If a squad is in a square that is behind cover but not in the square with cover on it, is the unit considered under cover? Had a person playing with me today that plays 40k and told me how the cover worked in that game. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and let him roll for cover saves because my line of sight went through the cover however the unit was not in the square as cover. I thought the unit had to actually be in the square with cover in it to gain the benefits of cover. I can't find it mentioned in the rules thanks for the help guys.

the ONLY rules that mention ganing the benifits of cover are :

this is a game of technicality and definition , so its not ambiguous like it is in WH40K .

1) for cover elements or terrain items ; page 13 left hand colum , first and second entries under what are the effects of cover : to benifit from cover you need to be "behind cover" . " To be behind cover a squade simply needs to be in the same square as a piece of cover . "

2) cover form corners ; page 13 right hand collum , third entry and following example : states that a unit being attacked , with LOS skiming across a building corner , on exact diagonal , and is adjacent to the building corner gains soft cover .

and there are also the new terrain rules in OC , they are special terrain types , but still follow the above rules .

unless you want to house rule something like that in (which i advise against , but hey its your play time so ............) , dont let WH40K players rope you in with their clunky rules . i know he will probably say "its not realistic" , or some might even say "its dumb" , to which i respond how realistic space marines are since they are fictional characters , and how smart a game has to be to have a 20man squad of space wolves dump out of a land raider , into close combat , and roll 80 dice to attack ?

As Chris say's you have to be in the same square as the cover to benefit from it, but some cover in some situations will prevent LOS and so prevent shooting altogether. For example if you have a tank trap between 2 infantry units then neither can fire at each other, if one was a walker then both could fire at each other. Basically, ignore what anybody say's about 'other games' and check with the DT rulesbook instead.

Pick me, pick me!!

Here is my summary of Cover Rules and Line-Of-Sight (LOS) Rules:

Cover Rules:

1. To benefit from cover, you MUST be in the SAME square as the cover if the cover is an ammo crate or a tank trap.

2. A corner will also provide cover if the target is adjacent to a corner and the attacker's LOS skim past the corner.

3. Only infantry benefit from cover, vehicles (walkers) and heroes do not. But a hero attached to a squad DOES benefit from cover.

4. Ammo crates provide soft cover. Tank traps provide hard cover. Corners provide soft cover. Two or more soft covers become a hard cover.

5. Vehicles are NOT cover (but they can block LOS, see below).

Line-Of-Sight (LOS) Rules:

LOS between 2 units depend on two factors: (A) the type of the 2 units (B) the intervening object.

1. Tank traps BLOCK LOS between *Infantry and Infantry*.

2. Tank traps DO NOT BLOCK LOS between *vehicle and infantry*, *vehicle and vehicle*.

3. Vehicles BLOCK LOS for everyone.

4. Ammo crates DO NOT BLOCK LOS for anyone.

So your friend is wrong. No cover benefit for him if he is not in the *same square* as a tank trap or ammo crate. And you have to check what is your unit type, what is your friend's unit type and what is the intervening object to determine if you can see each other in the first place, let alone firing at each other.

traderghost said:

Actually they do. See page 14 of the Dust Tactics rulebook, Column 1, first three paragraphs. It specifically mentions a vehicle providing cover to a squad next to it when the fire skims the corner of the vehicle's square.

Major Malfunction said:

You are right. Vehicles are treated just like corners when a squad is standing adjacent to it and the attacker's LOS skim past it. However, squads cannot occupy the same space as a vehicle like they can with an ammo crate or a tank trap, so vehicles are not cover elements (the rule book used this term) but are treated like corners which can provide soft covers. Thanks Major for pointing this out!

Here is my updated summary of Cover Rules and Line-Of-Sight (LOS) Rules: (thanks to Major Malfunction for adding to the last point of cover rules)

Cover Rules:

1. To benefit from cover, you MUST be in the SAME square as the cover if the cover is an ammo crate or a tank trap.

2. A corner will also provide cover if the target is adjacent to a corner and the attacker's LOS skim past the corner.

3. Only infantry benefit from cover, vehicles (walkers) and heroes do not. But a hero attached to a squad DOES benefit from cover.

4. Ammo crates provide soft cover. Tank traps provide hard cover. Corners provide soft cover. Two or more soft covers become a hard cover.

5. Vehicles are NOT cover elements like ammo crate or tank trap but can provide cover like corners. Squads CANNOT occupy the same space as a vehicle.

6. Vehicles are treated just like corners when a squad is standing adjacent to it and the attacker's LOS skim past it. Vehicles provide soft covers just like a corner.

Line-Of-Sight (LOS) Rules:

LOS between 2 units depend on two factors: (A) the type of the 2 units (B) the intervening object.

1. Tank traps BLOCK LOS between *Infantry and Infantry*.

2. Tank traps DO NOT BLOCK LOS between *vehicle and infantry*, *vehicle and vehicle*.

3. Vehicles BLOCK LOS for everyone.

4. Ammo crates DO NOT BLOCK LOS for anyone.