Blast When firing a Blast weapon, models do not roll To Hit. Instead, pick one enemy model visible to the firer and place the Blast (3") marker with its hole entirely over the base of the target model, or its hull if the target is a Vehicle. The hole at the centre of the marker must be within the weapon’s Maximum Range. You cannot place the Blast marker so that the base or hull of any friendly model is even partially under it.
The large area affected by the blast means it is going to be very hard to miss completely. Nonetheless, the shot might not land exactly where intended. Roll for the Blast marker to scatter and subtract the firer’s Ballistic Skill from the distance (if any) that it scatters, to a minimum of 0". Note that it is possible, and absolutely fine, for a shot to scatter beyond the weapon’s Maximum or Minimum Range and line of sight. This represents the chance of ricochets, the missile blasting through cover and other random events. In these cases, Hits are worked out as normal and can hit and Wound units out of range and line of sight (or even your own units, or models locked in combat). If the shot scatters so that the hole in the centre of the marker is beyond the battlefield’s edge, the shot is a complete miss and is discarded.
Once the final position of the Blast marker has been determined, take a good look at it from above – each unit suffers one Hit for each of the models included in that unit that is fully or partially beneath the Blast marker, even if those models are not within the firer’s line of sight.
Once the number of Hits inflicted on the unit has been worked out, roll To Wound and Save as normal. Note that, unlike other attacks, Wounds inflicted by an attack with the Blast special rule can be allocated to any models in the target unit, even if they are out of sight of any models from the attacking unit.
Multiple Blasts
If a unit is firing more than one shot with the Blast special rule, scatter each shot, one at a time, as described above and determine how many Hits are scored with each individual Blast marker. After the last shot, add up the total number of Hits scored and roll all of the To Wound rolls as normal.
Blast Weapons and Re-rolls
If a model has the ability to re-roll its rolls To Hit and chooses to do so after firing a Blast weapon, the player must re-roll both the Scatter dice and the 2D6. Note that this applies only to models able to fully re-roll a To Hit roll, not to models that may re-roll To Hit rolls of a specific value – for example, models that can re-roll To Hit rolls of a ‘1’ cannot re-roll either the Scatter dice or 2D6 unless another rule allows them to do so.
Blast Weapons and Snap Shots
Blast weapons cannot be fired as Snap Shots.
Large Blast
Large Blast weapons use the 5" Blast marker, but otherwise obey all the rules for Blast weapons.
Massive Blast
Massive Blast weapons use the 7" Blast marker, but otherwise obey all the rules for Blast weapons.
Apocalyptic Blast
Apocalyptic Blast weapons use the 10" Blast marker, but otherwise obey all the rules for Blast weapons.
Apocalyptic Mega-blast (5"/7"/10")
Apocalyptic Mega-blast weapons use the Apocalyptic Blast marker. They obey the rules for Blast weapons, with the following exceptions:
Apocalyptic Mega-blast weapons have three Strength values and three AP values. Correspondingly, the Apocalyptic Blast marker is divided into three zones, as shown in the diagram on the next page, one for each Strength and AP value.
The Strength and AP of any Hits depends on the zone in which the target model is located. The first Strength and AP value are used for the inner zone, the second Strength and AP value are used for the middle zone, and the third Strength and AP value are used for the outer zone. Always use the best Strength and AP if a model straddles two or more zones. If a unit has models in several zones, work out the Hits inflicted for each zone separately. Note that there will be a different Wound Pool for each zone.
To determine whether a unit wounded by an Apocalyptic Mega-blast weapon is allowed a Cover Save, and when determining Wound allocation, always assume the shot is coming from the centre of the Apocalyptic Blast marker, instead of from the firing model.
Hits from Apocalyptic Mega-blast weapons made against Vehicles are always resolved against their Side Armour Value.
Pinning If a non-Vehicle unit suffers one or more unsaved Wounds from a weapon with the Pinning special rule, it must take a Leadership test once the firing unit has finished its Shooting Attacks for that Phase. This is called a Pinning test. If the unit fails the Test, it is Pinned. As long as the Test is passed, a unit can be called upon to take multiple Pinning tests in a single turn, but only once for each unit shooting at them.
A unit that is affected by any of the following conditions does not take Pinning tests, and if called upon to do so is considered to automatically pass them:
• The unit is locked in combat.
• The unit is already Pinned (the unit remains Pinned, but takes no further Tests).
• The unit is composed entirely of Vehicle models.
• The unit is Embarked on a Transport Vehicle.
• The target unit is affected by the Fearless special rule.
A unit that has become Pinned cannot Move, Run or Charge. It can only fire Snap Shots if it attacks during the Shooting phase and cannot make Reactions in any Phase. At the end of its following turn, the unit returns to normal and the unit is free to act as normal from then on. Whilst it is Pinned, a unit is affected normally by enemy actions (for example, it takes Morale checks as normal). If the unit is forced to move, for example if it has to Fall Back, it returns to normal immediately. If assaulted, the unit will fight as usual, but because they are not set to receive the Charge, enemy units do not receive the Initiative penalty for assaulting a unit in Difficult Terrain (sec page 222), even if the unit is in Difficult Terrain. If a unit becomes Pinned during a Charge, then that Charge automatically fails. Units that are locked in combat cannot be Pinned and do not take Pinning tests.
