Infinity FAQ Errata says the following: LINE OF FIRE In Infinity, troops have a LoF angle of 180˚, that is, they can see targets that are at least partially in their front arc. Players should clearly mark the limits of that arc on their troops’ bases. For a troop to be able to draw LoF to its target, it must meet the following conditions: The target must be wholly or partially within the troop’s front 180˚ arc, unless a Special Skill or piece of Equipment ignores this restriction. The troop must be able to see, at least, a part of the volume of its target with the size of the target’s head, or a minimum size of approximately 3x3mm (the size of the black squares on the Silhouette Templates). A straight line can be drawn between any point of the troop’s Silhouette and any point of the target’s Silhouette, without being interrupted by scenery or models (allied or enemy). Pic on the left is from the FAQ as well. There are 4 situations on the right, where active trooper is shooting "in the back" (all covers are higher than silhouettes). Reactive trooper does not have unobstructed LoF to the Active Trooper due to an obstacle. But if you trace the LoF through a wall, it goes through Active trooper's base, and also a direct unobstructed line can be traced between the two bases. Taking into account new reading and example from FAQ, does that mean that in all 4 situations the Reactive trooper can shoot back, even when his LoF is obstructed by a scenery item?
Yes, it is a little counter intuitive but the FAQ prevented a far more egregious loophole that let you shoot a trooper in the back whilst being in front of and above them (by using super jump, for example). In essense you need two things: 1) Unobstructed LoF from Silhouette to Silhouette 2) Part of the enemy Silhouette to be in your front arc However, you do not need unobstructed LoF from the Front arc of your Silhoette. This does mean that the front arc is technically a little larger than 180° as you have to be entirely within a trooper's back arc to stop them shooting back, but having played both ways the FAQ made sense.
They're not shooting through walls, they're shooting through the clear, unobstructed LoF you've drawn on the diagram. For reference, this was the thread which caused the FAQ, it was also possible to get back shots at larger models when you really shouldn't, without being above them. https://forum.corvusbelli.com/threads/shooting-the-back-of-silhouettes-and-facing.2043/
Does this mean that for any shot you take, you can always take the back of your model to draw the trajectory from which you shoot? Provided the enemy trooper is in your front arc? This is relevant for shooting with Direct Template for example. Can they be placed on your back arc?
Yes. You're effectively choosing to shoot at the first point you gain LOF on the attacking trooper (assuming they Moved to that position from total cover at Step 3). This diagram makes it clear that you don't need to choose the shortest path between the BS Attacking trooper and the target as the attack's Line-of-Fire:
Line of sight exists among several lines, from the blue line to the red line, lines in between, and the multiple corresponding height variations of those lines. So, yeah, that's a valid shotgun ARO. There's no requirement that the models both use the same line of sight line. Edit: Like the others have pointed out, if you wanted, you could cover even more of that secondary trooper with the template if you wanted. I think you could manage an ARO shot with the template completely outside of the reactive model's front arc. The requirement is that the target is in the front arc. If you're following the other rules, there's no requirement that the template end up in the front arc. Usually it will, but it's not a requirement.
