Making Attacks
04.00 Making Attacks
During the battle, your units will shoot at and fight the enemy, making attacks with their weapons each time they do so. This section explains how to make attacks with your models.
Each time a unit shoots or fights, the active player follows these steps:
1. SELECT WEAPONS (04.01)
04.01 Select Weapons
For each model in the attacking unit, select which weapons that model will make attacks with. Models make ranged attacks with ranged weapons, and make melee attacks with melee weapons.
WHILE SHOOTING
You can select one or more ranged weapons that model has.
WHILE FIGHTING
You must select one melee weapon that model has.
04.01.01Models Without Ranged/Melee Weapons
A model that does not have any ranged weapons cannot make ranged attacks, and a model that does not have any melee weapons cannot make melee attacks.
04.01.02Sidearms
Some models are equipped with [CLOSE-QUARTERS] weapons in addition to other firearms. Such models can be an exception to the rules in this section, as you may not be able to select all of their weapons to make attacks with.
04.01.03Multiple Weapon Profiles
In the select weapons step(4.01), if a selected weapon has more than one profile, then the controlling player must also select one of those profiles. The selected profile is then used in the Resolve Attacks step (04.03).
Some of these profiles are known as Hunter profiles. Hunter profiles can only target units with the specified keywords.
Note that if a unit is equipped with more than one such weapon, a different profile can be selected for each model within that unit.
04.01.04Attack Characteristics and Abilities
When making an attack, that attack is considered to have the same characteristics and abilities as the weapon making that attack.
If any modifiers or abilities apply to an attack, those changes apply to the weapon making that attack until that unit's attack sequence and all effects of those abilities (e.g. [Hazardous]) have been resolved.
Rules that apply to a weapon that modify rolls apply to the attacks made with that weapon.
04.01.05Selected to Attack
Some rules use the term selected to attack. If a unit is selected to fight, selected to shoot or chosen to make attacks, that unit is selected to attack.
04.02 Select Targets
For each weapon selected:
WHILE SHOOTING
Select one enemy unit to be the target of that weapon. Unless otherwise stated, each target must be:
- Visible to the model that has that weapon (06.01).
- Within range of that weapon.
- Unengaged.
WHILE FIGHTING
Select one or more enemy units to be the targets of that weapon:
- Each target must be engaged with the model that has that weapon.
- You cannot select more targets than that weapon’s A characteristic.
04.02.01Selecting Targets
When shooting or fighting, you can select different targets for each weapon. If you cannot select a target for a weapon, or if you choose not to select a target for a ranged weapon, the model with that weapon will not make attacks with it.
04.02.02Against An Attack
Rules that are triggered 'against' certain attacks are triggered after the attacking unit has completed the Select Targets step (04.02), provided all other qualifiers are met (e.g. concerning the characteristics of the attacking unit or its weapons).
Rules that are triggered when an attack is 'allocated' to a unit are triggered in step 1 of the Inflict Damage step (05.04).
04.02.03Single Target
When a model or unit attacks with one or more weapons, if all of the attacks made with those weapons target the same unit, that model or unit is said to be shooting at, fighting or targeting a single target.
04.03 Resolve Attacks
Resolve attacks using the following sequence:
1. Select Enemy Unit: Select one of the enemy units targeted by one or more weapons.
2. Gather Attack Dice: Select one weapon targeting that unit that has not yet been used to make attacks against it, and gather a number of D6 equal to that weapon’s A characteristic. These are attack dice – each one represents one attack being made by an attacking model with that weapon.
If one or more other weapons targeting that unit make identical attacks (04.03.01) to the selected weapon and those weapons have not yet been used to make attacks against that target, they do so now and you gather those weapons’ attack dice as well (e.g. for three weapons making identical attacks, each with an A characteristic of 2, gather a total of six D6).
3. Resolve Attack Dice: Resolve the attack sequence (05) for all of the attack dice you just gathered.
4. Other Attacks: Follow the first of the instructions below that applies:
- If there are any weapons targeting the same unit that have not yet been used to make attacks, return to the Gather Attack Dice step.
- Otherwise, if there are any weapons with unresolved attacks targeting a different unit, return to the Select Enemy Unit step.
- Otherwise, if all weapons have been used to make all of their attacks, this sequence ends and the attacking unit’s attacks have been resolved.
04.03.01Identical Attacks
Identical attacks are those that have the same BS/WS, S, AP and D characteristics, and which are affected by the same applicable abilities and rules.
04.03.02Splitting Melee Attacks
While selecting targets, if you select more than one unit as the target of a melee weapon, you must split that weapon’s attacks between those target units. To do so, declare how many of that weapon’s attacks will be made against each unit (you must declare at least one attack per unit targeted).
In the Gather Attack Dice step, for each weapon that is splitting its attacks, only gather a number of attack dice for that weapon equal to the number of attacks you declared would be made against that target with that weapon.
04.03.03Target No Longer Eligible Or Viable
If a unit that was an eligible target for a rule or attack when it was selected stops being an eligible target (for example, because a rule enables it to make an out-of-phase move that takes it out of range), the controlling player can select new targets.
04.03.04Shot
When all of the attacks made with a ranged weapon have been resolved, that weapon has shot.
When all of a model’s ranged weapons have shot, that model has shot.
When all models in a unit that are making ranged attacks have resolved all of those attacks, that unit has shot.
If a unit was selected to shoot and none of the models in it make any attacks, it has not shot.
04.03.05Fought
When all of the attacks made with a melee weapon have been resolved, that weapon has fought.
When all of a model’s selected melee weapons have fought, that model has fought.
When all models in a unit that are making melee attacks have resolved all of those attacks, that unit has fought.
If a unit was selected to fight and none of the models in it make any attacks, it has not fought.
04.03.06Finished Making Its Attacks
When all of an attacking unit’s attacks have been resolved, it has finished making its attacks, and that unit has attacked.
