We had a big discussion about this a while ago, and Neal made the call that special effect hits should be applied to have an effect wherever possible.

So an ignores cover hit on a formation should go on a unit in cover if possible within the normal hit allocation rules.


As a concept it wasn't without its detractors, but it's the NetERC position.

TRC, there was a long protracted thread on this about 4 months or so ago. It was as heated as the more recent barrage discussion! But didn't (as far as i know) end up with an email to Jervis!

It seems the thread died in the last big crash, but here's Neal's (pretty corrupted by the crash) comments on it from the '09 rules review thread:

First, the FAQs are loosely worded. They are not intended to be parsed out in strict rules-as-written lawyerly sense. The answers have context based on both the rules being questioned and the question itself.

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On stretching...
The easiest way to think about it is that rolling to-hit and allocation are different steps. Determining eligibility to roll to-hit is a different process than determining eligibility for allocation. They are from opposite viewpoints. To-hit eligibility is determined from the viewpoint of the firing units. Allocation eligibility is determined based on the view of the target units.

To hit - the firing unit has to be in range and line of sight of at least one enemy.
Allocation - the target unit has to be in range and line of sign of at least one enemy.

All the successful hits are pooled, with only the handful of categories stated in the rules - AP, AT and any special weapon abilities. You allocate without regard for where the hit came from.

There is no "Unit A hit with its own specific weapon." It's just a "hit" and goes into the pool with all the other hits. This makes allocation simple and fast even though there are a few unusual cases where it is not intuitive.

If you need "real world" rationale, bullets and lasers and whatever don't just stop at the end of the range based on the game stats, so having the end range be fluid is pretty easily justified. Also, as pointed out earlier, not all "kills" are literally people being killed or vehicles being utterly disabled. It includes damage and disorder that won't be recovered from during the course of the game - broken chains of command, scattered or highly disoriented troops, vehicles that tip over in a ditch or crater, and so on.

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On special weapon abilities...

The "every unit has to have the special ability" FAQ is only for barrages because they combine all weapons into a single effect. It does not apply to normal attacks where effects are determined individually.

For allocation, after a lot of discussion the "maximize special weapon effects" concept was dropped. We did not put it in the NetEA FAQ. The rules state the defender allocates within the restrictions in the rules, so the defender is free to allocate in a way to minimize special effects, e.g. assigning a disrupt hit to a grot.

Huh. That kinda sucks, it makes things like hellhounds pretty pointless.

I plan to continue to apply hits in such a way that special rules are used as much as possible; as to me it is far less gamey and fairer on my opponent, which should always be the key guiding principle.

An so it begins again......

Not completely. The -1 to hit "cover modifier" still gets to be ignored. Against Marines, or other high armour armies, that's all you were getting anyway.

And yeah, while it can be disheartening to have 6 Disrupt and 3 Normal hits get applied to a 3-Disposable/3-Non-Disposable formation in such a manner, it also avoids other issues, like that single Lance weapon always being directed against the RA target.

While there are some possible solutions, they tend to be a little cumbersome in their wording to be worth the issue.

Morgan Vening

With Marines getting an extra 15cm (Hunter added to Tac Marines) that's one thing, but consider that as the Tau have been developed, a 15cm Pulse Carbine can now affect a target up to 90cm away (adding a Skyray to a Fire Warrior formation).

I get that this is fine according to RAW but explaining this to Tau opponents is not easy. When we've finished our local campaign and tournament, I'll make sure to get some Tau games in.

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I really think hit allocation range should be per hit type; so use the longest AP range for the AP hits, longest AT range for the AT hits etc.

That would make a lot more sense to me.

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Morgan Vening

Not sure that this is actually a big deal. I suspect that it will be a very rare occurrance as this requires the target formation to cover the 90cm space. When was the last time you saw a single formation extend half way across a table, let alone have another get into a position to assault / fire at it from one flank?

The point about the Tau army is that it should perform shooting 'assaults' instead of the normal assault / engagements of other armies - in other words, think of the Tau close range shooting attack in the same terms as the assault mechanics. There, the hackdown hits are spread further than the area that encloses the combat simulating the loss of cohesion, people running away etc. So here range 'stretching' performs the same function spreading the effect of the Tau 'assault' further than some of their close range weaponry.

Indeed you can consider the Tau shooting ' assault' as having the equivalent of a First Strike capability; once they have moved into range and shot the enemy, they will suffer some retaliation that will depend greatly on how effective their 'First strike' shooting has been.

Indeed I agree with Ginger range stretching is an intended (if perhaps quite advanced) part of how the tau army list is supposed to operate.

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Have there really been instances where range for Tau was seriously "stretched" or is this mostly theory?

In the 15-30cm range I can see it. Past that, though, I'm trying to picture it and you'd need a pretty unusual situation for Tau to be close enough to an opponent formation to rack up enough hits that they can allocate to everything in range and still have a large number "out of range."

It is interesting to note that Guard mech infantry companies that are given Leman Russ upgrades can have their Autocannons and Multilasers stretched to 75cm.

This isn't solely a game mechanic that benefits the Tau.

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