I'm wondering if I'm playing this right or if this is an exploit. Let's say I have a sniper prone on a edge of a roof that has no lip and can see what is below. At the moment there are no enemies that will put their silhouette above the sniper base so it has cover. It loses a ftf roll and survives. If I were to theoretically guts back from the edge of the roof 1mm for example will that put me into total cover? Sniper won't be able to see anyone but no one at the moment will send it since you wouldn't be able to see a 3x3 square. I am wondering if this is a right or an exploit to something translated unintentionally?
The you see me I see you rule obviously factors in LoS arc. Turning around so you are facing another direction won't factor in at all.
Weirdly, the way the rules are written, you can draw line of fire *from* a pinpoint to any 3x3, at which point it's reciprocal, but you can't draw a line of fire to anything less than the 3x3, and since the back half of the base can't draw line of fire, it technically (ridiculously) can't trigger the mutual awareness clause...
I am sorry but if the model cannot improve its actual cover and that means going from partial to complete cover it goes prone, if it is already prone it does nothing including turning to not see its attacker (though that would be a nice free backshot to the enemy). Reciprocal vision is meant to prevent abuses like "I see only your foot, you cannot have LoF to me even though you look at my direction" than to make LoF magically vanish by not looking at the enemy, the enemy model can still draw LoF independently to the model.
I feel as though there is an ongoing struggle with how Line of Fire is defined and interpreted in 3rd edition, and it keeps getting jumbled up in Line of Sight, Facing, and various other concepts.
regardless of the debate LoF definition is To be valid (unless special rules say otherwise), the line must be drawn from the front 180 arc of the model, turning the back does not prevent a model to declare ARO (and be an attacker) to something in its front arc and mutual awareness does not grand LoF to attacks that come outside of the models front arc.
Yeah the 1mm was like the minimum number of mathematically not have a 3mmx3mm square exposed to the level below but in practice you would move further to represent not being able to see or be seen by people below.
Exactly. So if a prone model A on a roof draws line of fire from the top of the base to a 3x3 of model B's front half they get to shoot back, even though you can't draw a valid line of fire from model B to model A because they can't see 3x3. But if model A is in the same place but facing the other way they can't draw line of fire to model B, and model B can't draw line of fire to model A...