Shield Formation
There has been a lot of discussion around shield formation and how it is actually used. I will summarize the rules and you will see that it is actually clearly defined. The major problem that most people encounter when interpreting the shield formation rules comes down to line of sight. Firstly, AFV’s can block line of sight. The rule “assume the vantage point of the shooter and if you can see a part of your target you can shoot it” stands. You can be in a situation where some of your models behind an AFV cannot be killed by direct fire because the models shooting it cannot see it (sideways positioned afv for example).
Without Shield Formation
- Normal line of sight rules apply
- Models that can be seen can be killed
- infantry or afvs behind an AFV do not get any sort of saving throw
- The AFV unit that is blocking will take one impact for each AFV.
With Shield Formation
- Normal line of sight rules apply There is a conflicting ruling from march so the question has been asked again in the rules forum. JBLK on the boards has confirmed Shield formation does not affect Line of sight in any different way.
- Models that can be seen can be killed
- Infantry and other AFVs behind the unit with Shield Formation can use the afv’s base for cover
- Infantry behind an AFV with shield formation may benefit from Take Cover combat drill
Hopefully the answer in the rules forum clears up some of the confusion surrounding Shield Formation, I know I wasted a lot of time on the forums trying to get this clarified but as you can see The rule is I initially wrote. the rules are very straight forward are unclear, again. The main issue people argue about is if AFV’s in shield formation completely block line of sight for their entire base or not. With this most recent ruling it is clear that shield formation does not automatically block all line of sight, you must use the normal line of sight rules to determine what can be seen. We’ll know soon for sure. stay tuned for an update.
