First Blood?

[Hendrik Booraem VI]

Okay, so, I play WH40k with my sons (14, 13, and 11) and tonight we were involved in a Combat Patrol campaign. Two of the boys were fighting against each other and came up to me and said that they wiped each other out, simultaneously, in close combat.

After we got home, I looked up the relevant units and found that they had the initiative steps wrong. I'm guessing the 13 year old didn't want to crush his younger brother, so he threw the fight. But it also go me wondering - is it possible to have a close combat end up that way? Both units do enough unsaved wounds at the same initiative step to completely eliminate each other, at the same time?

Most importantly, if it can happen, and no other units have been removed from the board as casualties yet, who gets First Blood?

[Tyrendian]

I don't see why it couldn't happen, and sometimes quite easily with the right rolls - Necron Flayed Ones do almost enough damage to kill themselves on average dice (four attacks with Shred against 4+/5+reanimation), and I4 is very common with all the Marines around, so there's another good possibility. Haven't seen it happen though, and no idea who would get first blood there - both or no one probably, which is basically the same...

[Houghten]

The only difference between "both" and "neither" would be if someone had a special rule that granted them d3 Victory Points for First Blood. I'm not sure if that's actually a thing that currently exists in any formation or scenario's rules, or if it just sounds plausible with the ever-expanding ruleset these days.

Personally, I'd be inclined towards "neither."

[Denzark]

I have never in 25 years of playing seen 2 squads simultaneously wipe each other out. Wow! So many options to resolve:

Neither = safe.
Both = safe and also neither feel let down.
Dice for it = random.
Who declared the charge = a little arbitrary but rewards taking the initiative.

[Fueldrop]

I've seen this happen before (Karn the betrayer on 1 wound getting charged by Rangers. Mutual destruction.) but never first blood.

I'd suggest that since neither player has "First" blood, call it a wash and say neither player gets it. After all, you can't both be first, right?

[Hendrik Booraem VI]

I gave it to both of them, since a quick reading of the rules indicated that they both met the requirements. After all, both units were removed from the table as casualties simultaneously.

In retrospect, I think a better pair of options would be to either give it to the one who declared the charge that started the combat, or to declare that engagement "not first blood" and the NEXT unit to be removed from the game as a casualty would result in the First Blood award. I think if I were doing a really official tournament, I would go with the first option.

[CoffeeGrunt]

Saw this with two Knights charging and killing each other at the same Initiative step, (the two players beelined them at each other for Honour and Glory!) It was a mini-tournie, so we had to work out how it affected First Blood. Basically we decided the next unit to die should be First Blood, as those two cancelled each other out.

[knockout51]

Thats interesting I never thought about that before