Hello! Some questions popped up in my local gaming group concerning the FAQ update that I could not answer so I thought I'd bring them here to get some clarification. 1. Model A declares BS attack as their first order. Model B can see is and has to declare BS-attack and weapon straight away as their ARO. Model A then proceeds to Move as their second action, making sure they stay out of the good range bands and/or templates of Model A. Is this legal? 2. The new rules says that you only need to have LoF etc in the resolution step. But the template rules still specifically says you need to place the template when you declare the skill (and have a valid target), which means you will still not be able to use it against someone coming around a corner(with their second skill) towards you and an enemy might potentially just go around it with their second move. Is this intended or does the template rules need to be updated to reflect the recent change? (Or are we just missing something?) Thanks in advance for any help!
You can only measure 8" from the Active model and only at steps 2.1 and 4.1, so yes, if A found out they were over 8 inches away from B they could avoid getting closer if that would bring them into Shotgun/pistol range. What the new FAQs let you do is declare an attack against an enemy in a Zero Vis Zone to prevent the MSV+Smoke in ZoC trick that would otherwise force you into a mandatory Dodge. I don't believe they intended to make it harder for CC Specialists to get into silhouette contact. Bear in mind that Total Cover prevents you from Declaring a BS Attack against a target, so as the rules currently stand a trooper in your ZoC but behind a building can't be the target of any BS Attack, template or otherwise (except Jammer I guess)
That seems like just a new kind of ARO-baiting but OK; thanks for the answer :) But in the new FAQ you are allowed to declare a BS-attack that does not need LoF until the resolution if we are reading this correctly? Would the template weapons then be the exception to this rule?
Nothing in the FAQ overrides the Total Cover rules, so you are allowed to Declare BS Attacks against enemies out of LoF unless they're behind Total Cover. Likewise you still can't Declare BS Attacks against a Camouflage Marker because the rules forbid the Declaration.
OK. And if someone was in my LoF and I declared a direct template (hoping they would move in range) I would have to place the template straight away and they could (theoretically) just go around it?
The breaks with template and pre-emptive declaration as they were not written to have that in mind. Templates explicitely require certain parameters on declaration.
Nothing has changed with regards to Direct Templates, if you place it and it doesn't reach the target it is cancelled.
I understand this, but since the template is not placed at the conclusion the fusilier(assuming this is a snapshot where the first skill is declared and the ARO(template)) in the picture could just use his second action to keep moving closer? Is this correct? Or could he just move around it?
The cancellation happens immediately when the template is placed and found not to touch the active trooper. So the template doesn't stay on the table, and the active trooper can move forward into the space the template used to be, without getting hit by it.
Wait. You wanna say that you cant declare BS Attack ARO against trooper who activates in your LOF and moves into total cover as first part of an order? Because if you look from the standpoint of the "All at Once" rule, the described situations are identical.
All at Once means that the Trooper is effectively present at all points of their move for the Order, so you can Declare a BS Attack against them at a point they are not in cover.
The All At Once rule provides that all Skills declared in the course of an order are Resolved simultaneously. However, Skills are still Declared sequentially, not simultaneously. The rules as they stand have a restriction on Declaring a BS attack when LoF is blocked by Total Cover. The rule applies to Declaration, not Resolution, so the All At Once principle wouldn't apply. Some have suggested that CB intends to amend the Total Cover rule to apply at Resolution instead of at Declaration. I can see where they're coming from, given Helllois' statement about the purpose of FAQs 1.1 and 1.1.1. However, at this time the Total Cover rule hasn't been amended, and as written it clearly applies to Declaration. Once a trooper has Declared Move, it then exists at all points on its movement path. So in the scenario you describe, the enemy trooper can Declare BS Attack because it has LoF to a point at which the Trooper exists which isn't blocked by Total Cover.
