Spectrar Ghost wrote:
I think the relevent passage in the context of the GT scenario is here:
EA 6.1.6 Set-up Remaining Formations wrote:
All of the remaining formations in the players’ armies must be set up within 15cms of their own side’s table edge or be kept back ‘in reserve’. The players take it in turn to set up these formations one at a time, starting with the player with the higher strategy rating.
Units kept in reserve must either be aircraft, or be going to enter play in a transport aircraft or by teleportation.Reserve formations entering play in aircraft or by teleportation should be placed aside with units that will enter play via planetfall. These formations are not ‘secret’ and your opponent may inspect them at any time.
Emphasis mine. The second is the more important, as while the first specifically references formations, the second applies unit by unit. There are two ways to solve the problem, IMO. The first, and my preferred as what I perceive as the intent as well as the less extensive change, is to change "All of the remaining formations" to "All of the remaining units". This eliminates any confusion, and they are still stated to be deployed by formation later in the ph.
The other option is to change "Units kept in reserve" to "Formations kept in reserve", and add a clarification later that explains the process for leaving units behind. This is a more involved change, requiring us to basically make up a paragraph of text from scratch instead of working within the current structure. There is no process because, IMO, no one intended there to be a need.
This is where you are getting it from? I'm struggling here, I just don't see how the difference between specifying unit vs formation can imply that you can choose which of the units in the formation count for garrison or transport. A unit is a subset of a formation, it is simply saying that every unit that wants to deploy in reserve has to be an aircraft, be inside aircraft, or teleport - re-iterating what is already stated in the teleport and war engine transport rules, and a simpler way of saying "Formations kept in reserve must be wholly composed of units that are aircraft, deployed in aircraft, or teleporting".
Even the second paragraph (which by the way has nothing to do with garrisons) reverts to usage of
formations again at the end of it - they are clearly used interchangeably, because they are clearly meant to be exactly the same (i.e. if the units can be in reserve, then the formation can, and vice versa - the units in the formation are fixed). The emphasised sentence makes total sense even with the current wording - units DO have to either be aircraft, deployed inside aircraft or entering by teleport - and the rules for determining which units can do that are elsewhere (i.e. the war engine transport and teleport rules).
Just as another example that emphasises this rather well I think:
2.1.17 Teleport
Formations where all of the units have this ability may be kept off the table, and can appear at the start of any turn.
That is directly contradictory to any idea that it is units that are kept in reserver rather than formations.
