Page 12 of the rulebook says: "Starting with the space adjacent to the attacker (of his choice), count the number of spaces to the target space."

If one of the adjacent spaces is blocked (figure, obstacle etc.) may I start to count through this space?

As an example, take the picture "Line of sight example" on page 12 of the rulebook. Example 1 shows that Leoric has line of sight to the minion zombie and may attack with his ranged weapon. If he starts to count the distance, may he start with the adjacent obstacle field (only 2 spaces to the target) or not (otherwise 3 spaces)?

When I read this I literally laughed out loud! Touché. In reading the rules you appear to be correct. We always just trace the LoS path, but this is clearly not what is indicated in the rules. Re-reading I see that, indeed LoS and range check are two separate pathing formulas. I am not sure if this was the intent, but I'll be damned if what you point out doesn't appear to be correct. I'm still sticking with tracing the LoS path, but I believe you are right.

DocSavage said:

Based on the text on the next page -- "When counting spaces for attacks and abilities, players ignore any non-obstacle terrain in those spaces" -- the range in that case (obstacle) would be 3. If there were a figure in that space it is less clear. I've seen some people argue that it would be 2, based on that quote -- which mentions attacks and obstacles, but not figures.

"If an ability affects figures within a specified number of spaces, line of sight is not needed unless specifically noted." This rule makes it clear that LOS doesn't affect ranged abilities , but doesn't explicitly mention attacks. We know LOS is required for a ranged attack, and that LOS can't normally be traced through "a blocked space (a space containing a figure or obstacle)", so I would say the range is still 3 (an implicit adjustment for partial cover ).

Ok, I see, many thanks.

Well, anyway, for me there is a small problem to accept the rule tracing the LOS from any corner of the attacker's space to any corner of the target space. I'll apply my own houserules and will trace the LOS from the center of the attacker's space to the center of the target space. In this case, example 1 on page 12 of the rulebook is not an issue anymore because LOS will be blocked this way.