This arose in an unrelated thread. I'm posting it here as its own rules question. In N3, a trooper who climbed a wall would "snap" from the ground to the wall, gaining free movement equal to the width of her base. When she reached the top of the wall, she would snap onto the roof gaining more free movement. How does it work in N4? The Climb rule is accompanied by two diagrams. The first diagram appears to show a movement path with no snapping. A 4" distance is labelled in the diagram but it's not clear whether the label refers to the length of the movement path, or the height of the wall. The diagram caption indicates that the height of the wall is 4", which would mean that the troop had snapped at the bottom of the wall, or the top of the wall, but not necessarily both. There is a second diagram which appears to show a troop (on the right side) moving without snapping at the start of its movement path. (It stops partway down the wall, so we don't know whether it would have snapped at the end of its path). So, do Climbing troops snap their movement at the bottom of the wall, the top of the wall, both, or neither?
Snapping onto the wall seems to be gone. Snapping off the wall is still there and still free. This would also make the examples be neatly on scale.
I think I agree - this is the result assuming that the caption to the example photo is correct. The building is exactly 4" high. The climbing model moves 4", then snaps onto the roof. The nice thing about this interpretation is that a lot of Infinity scenery is exactly 4" high and the game plays best when it can be climbed in one order. It's also consistent with the idea that the Climb skill only allows vertical movement. So 4" is the vertical movement you perform using Climb. Then you snap horizontally. However, that logic breaks down with Climb+ units who still get 1" free movement as they progress onto the roof as part of their movement. This interpretation means that the photo in the example is a little misleading, or at least unclear. The arrow denoting the movement path is actually 5" long, as it covers the 4" climbing distance and also the 1" snapping distance. Since snapping is unobvious, it would be nice if we had confirmation beyond the picture caption, though.
Please note that snapping onto a wall did not exist in N3. Snapping onto a flat surface is unchanged from the end of N3, and is mentioned in the rules text as well as the graphic. Note also that this is only going to apply if the Trooper declares Climb instead of Move, which means their movement will instantly end for that Skill.
@QueensGambit I think you’re double-counting the snaps. If a model with a 4” move can climb at most a 4” tall wall, then that’s only one free base width. If there were a free “snap” at both the top and bottom, then a Fusilier would be able to climb a 5” wall. If you’re climbing horizontally across the wall, it’s a little harder to track than if you’re going straight up the side, but you should still count the base-width movement that the leading edge makes as you transition onto the vertical surface.
I guess my meta was playing it wrong in N3. We thought that the Fusilier could indeed climb a 5" wall due to snapping at both ends. Interesting! So if a 4-4 troop with Climbing Plus is at the base of a wall, if it declares Move then it will only reach the top of the wall, but not snap over onto the roof? But since Climbing Plus is Optional, the troop could choose to declare a whole order Climb and snap onto the roof? (The second part is academic since the troop in that case could just declare Move-Move rather than Climb, I suppose).
The wording of the N4 FAQ 1.1 on Climb examples might affect how we're supposed to read/play this one...? Maybe? Underlined text for emphasis: This makes me wonder if the intent is that you have to have enough excess Climbing movement to "pay for" the horizontal distance to get the base onto the surface, instead of allowing snap-to-horizontal free movement equal to base width. Among other things, this means that the maximum building height a trooper can Climb in a single Entire Order is: 25mm base = 3" (4-4 MOV) or 5" (6-2 MOV) 40mm base = 2.4" (4-4 MOV) or 4.4" (6-2, 6-4, or 6-6 MOV) or 6.4" (8-2 MOV) 55mm base = 1.8" (4-4 MOV) or 3.8" (6-2 or 6-4 MOV) It also brings back up the "how do you measure this around parapets?" issue.
Yes, I think the FAQ addresses exactly this issue. Climb is no longer measured differently from Climb+/ladders. No snapping is allowed for any movement on a wall, regardless of the skill used. So a MOV 4 S2 trooper at the base of a 3" wall can climb/climb+/ladder exactly onto the roof (3" up, then 1" over onto the roof).
If anyone from CB is reading this, please consider amending the FAQ language for Climb. For clarity, it really ought to say that the only horizontal movement Climb allows is base width to complete a Climb skill, rather than saying Climb doesn’t allow horizontal movement at all, and the Climb skill ends as soon as the base is fully supported even if some movement is unused.
