I don't think so. Smoke specifically says that it's a normal dodge roll (unless it's a Special Dodge), but Nimbus is probably never FtF.
Really? As far as I know it doesn't actually hit anyone under the template. Are they "affected" by the template?
Depends on what they ARO with. BS Attack with Smoke/Eclipse vs Dodge is a Normal roll, but is a FtF against a BS Attack ARO. And what happens if I Smoke you and you Hack me in response?
It's a template and it allows them to Dodge without LOF to attacker as ARO. Additionally Nimbus is an attack. But yes, they are directly affectes by tge template - they are touched by it. Smoke blocking LOF vs Hack does normal rolls because Smoke functions like Dodge here (not to mention that hacking doesn't require LOF so Special Dodge does nothing) Smoke touching Hacker vs Hack is FTF because the template attack affects the hacker. This is NOT a function of smoke, but a function of the template.
So Smoke template somehow prevents Hacking solely because it is a Template Weapon, even though Hacking only cares about ZoC? How should I explain this to a new player?
Explain it the same way you explain how a bullet stops Hacking, or how you explain why the Hacker gained the option to Dodge just because the template touched them. It's an effect that directly affects the hacker.
Note that's interesting, a flash pulse against a total immune combi rifle is still a ftf. Even though the total immune model is straight immune (heh) to the flash pulse.
"If the smoke placement roll beats the hacker's roll, it means that the smoke broke LOS so that the hacker can't tell if the target is still close enough to hack. Just like if someone shooting at the hacker beats the hacker's roll, it means that the bullet got to the hacker before the hacker's program got started."
Since when hackers need to see their target? To tell if something is close enough to be hacked, you just open your Hacking Device's Available Hacking Targets menu, click [Scan] and everything that's inside your Hacking Area pops up on the screen.
And then a pound of white phosphor ignites right next to you sending choking gas in a low-pressure wave engulfing you, burning your eyes with the quiet promise of long term eye and air ways difficulties. In front of you you no longer see the hacking menu but the medical bills that you can only hope that military insurance covers all the trips to Bourak you're going to have to make. Had the grenade landed a few meters further away it'd have been about as irritating as a firecracker.
I cannot hide the fact that this conversation has been extremely polite and pleasant so far. You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.
If you throw smoke special ammunition, it's governed by the Smoke rules: Unlike other Special Ammunition, Smoke can be used to avoid enemy Attacks, but only if those Attacks require LoF and a Roll, and their LoF is blocked by the Smoke Circular Template being placed. That has to supersede the template rules. And that shouldn't conflict with the description of "Smoke and Template Weapons" because the first bullet point specifies: When, as part of an Order or ARO, the trooper throwing Smoke is facing off against several enemies, his Roll is used against all eligible Face to Face Attack Rolls, but he will need to win every single Face to Face Roll in order to leave the Smoke Template on the table. If Trooper A declares BS Attack using a smoke grenade launcher to place smoke at Enemy Trooper B's feet, and B declares ARO BS Attack to do the same to Trooper A, it's not a face-to-face roll. Because B throwing smoke can't block line of sight to the point on the ground that A targeted; and vice versa. Trooper B throwing smoke can only block line of sight to Trooper B. That's one of the corollaries of: Q: Can a miniature throw a Smoke Grenade to protect another figure from an attack? A: No. In a similar way to a Dodge, the Special Dodge provided by throwing a Smoke Grenade can only protect the throwing trooper. It's going to be the same situation with Smoke vs. Nimbus, no matter where Trooper B places a smoke template, doesn't block line of sight to anything but Trooper B in the order that it is thrown. So Smoke vs. Nimbus cannot be face-to-face rolls. Likewise, Smoke vs. Hacking doesn't become face-to-face because Hacking isn't an Attack that requires LoF. Nimbus vs. Nimbus does satisfy the requirements to be face-to-face rolls because it is an attack, and doesn't have the qualifiers that the Smoke rules introduce. That seems like an oversight in the template rules, but at least smoke's not broke.
So if A fires at B with rifle, and B AROs back by shooting a nimbus in between them, then it’s a face to face roll or only if the template touches trooper A?
you have to directly affect the shooter, simply putting something between you isn't directly affecting - that's the definition of indirect and you'd need Special Dodge for that to work. You must hit the shooter with the actual template.
You call it nonsensical, but you don't qualify it. Does the smoke thrower directly affect the other model? Yes it does. All prerequisites for face to face has been met. What you're railing against is that your preconception that MSV2 fully ignores smoke is challenged - but this preconception is simply not mechanically true. Smoke states that unlike other special ammo (yes this is what the rules say) it can stop attacks if the template is placed to block LOF. Meanwhile, MSV2 state it ignores the dodge properties of smoke - it doesn't otherwise ignore smoke ammunition, because when you directly affect someone you don't need to rely on a dodge property to create a face to face.
The template doesn't do anything to the troopers in its AOE, however, unlike, say, a regular grenade.
