Quote: (Ginger @ 15 Feb. 2009, 19:29 )
Right, so if a skimmer does 'pop-up' before a double and the first move ends over dangerous terrain, the skimmer does not have to test because it does not land in the terrain (as it stays 'popped-up' until the end of the action). This is the whole point of declaring 'popped-up'.
I'm sorry
Ginger, this is where you're making a mistake.
"Popped up" has *NOTHING* to do with ignoring dangerous or impassible terrain for the purposes of movement effects, "popping up" *ONLY* has an effect on a unit's Line of Fire, in the rules as written.  In other editions of Epic, this may have been the case, but in Epic: Armageddon it is not.
The basic
skimmer ability, regardless of "popped up" status, is what allows the unit to ignore dangerous or impassible terrain as it moves; a unit that chooses to move during a Marshal may move over dangerous or impassable terrain freely, even though it is not allowed to pop-up.
And now I believe I see where your confusion is coming from: Despite it making "common sense" to be the same, in the skimmer rules, "landing" and "popping down" are not the same thing.  For a skimmer "landing" is simply completing a move; so a skimmer performing a Double action would do this: take-off, move, land, take-off, move, land, (shoot, if applicable); ignoring difficult or dangerous terrain for each of those "move" portions, but testing if either the "take-off" or "land" occured while the model was in dangerous terrain.
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If the skimmer wanted to pop-up as well while doubling, it would go like this: pop-up, take-off, move, land, take-off, move, land, (shoot, if applicable), pop-down. ÂÂ
One could argue that, due to being popped-up, the "land" portion of this action occurs "above" the terrain, not in it, but, unfortunately, that's not actually defined in the rules, nor in the FAQ; in fact, the FAQ says the opposite, that a skimmer must take a dangerous terrain test any time it starts a move in dangerous terrain.  There is a distinct lack of a rule to model the "three dimensional" aspects of "popping up", so any other intepretation, however plausible or logically valid, are house rules and should be discussed with an opponent before playing.
So, with the rules-as-written, a skimmer performing an assault
would have to take a dangerous terrain test after it completed its move, regardless of popped-up status, and before making any assault attacks.  Additionally, it would have to make another dangerous terrain test when either consolidating (though it could 'move carefully') or it making a withdrawal move if it starts such move in dangerous terrain.  Additionally, it could
still firefight over any obstructing terrain that was closer to it than its target.
And, yes
Ginger, I realize it doesn't make literal sense that a "popped-up" unit "lands" without "popping down", but that's how the rule is written.
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That said, I'm sure the NetERC will be discussing this apparent deficiency in the rules.
), I think the point where we disagree on the ruling is on the interpretation of the first two paragraphs. IMHO, 