Some vehicles, particularly battle tanks, carry a hefty arsenal of weapons. When a vehicle fires, it uses its own BS characteristic (representing the BS of the crew) and shoots like other units – all its weapons must fire at a single target unit. Although vehicles can fire light weapons on the move, they are limited in the number of larger weapons that they can fire.
Vehicle Line of Sight
Line of sight for shooting is traced directly from the weapon mountings on the vehicle. Weapons mounted on vehicles often have a limited arc of fire and they may not fire on units that are outside their arc. Trace the actual line of fire from the weapon mounting on the vehicle to see if it will be blocked by terrain or other vehicles. Weapons mounted on walkers can fire in a 90º forward arc.
Diagram: "Vehicle Line of Sight" diagram illustrating lines of sight traced from a vehicle's weapon mounting — some lines reach their targets, one is shown as blocked by intervening terrain/another vehicle.
Designers' Note: Be sure to read this section carefully as there are several changes that will significantly affect the way vehicles fire.
Vehicle Weaponry
Vehicles can mount a frightening array of weapons. These can be divided into two broad categories: defensive weapons and main weapons. Main weapons are the primary means by which the vehicle will achieve its set objectives. They are defined as any weapon of Strength 6 or greater. Weapons with a random Strength which can possibly be greater than 6 are treated as main weapons. Defensive weapons are not specifically required for the vehicle to operate but provide it with important protection against enemy infantry. Defensive weapons have a Strength of 5 or less.
The normal restrictions for infantry moving and shooting don't apply to weapons fitted to vehicles. So a heavy weapon mounted on a tank can still shoot even though the tank may have moved. Rapid Fire weapons can shoot once up to the weapon's maximum range or twice up to 12". Otherwise, Heavy and Assault weapons shoot the number of times listed. Ordnance weapons (a special type of extremely heavy weapon normally only mounted on vehicles) are dealt with in more detail in Ordnance Weapons.
Note that a twin-linked weapon counts as a single weapon for the purposes of shooting.
Defensive Weaponry (Strength 5 and below)
Many vehicles have a range of weapons with relatively low Strength but high rate of fire. These weapons are intended to help protect the vehicle from enemy infantry and because of their relative lightness and high rate of fire are largely unaffected by the movement of the vehicle. Consequently, a vehicle may fire any or all weapons of Strength 5 or below if it moves up to 6" in addition to any main weaponry allowed.
Main Weaponry (Strength 6 and above)
Some vehicles carry main weapons as well as defensive weapons. This is normally what distinguishes battle tanks from personnel carriers. Any weapon of Strength 6 or above counts as a main weapon.
General rules for moving and firing main weaponry:
- If a vehicle does not move, it can shoot all its main weapons.
- If a vehicle moves up to 6", it can shoot one main weapon.
- Vehicles that have moved more than 6" do not shoot at all with their main weaponry.
Fast Vehicles
These manoeuvre more rapidly than ordinary tanks and other vehicles so they can fire heavy weapons when they move faster. They may fire all their defensive weapons if moving up to 12".
- Fast vehicles moving up to 6" can fire all their main weapons.
- Fast vehicles moving up to 12" can fire one main weapon.
- Fast vehicles moving more than 12" may not fire main weapons at all.
Walkers
Having sophisticated weapon systems that are fully integrated with their crew, Walkers can engage targets on the move more easily than other vehicles. This means they can always fire two weapons (one from each side/arm) regardless of whether they've moved or not. Walkers who do not move can fire all their weapons. Walkers make no distinction between main weapons and defensive weapons.
Vehicle Moving & Firing Summary
| Type | Stationary | Up to 6" | Up to 12" | More than 12" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | All weapons | 1 main weapon | No weapons | No weapons |
| Fast | All weapons | All weapons | 1 main weapon | No weapons |
| Walker | All weapons | 2 weapons | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Defensive weapons may additionally be fired at up to 6" (Normal) or up to 12" (Fast) of movement, on top of the main-weapon allowance shown, per the Defensive Weaponry and Fast Vehicles rules above.
Designers' Note: The changes made to the Moving and Firing rules for vehicles are intended to make vehicles more dynamic in battle and to encourage the use of tank sponsons and other back-up weaponry. Given the ranges of such weapons, it is quite likely they would be able to find a target anyway so game balance will not be massively altered. The main difference will be that they are more fun to use.
Turning to Face
Turrets can be turned to face without it counting as movement.
Any vehicle that is not immobilised can pivot on the spot without counting it as movement so they can fire as if they were stationary. They may not do this if they moved during the Movement phase as this will have given them opportunity to bring weapons to bear.
Troops Firing From Vehicles
Troops aboard vehicles can fire from firing slits, hatches or over the sides of the fighting compartment if the vehicle is open-topped.
All of the models aboard an open-topped vehicle can fire.
Fire Points. Each enclosed vehicle has a number of fire points defined. A fire point is a hatch or gun slit from which one or more passengers inside the vehicle can fire. The number of fire points on each vehicle and how many models can fire from them is specified in the 2003 Chapter Approved compilation.
Troops firing from a vehicle count as moving if the vehicle moves and may not fire if the vehicle moves more than 12". This means they may not fire heavy weapons from a moving vehicle unless normally allowed to fire heavy weapons while moving.
If passengers fire from a closed vehicle and do not have an Armour save of 3+ or better, then in the following turn enemy firing at the vehicle count it as open-topped.