Am I understanding this correctly!?

[Gherrick]

I was using a bunker to house my long fangs, and then it get assaulted by a unit that didn't really have much hope of putting any dent in it. Since the bunker allows my long fangs to shoot out despite a unit being within 1", I was gonna put a lascannon to their face and laugh at them while they bang futilely at the door. Well, the joke was on me, since the unit was "locked in melee combat" with the bunker. I couldn't shoot at them from ANY of my units, including the LF inside.

 

Please tell me I missed something, because this is otherwise just stupid.

 

[wilkco]

​correct when a unit is in close combat it can not be shot. however fortifications have the immobile rule :- This model cannot move for any reason, nor can it fight in the Fight phase. Enemy models automatically hit this model in the Fight phase - do not make hit rolls. However, this model can still shoot if there are enemy models within 1" of it, and friendly unit can still target enemy units that are within 1" of this model. 

 

so you can still shoot at them 

[Wolf_Lord_Hardrada]

On a similar note; can you use offensive psychic powers in combat (ie; smite)

 

Played a game against a friend a few days ago and he was casting smite against a unit locked in CC. We couldn't see anything in the rules at a glance that says otherwise, but we may well have just missed it.

[Jarl Deathwolf]

The Wyrd works in strange ways it seems. I had this exact situation happen to me today except the over eager trick-or-treater was a Lord of Skulls. Hilarity ensued, of course. I will keep the immobile rule in mind for the next battle.

[Bulwyf]

I am pretty sure you can use psychic powers on a unit in CC since it is not a shooting attack but a mental/spiritual one. Our local group certainly plays it that way.

[Gherrick]

Thanks for referencing Immobile, as I wasn't expecting to find the targeting exception there...

 

On a similar note, if there is a unit locked in combat, and a character (not in combat) on the far side, they still cannot be targeted for shooting, because they are not the "closest visible unit", correct?

 

I was playing vs Tau, and he basically had to pass on the majority of his shooting phase, because I had a small unit still locked in combat, and all else left were characters (not locked in combat, however). Granted, he realized too late that he could have disengaged from that one fight (so he could have burned it down), but we were already passed the movement phase at that point.

[Bulwyf]

Thanks for referencing Immobile, as I wasn't expecting to find the targeting exception there...

 

On a similar note, if there is a unit locked in combat, and a character (not in combat) on the far side, they still cannot be targeted for shooting, because they are not the "closest visible unit", correct?

 

I was playing vs Tau, and he basically had to pass on the majority of his shooting phase, because I had a small unit still locked in combat, and all else left were characters (not locked in combat, however). Granted, he realized too late that he could have disengaged from that one fight (so he could have burned it down), but we were already passed the movement phase at that point.

 

Yes, if a unit is locked in combat and it is the closest visible enemy unit to your unit then you can't shoot the character. I had this exact situation happen in my last game yesterday.

[Wolf_Lord_Hardrada]

God-Emperor damnit, that whole "na na can't shoot me because another non-viable target unit is closer" rule needs to disappear fast. Its the only thing I've found about this edition that I hate because it makes no damn sense. Either let us target characters in that situation, or let us shoot into combat. In fact, I lost my first (and so far only) game of 8th pretty much because of this rule.

[wilkco]

only reason I see that they have the rule is to stop close combat up a characters bodyguard with a throw away unit  then just sniping the char of the field as the characters buffs make a lot of difference now. As that is what I would do if the rule did not exist.

[Karhedron]

GW don't want to make it too easy to take out character models by tying up nearer units in combat. The way the system works currently, you need 1 of 4 situations to target a character with shooting.

 

1. Snipers

2. Assault them

3. Massive firepower to wipe out nearer units

4. Outmaneuvering your opponent to get shooty units near the character

 

Whilst none of the above are trivial to pull off against experienced players, they do offer a range of options for dealing with buffing characters. Characters form a large part of the flavour of 40K and I would be reluctant to make it too easy to take them.

 

The whole closest unit thing does open up a few abuses. A Culexus Assassin or Sisters of Silence can basically shut down Smite Spam armies just by getting close since they are the closest targets but cannot be affected by psychic powers.

 

Mind you I dislike any army strategy that involves spamming a single option so I won't be shedding too many tears. ;)

[Gherrick]

While they are addressing targeting issues with characters, I hope they also make it a little bit easer for characters to get into combat, without having the charge first (unless that was somehow the intent). I get a bit frustrated at how you can charge with a 5+ model unit, and still have room for your character to charge. My characters are usually left in the cold as simple buffers, but SW characters are all pretty damn functional in melee, I just find it hard to get them there if they aren't going solo (specifically the HQs with a 5-6" move).