NOVA Bound: Final GT Primer and FAQ Review and Rules Questions

The final edition of the NOVA GT Primer was posted yesterday, and while the final FAQ won't be up until around August 6, I thought I would run through some thoughts and questions I had (any NOVA Veterans or Rules Lawyers please chime in).

One of the first confusions I had was the distinction between scoring and denial units, namely:

• "Units that are granted Scoring status are not automatically also granted Denial status."

This is referenced in the mission pack for The Scouring and Big Guns Never Tire, where Fast Attack or Heavy Support units become scoring. What I suppose I find confusing about the ruling is that if two non-denial scoring units from opposing sides (only vehicles I suppose, so not exactly relevant to me) are both within 3" of the objective, with no other units nearby is the objective dual controlled? By differentiating the two, this possibility opens, which makes no sense. If a regular scoring unit and a tank made scoring by mission rules are both within 3", clearly the tank cannot claim it - the regular unit is denial as well - but can the unit claim it? I suppose that is the point of the ruling, but it seems strange to me.

In the mission packet, Battle Points for Cumulative games has a level for "Mission Point Difference between Winner and Loser was 1-2." However, in the first mission, Purge the Alien, it says that the winner must score 3 more Mission Points. For this game is this level of battle points ignored, so a difference of less that 3 Mission Points Automatically results in a 10-10 split of Battle Points for a game determined by TIEBREAKER?

The Ruling in the Tyranid FAQ that "a hive tyrant and tyrant guard are scored separately for Points, even joined together" puts a damper on my idea of bringing the Swarmlord, particularly of possibly bringing Swarmlord and Prime for a super-deathstar. I fully expect the Tyrant Guard to die, but I'm not a big fan of him then giving up a Kill Point - I'm expecting to already be at a disadvantage against most opponents in this regard.

First Blood being relegated to a Tie-Breaker bonus in all but one mission makes me happy, since I'll be less worried about giving it up by pushing a weak unit of T3 bugs out front. 

Mission 3: The Relic has me excited - the four corner objectives plus a central objective in a Vanguard Strike seems to match up with my list well. The Tervigon really helps in this mission as her spawned termagants can reliably get past the relic turn 1 with their 6" spawn, 6" move, and run if needed. Not to give away my tactics, but Relic appeals to me because having a giant tarpit is something Tyranids are usually built for. 

Random Rules Questions: 

• Are mycetic spores scoring or denial units? I feel like this has been answered somewhere but I'm not seeing it.
• Do witchfire powers that don't include a "Weapons Profile" stat line still have to roll to hit? e.g. Puppet Master, Psychic Shriek.
• For Vanguard Strike Missions, which board edge is considered the controlling player's board edge for falling back, outflanking, or reserves? I'm assuming the long edge, but in general, and is it different if the game is played on a square board?
• What board edge do flyers who went into Ongoing Reserves come on from, the edge they departed or the controlling player's edge? I thought it was the side they depart from, but I'm not seeing that in recent scans of the rules. 

Any input would be appreciated, and I could see some of my confusion being a disconnect between what I think makes sense and the rules as they are.