Just getting started with fireteams - correct me if I'm making any wrong assumptions here... Normally when ARO-ing against an active trooper that is moving, the attacker picks the ‘optimal point’ at which to attack. When responding against a fireteam with ARO from a template weapon, can the shooter intentionally choose a different ‘optimal point’ in each figure’s movement in order to catch them while they are grouped together, even if such an arrangement doesn’t make temporal sense? As a simple example, a Fireteam Duo declares a move as their first short skill and each figure moves. An enemy then declares ARO and uses a boarding shotgun against figure B at the end of their movement, but chooses to also catch figure A at the beginning of their movement, causing both of them to be inside the blast, even though they would never have been next to one another if they were truly moving simultaneously. Is this allowed or does the fact that an ARO attack against a fireteam is only allowed to target ONE figure prevent this (or does something else prevent it)? If only being allowed to target one figure, does that apply to the inverse as well - e.g. if both figures started next to one another in the gap but ran in opposite directions instead?
It's counterintuitive, but because of All At Once, each of the Duo Troopers effectively take up all of the space covered during that Short Skill by each of them. So if they followed in each others' tracks, you can target one when he passes as the single and cover the other one because his path is All At Once through the same spot where the template covers.
The answer for the actual situation has been given, however, the assumption is slightly off; 1. The requirements for a direct template weapon of the teardrop shape is to be touching* the target. There is no "optimal" shot and there is no requirement to centre the template on the target like in a few other wargames or like with impact templates. Additionally, there are no rules against hitting more than your Main Target, but you can only have one Main Target. 2. Choosing the "optimal" shot requires you to use a house rule for how to deal with skill declaration so that you can pick a target point after declarations as part of measuring. I would note that picking the best shot has been mostly removed from N4 and you are now more or less expected to choose what shot you want to make on your own. Most likely such a house rule won't apply to template weapons because the rules are a bit better at outlining that templates are put down immediately on declaration. * You don't even need to cover any part of the silhouette, it is enough to just put the template in base contact.
