Ginger, look at skimmers this way:

A unit with the skimmer ability has the following three special abilities:

1) Movement

Skimmers may ignore dangerous or impassable terrain as they
move. They may not land on impassable terrain, and if they
land in dangerous terrain they must take a dangerous terrain
test. Skimmers may also move over other friendly units as they
move, but may not land on them. Enemy units and zones of
control affect skimmers normally.

2) Line of Fire

A skimmer may declare that it is popping up at the start of any
action that it takes, including when the skimmer goes into
overwatch. A skimmer may not pop up as part of a sustained
fire action or a marshal action, but may pop-up when it goes
onto overwatch. Popping up counts as movement for the
purposes of triggering firing by enemy units on overwatch.
A skimmer that has popped up, ‘pops down’ at the conclusion
of the action. Skimmers on overwatch do not pop down until
after they make their overwatch attack. Skimmers with a
transport capacity may not embark or disembark units while
they are popped up, and if they are destroyed while they are
popped up then any units on board will be destroyed with no
save.

A skimmer that has popped up is assumed to be flying high
enough that nearby intervening terrain that is closer to the
skimmer than the target does not block the line of fire. To
check if the line of fire is blocked, simply measure the distance
between the skimmer and the terrain, and then measure the
distance between the terrain and the target unit. If the skimmer
is nearer to the intervening terrain then the line of fire is not
blocked. If the skimmer is further from the terrain, then work
out the line of fire normally. If the distance is is equal, then
both the skimmer and the target unit can fire at each other, but
they both count as being in cover and the cover to hit modifier
will apply.

3) Assault

Skimmers may always choose to use their firefight value in an
assault, even if there are enemy units in base contact with the
skimmer. If they do this then the enemy must use their firefight
value also. This represents the skimmer lifting off the ground
out of reach of enemy ground units.

These are three, distinct, features of the skimmers special ability and each has *NOTHING* to do with, nor do they interact with, any other.

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Can I also point out,as I have faced a couple of players at tournaments who have done this,that starting skimmers on overwatch in difficult terrain and claiming being popped up does not mean that they don't take a difficult terrain test when they move.

As Chroma has pointed and I think the 2008 Errata covers well,popping up is really only used for determining LoS for shooting  over terrain.

Am I the only one in the mood for popcorn after all this?

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One more question could I pop-up to engage a formation if they were on opposite sides of an 12cm impassable obstacle? By raw I think I could. Pop-up give me LOS so I can then engage as I'm in FF range.

That would work, as you'd have a line of fire... of course, they'll also be able to firefight back at you!

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Well, I think Chroma's views (and the others expressed here) go against what was stated and discussed in the SG threads by Greg Lane, Neal, Sotec and others (admitedly some years ago).

Chroma | Posted on 15 Feb. 2009, 01:18

A skimmer may declare that it is popping up at the start of any action that it takes, including when the skimmer goes into overwatch.

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Sir Hemry Newbolt

Ginger, we really seem to be beating this horse to death, and, I'm sorry, but you still seem to be conflating two different aspects of what the skimmers special ability grants a unit.

Could you please show me where, in the rules, the concept of "popped-up" relates to movement?

A skimmer does not have to declare "popped up" to move safely over terrain, it may do it automatically, without any declaration of intent by the controlling player.  In fact, the player would have to declare intent to move *in* the terrain if that was what they wanted to do, to gain cover or block line of sight/fire.  

During the same move, a skimmer could move over a river and then move into forest, if so desired, all without being "popped up".

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Popping up *isn't* restricted to shooting, all it does is grant a better "line of fire" for the unit doing so, so it can be useful when assaulting.

If you're not actually shooting, such as performing a march, it's detrimental to "pop up" as you're exposing yourself to the enemy without any benefit.

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As long as your popcorn is for moving, not firing.

That one sentence about being able to 'pop-up' at the start of any action makes it a definition for all purposes and all actions. So a Skimmer may 'pop-up' before a march action or a marshall / move action, both of which are entirely movement, not shooting. Equally the Skimmer could 'pop-up' before doubling or advancing to shoot. The only time it may not 'pop-up' is before a sustained fire action, as that was deemed to be too powerfull so it was banned by FAQ (and the 2008 errata modified accordingly). Apparently the FAQ also bans 'popping-up' as part of a Hold as well.


The advantage of doing this is to be able to move in a straight line rather than detouring around intervening terrain or formations, so potentially the skimmer can move quite a lot futher than the equivalent speed ground formation. However, in choosing to do so, the skimmer is indeed presenting a potential target for OW because it is now flying clear of any cover that the terrain would have provided. Alternatively the skimmer could choose to stay 'popped-down' but must then take all the appropriate dangerous terrain tests.

On crossing Rivers, while the skimmer may fly directly over the obstacle 'popped-down', IMHO a river also does not provide cover. So the skimmer can still be shot at if it stops one of its moves by the river in LoS and range of something on OW, thus presenting the player with the same choice of moving faster but risking OW or using a longer but safer route.

I like mine with a little butter, slightly salted. What is your preference?

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Sir Hemry Newbolt

Ginger, nothing in the paragraphs of the skimmer special rule that is explaining "popped up" talks about movement over terrain, it only talks about the effect popping up has on Line of Fire and that it counts as movement for overwatch triggering.  That's it.

After the first paragraph, which is just flavour text and a note about them not using the aircraft rules, is this:

Skimmers may ignore dangerous or impassable terrain as they
move. They may not land on impassable terrain, and if they
land in dangerous terrain they must take a dangerous terrain
test. Skimmers may also move over other friendly units as they
move, but may not land on them. Enemy units and zones of
control affect skimmers normally.

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And I want some popcorn chicken...  

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So, are you saying that you may not 'pop-up' before a March, Engage or Marshall action, despite the clear statement that you may indeed do so before any action?!

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Sir Hemry Newbolt

I've said nothing of the kind, can you quote where I've said that?

You may pop-up before any action you want, except Hold... and the FAQ says you may pop-up when shooting on a Hold.

---

I'm not sure how much clearly I can state this:

A skimmer does NOT have to "pop up" to safely move over dangerous terrain or impassible terrain.

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