An S2 unit is inside a building near a window. The windowsill is 1cm off the ground, so low enough to vault over. The window is 2cm high, so not as high as an S2 silhouette. Can the unit move through the window to get out of the building? I think no, because if she tries to vault, the top of her silhouette will be blocked by the top of the window. I have an opponent who thinks otherwise, hence the question. I don't think it's come up for me before because my local FLGS doesn't have much terrain with windows. But TTS buildings are full of windows, so this plague will mean a whole new set of terrain interactions for me.
If the gap is too small to fit the SIL then it can't be moved through. For vaults, this is the gap between the top of the object being vaulted (the window sill) and any objects above the object being vaulted (the top of the window frame). So in you example, no you can't vault through the window. The way to get around this is to agree with your opponent that Windows are Narrow Gates. Thus an S2 or smaller model can Move through them. Because the Window is 1cm off the ground an S0 model can not Move through them because the S0 model is never B2B with the Narrow Gate, so can't pass through it. Edit: trying to find references, I can't actually find a rule that covers 'what happens if a trooper tries to move through a gap that is shorter than the trooper's SIL'; the only one I can find is in the Common Skill 'Move' and that specifies narrower.
Interesting - do you typically agree that windows are narrow gates, or no? i.e. in metas where the terrain has windows, do you find the game plays better if S2 models can move through them?
It's about 50/50. Only one of my previously regular opponent's actively disliked it. There are also tables it is a better choice for than others. MAS-based tables for instance can have such extensive windows that treating windows as Gates would make the terrain extremely 'porous' whereas SML tables have very limited doors as it is that adding 1-2 extra access points to buildings works well. And yes: it results in interiors of buildings being a lot easier to access. If paired with 'into / out but not through' it preserves the LOF blocking effects of buildings but opens up movement a lot. I find this benefits smaller order count lists more as it makes movement more efficient, but it's at the risk of making certain turn 1 alphas easier to achieve. Also remember, if you're playing destructible terrain then Windows are usually trivially easy to turn into Narrow Gates anyway (ARM 0, BTS 0, STR 1 means a DA CCW Morlock goes through them in 1 Short Skill). MAS terrain: SML terrain:
Windows are probably one of the most common terrain pieces to have mutually agreed terrain rules for that flex from the bounds of the core rules. Due to different terrain sets, we've got local pieces that we play as any of; - very wide, medium-height windows that models up to S4 can vault through, ignoring the usual restriction on height that Inane Imp describes - windows that can be passed through by spending a short movement skill to be placed from one side to the other - windows that can be passed through like a narrow gate - barred windows that permit LOF but not model access Variety is the spice of life but always talk to your opponent about what makes sense and is practical first.
