Characters and area effect templates

First of all, happy new year to everybody! I've been away for a while, mainly lurking, celebrating and far too occupied with RL stuff. That said, it didn't stop me from beginning the year with a WFB3 game with a friend of mine.

We've played a game of 1500 points between Dark Elves and Dwarfs. The Dwarfs employed a 6 man Stone Thrower. Each time my opponent used the Stone Thrower he explicitly placed the centre on the unit character. We used the toned down Stone Thrower house rules, but with or without them the centre causes S8 auto hits and 2D4 +1 wounds. Most human sized characters are not able to survive such a hit. Not surprisingly three of my characters ended up being squashed and my opponent only needed to roll 12+ on a D20.

The rules state the following on the matter on p. 92:

Weapons with an area effect template use a different targeting system. Players are allowed to select character models as their target point with damage to character models being worked out separately from the rest of the unit.

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I didn't mind the characters being killed this way, but it did feel a bit too easy. My opponent only targeted characters in units, but reading the rules he could have done the same thing with single characters. Squashing my Level 20 general on a Cold One for example. I remember later editions employed the "look out sir" rule, but cannot remember how it worked or if it's mentioned in the WFB3 edition.

How do you guys handle characters and area effect templates?

No Look Out Sir in 3rd, but it worked/works by allowing the Character to roll a D6 on a roll of anything but a 6 (Or a 1 depending on edition) he jumps out of the way and the hit is allocated to another figure.

The way I would have handled your opponent is simple, Tell him to stop being such a ass targeting your characters in this way and play for fun rather then all out win by silly means.

Chico":4yazujsr said:

No Look Out Sir in 3rd, but it worked/works by allowing the Character to roll a D6 on a roll of anything but a 6 (Or a 1 depending on edition) he jumps out of the way and the hit is allocated to another figure.

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Right, that would give them at least a fighting chance.

Chico":4yazujsr said:

The way I would have handled your opponent is simple, Tell him to stop being such a ass targeting your characters in this way and play for fun rather then all out win by silly means.

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Great tip, I guess I was too stressed out to remind him of that.

Used to play Wood Elf + Halflings vs. Dwarves quite regularly BiTD and yes, this got boring quickly. It's fair enough, any dwarf commander worth his coal is going to target the fancy looking pansy on the lizard isn't he? The game started to become focussed on knocking out the Rocklobbers. it helps that they have a minimum short range, and there's a sweet spot where you're too far away for the dwarves to charge you and close enough that they can't fire - seem to remember skirmishers being useful in that regard too. Also getting your characters engaged in combat means death by friendly fire, which the stunties don't seem happy with.

We never bothered changing the rules, perhaps make an 2D6 Initiative test as a "dodge" manouver? Also might consider that war machines should probably be as flammable as a building, not in the rules, but might mix things up a bit.

Maybe next time those dark elves need to be attacking through an area heavily wooded with tall dark pine trees, large rock formations, disturbing giant mushroom clumps and areas of low lying dense fog and mist. Avoid the areas covered by the war machine and take the unmaneuverable stunties flanks.

Maybe that illusionary hero will take the first stone on his nogin while your nondescript rouge character gets closer with his unit of skirmishing shades.

Perhaps your sorcerer calls forth aid from a grim alien dimension in the form of an unnatural strength sapping wind rendering the expensive piece of equipment unable to shoot. Or maybe a specter immune to physical harm is coerced from a parallel plane to charge on his unseen steed and dispatch the crew.

So many ways of punishing the general that relies on war-machines alone to win, even before we get to the fact he can't hit a flyer and your dragon mounted level 25 with parasitic blade of un-oldhammeryness can get to him unharmed. But you wouldn't go that far with so many other options.