Before he removes models as casualties the owning player can test to see if they survive being hit because their armour stops or deflects the shot. Most troops wear some sort of protective clothing or armour – even if it's only a helmet! If a model is wearing armour it is allowed a further dice roll to see if the armour stops him being wounded. This is called a saving throw.
To see if armour successfully stops damage roll a D6. The following table shows how the minimum D6 score required varies between the different types of armour.
| Armour Type | Minimum D6 score required to save |
|---|---|
| Terminator Armour | 2 |
| Space Marine Armour | 3 |
| Imperial Guard Flak | 5 |
| Eldar Aspect Armour | 4 |
| Eldar Mesh Armour | 5 |
| Ork Body Armour | 6 |
| Ork 'Eavy-Armour | 4 |
| Ork Mega-Armour | 2 |
| Dark Eldar Incubi Armour | 3 |
| Tyranid Warrior Carapace | 5 |
If the player rolls a D6 and gets equal to or greater than the score required it stops the wound.
EXAMPLE: A Space Marine wearing power armour is hit and wounded. The Space Marine is entitled to a saving throw of 3 so he rolls a D6, scoring 5. The damage is therefore saved, and the model is unharmed, the shot bounces harmlessly off his armour.
When a unit takes a number of wounds from an enemy unit shooting at it you can roll all saving throws together. The owning player then simply removes the wounded models all at once.
Weapons can often pierce lighter types of armour and particularly devastating weapons make a mockery of even the heaviest armour. This is explained in more detail later.