Hello! Okay.... Uh-huh.... Okay. Wait. Stop. Either I am not understanding how LoF is drawn in this game, or basic geometry is failing me. So here's the thing: if you are on the edge of a building, you would have LoF on anyone that is 90 degrees below you, no matter how high the building: you would simply draw a line parallel to the building's wall, and another at an angle. So in the example given for lean out: To put this in easy two-dimensional terms: Am I wrong? If I am, how so? If I'm not, then what's the point of Lean Out?
Add a 3mm thick parapet/balcony to the building in your diagram and you'll see why it becomes very useful.
So is the given example incorrect, and Lean Out is only used for when there's a parapet that keeps the unit from being exactly on the edge?
I mean, you can use lean out in the circumstances the example shows, it's there to demonstrate how the skill works in a simple manner, not necessarily show the best time to use it.
Wouldn't a prone troop still draw LoF to someone directly below so long as they are on the edge of an unwalled roof? Just draw from the edge of their base; again, no Lean Out necessary.
Depend of how tall is the rooftop, the silhouette of the figures, if the roof have parapets or not. Maybe even you are in a balcony and not in a roof... Lean out could be useful. The example graphic is to put it out simply and clear to understand
Except as I pointed out above, it doesn't matter how tall the rooftop is, or the silhouette of the figures (so long as the attacker is on the edge of the rooftop and the target is 90 degrees down), and that the example graphic makes the mistake of saying that Ortega cannot see Angus when in fact he can, as I demonstrated. Unless someone can point out where my demonstration is flawed?
The diagram text is indeed incorrect where it says that Ortega can't see Angus without using Lean Out. In the diagram, a 3mm thick parapet wouldn't displace Ortega far enough back to break LoF. He could still shoot Angus without using Lean Out. Unless the parapet was really tall, I suppose. On rare occasions, you might have an unusually tall or thick parapet. But otherwise, Lean Out is basically useless for its stated purpose since you can almost invariably draw LoF without it. It's occasionally useful for getting weird angles on troops farther away. It basically lets you shoot from a point in midair, and maybe that's where you need to be to see a particular enemy. But almost never one at the base of the wall you're leaning out from. I think I've used it once, and had it used against me once. It's very near to useless.
I've used it once. My opponent was standing inside the door of a building that my Razor was on top of. Lean out allowed me to gain LOF through the doorframe below. Still, seems like a storm in a tea cup. Buildings are seldom so cubical and stuff like parabolas, rain shields, parapets, and overhangs are not uncommon even when dealing with MDF terrain made to be easy to move.
I assume lean out originated at a point when line of sight was still being drawn from the centeral axis of the model, and they just left it in for the border cases it still benefited.
Lean out tends to be more useful on the horizontal than the vertical. Say your Intruder is in Total Cover behind S2 on the edge of a roof. You can declare Lean Out to attack your target 24" away. This is functionally the equivalent of "I Move out of and back into Total Cover" with a couple is significant differences. So a model in the blue dot (just poking through the door with relatively constrained LOF) can Lean Out to attack down the teal firelane.
This may be dated, but... Wasn't it disallowed at some point (N2?) to fire directly down on a model touching the building you were standing on? Also, instead of playing geometry wars with the skeptical, just declare Lean Out to avoid disputes about LoF and if you your view clips a 3mm area.
Exactly this. I use this ability semi-often and for this exact reason and almost never because of something that’s beneath me.
