because contrary to single model units, they can join a normal unit, in which case they "are treated as a single combined unit for all rules purposes" (BRB p. 99). The BRB also specifies that "many spells and magic items bestow special rules and other effects on units. In this case, everyone (including the character) in the combined unit will be affected" (BRB p.100). For once, GW foresaw and plugged a loophole in advance.
However, if you could apply Regrowth to single model units, it would lead to the third paradox that you could heal
e.g. the Luminark on its own, but not when driven by a Wizard. Some have already tried to argue that you can heal the War Altar after the Arch Lector has been killed, as it would be no longer a mount.
The rule of thumb remains: if you cannot ever resurrect it with Regrowth, you cannot heal it either.
Not that it will stop people trying to argue otherwise.
