diff --git a/common/deploy-steps-playbooks-common.yaml b/common/deploy-steps-playbooks-common.yaml
index 163fbc0530..975aea55f2 100644
--- a/common/deploy-steps-playbooks-common.yaml
+++ b/common/deploy-steps-playbooks-common.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 - hosts: "{{ deploy_source_host }}"
   name: Gather facts from undercloud
   gather_facts: yes
-  any_errors_fatal: "{{ not scale_ignore_unreachable | default(true) }}"
+  any_errors_fatal: true
   ignore_unreachable: "{{ scale_ignore_unreachable | default(false) }}"
   become: false
   tags:
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
 - hosts: "{{ deploy_target_host }}"
   name: Gather facts from overcloud
   gather_facts: yes
-  any_errors_fatal: "{{ not scale_ignore_unreachable | default(true) }}"
+  # False because https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/70663
+  any_errors_fatal: false
   ignore_unreachable: "{{ scale_ignore_unreachable | default(false) }}"
   tags:
     - facts
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@
 - hosts: all
   name: Load global variables
   gather_facts: "{{ gather_facts | default(false) }}"
-  any_errors_fatal: "{{ not scale_ignore_unreachable | default(true) }}"
+  any_errors_fatal: false
   ignore_unreachable: "{{ scale_ignore_unreachable | default(false) }}"
   tasks:
     - include_vars: global_vars.yaml
@@ -35,7 +36,8 @@
   name: Ensure /var/lib/config-data context
   become: true
   gather_facts: false
-  any_errors_fatal: yes
+  any_errors_fatal: false
+  ignore_unreachable: "{{ scale_ignore_unreachable | default(false) }}"
   tasks:
     - name: Ensure /var/lib/config-data context
       shell: |-
@@ -56,7 +58,9 @@
 - hosts: "{{ deploy_target_host }}"
   name: Render all_nodes data as group_vars for overcloud
   gather_facts: "{{ gather_facts | default(false) }}"
-  any_errors_fatal: yes
+  # we don't skip errors or ignore unreachable on this one because it's
+  # delegated to localhost. localhost should never be unreachable (tm)
+  any_errors_fatal: True
   tasks:
     - name: Render all_nodes data as group_vars for overcloud
       delegate_to: localhost
@@ -71,7 +75,8 @@
 - hosts: "{{ deploy_target_host }}"
   name: Set all_nodes data as group_vars for overcloud
   gather_facts: "{{ gather_facts | default(false) }}"
-  any_errors_fatal: yes
+  any_errors_fatal: false
+  ignore_unreachable: "{{ scale_ignore_unreachable | default(false) }}"
   tasks:
     - name: Set all_nodes data as group_vars for overcloud
       include_vars: "{{ playbook_dir }}/group_vars/overcloud.json"