Having uncovered the mysteries of Close Assault in the first part of my ‘Space Hulk Rules: A Clarification’ series, we’re now going to look at yet another section of the rulebook that fails to fully explain itself:

Overlapping Overwatch

Overlapping - A Genestealer moves into LoS of two Overwatch Terminators

I’m hoping that this one will be a simple one to answer. In the rulebook, it states that if a Genestealer performs an action in the fire arc of more than one Terminator on Overwatch then:

…all of the Space Marines must take their shot at the Genestealer, and you must roll for them all, even if the Genestealer has been killed by an overwatch shot from another Space Marine!

That’s straightforward enough I suppose, but if you’re going to explicitly say that each Terminator must roll, why not just add a sentence to explain why?

As I understand it, you roll for everyone because there’s a chance that one of them could jam their gun and therefore have to spend an AP to unjam it, should another Genestealer happen to appear. Why not clarify this though? Is it possible for one Terminator to shoot a team mate by accident? If so, what are the engagement rules for that? If not, why not bloody say that then?!

Similarly, there is a question in the (frankly lacking) Space Hulk FAQ (PDF) about using the flamer on a map section that contains another Terminator:

Q. Can the Heavy Flamer target a section that contains a Space Marine?

A. As long as the target square is empty or contains a Genestealer, yes.

OK, so are there any repercussions for doing this? This issue did actually come up in the last game we played (or would have had I not lost so badly). Does the Terminator have to take some kind of defence roll? The Heavy Flamer is ridiculously powerful (Genestealers are killed by a +2 roll of a D6) so how can the Terminators be completely immune?

Why not just add one sentence to clarify the situation (e.g. “Terminators do not take damage from the Heavy Flamer, but cannot pass through map sections that are already on fire” or something similar)? The vagueness is so fucking FRUSTRATING!

Ahem. Sorry about that. So, what do you lot think?

Next time: The oft-discussed issue of miniature placement!

During our first Space Hulk session, I had a few misgivings about the rules. More specifically, the lack of clarity in a few exceptional circumstances.

In a bid to make it clearer for myself and anyone else that might stumble across these posts, I’m making a plea to anyone out there that might be able to explain this stuff!

I also wanted to take a few photos to show off just how beautiful this game is – such exquisite quality!

Let’s start with some basic stuff that will make me look stupid:

Close Assault

Close Assault - can the Terminator still shoot?

The rulebook states:

A model can take a close assault action to attack a target in the square directly in front of them. It costs 1 Action Point (AP) to take a close assault action once the model is in position.

The important word for me here is “can”. Given that there is no benefit to a Terminator engaging a Genestealer in Close Assault (perhaps unless he’s carrying the Heavy Flamer), can the Terminators shoot at the Genestealer as normal or are they forced to perform a Close Assault action (or expend 2 AP in order to move back and shoot) if they wish to attack?

In the same vein, if the Terminator is in Overwatch (where you get to shoot every time an enemy performs an action in your Line of Sight) and assuming he doesn’t die, does the Terminator get to shoot after every time the Genestealer attacks, given that the Genestealer performed an action in his Line of Sight?

The rules state that a Space Marine can shoot as long as he has Line of Sight to the target, so I assume that what I’ve written above is all correct and above board.

Close Range - Can the Terminator shoot the diagonally-adjacent Genestealer?

If I’ve understood that right, let’s take a look at similar scenario. With regards to movement, the rules state:

A model or blip cannot move through another model, blip or closed door. A model also cannot move diagonally if this means it would pass between two squares containing a wall or model.

Now that specifically talks about movement; there’s no mention of what options are available when it comes to attacking. Obviously the Space Marine can’t engage the diagonal Genestealer in Close Assault as you can only Close Assault models directly in front of you, but can the Space Marine shoot at him or is his Line of Sight blocked by the wall to his right and the Genestealer in front?

I’m inclined to think the answer is no. If the Space Marine can’t move to that diagonal forwards square, I assume he can’t shoot there either.

What do you guys think? Have I got this right? Thanks for reading and please leave a comment below if you can shed some light on this!

Next time: Overlapping Overwatch!