Dense cover

[Ahzek451]

Sorry if this is basic, Attempting to really hammer down on how this edition's terrain rules work. And sorry for the lack of a picture.

Scenerio: 10 necron warrors behind an obstacle with dense cover all within 3 inches of it. 1 sticking out at the end completely exposed. Redemptor about 8" away with onslought gatling cannons. 

0000000000   <- warriors(the one on the far right is completely exposed and the redemptor can draw a 1mm line to every part of the base)
XXXXXXX      <-obstacle

 

 

       @           <-redemtor dread(more than 6" away from obstacle)

 

Am I getting this right:
When the redemptor goes to shoot at the warriors(starting with the multi-shot gattling cannon),  because one of the warriors is exposed, Do I resolve one shot (or attack) one dice roll at a time without suffering the -1 dense cover penalty until it is dead? So 12 shots from the gatling..roll one dice at a time at normal BS. By the 3rd dice roll I manage to kill the exposed model. So then I roll the rest of the 9 dice at once because now the other 9 warriors are at least partially blocked by the obstacle at -1BS for fast dice rolling purposes. 

 

Thanks!

Edited April 22, 2021 by Ahzek451

[Valkyrion]

Yes and no.

You're correct that you roll the dice one at a time, but it's per weapon - so if you were using the gatling you'd roll all 12 at once at normal BS because you can draw a line 1mm in thickness to every part of a models base. if all 12 shots hit and wound and fail saves then that unit is dead without receiving the benefits of cover.

 

Furthermore, because you declare targets first, even if your opponent removes the outlying model after you've shot your gatling, all of your other weapons fire without penalty too, provided they were all shooting at that unit.

 

 

edit to say page 217 of the rule book is where the answer lives.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Valkyrion

[Dr_Ruminahui]

I don't agree with that.  The rules say that a given weapon can have more than one attack and must target a unit with all of its attacks.  It then goes on to treat each attack as rolled separately, no different than any other weapon.

 

So yes, you would resolve attacks one at a time until you killed that one model "sticking out" and then you could batch roll them.

[Spinsanity]

so if you were using the gatling you'd roll all 12 at once

Where's that from? The rules specifically say that in theory attacks are rolled one at a time and that fast dice rolling should only be used when all the attacks are identical:

 

Rulebook, page 221, Fast Dice Rolling sidebar (highlights mine)

The rules for making attacks (pg 220) have been written assuming you will resolve them one at a time. However, it is possible to speed up your battles by rolling the dice for similar attacks together. In order to make several attacks at once, all of the attacks must have the same Ballistic Skill (if it's a shooting attack) or the same Weapon Skill (if it's a close combat attack). They must also have the same Strength and Armour Penetration characteristics, they must inflict the same Damage, they must be affected by the same abilities...

Edited April 23, 2021 by Spinsanity

[Valkyrion]

I''ll hold my hands up if I'm wrong, but I read it as (paraphrasing) 'a model makes one attack with each ranged weapon' to mean that your 12 shot gatling is 'one attack' for the purposes of targeting, not 12. So yes, you fast roll those dice because they are one attack with the same S, AP etc

 

Page 216 says (emphasis mine) 'if a model has more than one ranged weapon, it can shoot all of them at one target, or it can split the weapons between different enemy units'

It says nothing about splitting the attacks per weapon. 

[Cheex]

I''ll hold my hands up if I'm wrong, but I read it as (paraphrasing) 'a model makes one attack with each ranged weapon' to mean that your 12 shot gatling is 'one attack' for the purposes of targeting, not 12. So yes, you fast roll those dice because they are one attack with the same S, AP etc

Nope - second page in the Shooting Phase section, under "Number of Attacks". A Heavy 12 weapon makes 12 attacks.

[Valkyrion]

Yes, but you don't split your attacks, you split your weapons when choosing your targets. 

[Dam13n]

NUMBER OF ATTACKS

When a model shoots a ranged weapon, it will make a number of attacks. You make one hit roll for each attack being made.

HIT ROLL

When a model makes an attack, make one hit roll for that attack by rolling one D6.

 

(remainder of attack sequence cut for the sake of brevity.)

Each shot from a weapon is considered a separate attack. Unlike in previous editions, these attacks are resolved sequentially rather than simultaneously due to the way modifiers are applied.

 

You are correct in that you choose targets per weapon, but that isn't relevant here. As the question concerns a unit (considered to be one target) that has models both in and out of dense cover.

 

Your 12 shot weapon would target that unit and get to fire all 12 of its shots.

However as the owner of the unit gets to choose which models are removed as casualties, it is possible for the target unit to gain the -1 to hit during the resolution of that weapons attacks by virtue of removing the model(s) that are outside cover first.

 

This means that the attacks cannot be resolved using "fast dice" as that mechanic is conditional on all of those dice having identical modifiers, and therefore an identical attack sequence, applied to them, which they likely won't until the model(s) outside of cover have been removed.

 

TLDR - the OP is correct in his analysis of the rules as written.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Dam13n

[Valkyrion]

fair enough, as the man in the orthopaedic shoes once said, 'I stand corrected'.