Breaking Down ALL of 10th Ed 40k's Terrain Rules | Warhammer 40k Tactics 

Huge thanks to The Magnet Baron for making this video possible! 🧲Check them out at -> themagnetbaron.com/ UPDATE 9/7/23 - Towering no longer entirely ignores ruin visibility; instead they only use TLOS for ruins that the Towering unit is within (base contact essentially).

I like the new terrain rules, they're easier to understand. Basically everything gets a +1 save to cover unless you're completely out in the open.

thanks for laying it out so clearly and concisely with visual aids, i went from understanding terrain 75% of the way to being an expert

This was really well done, good editing and good information. Thank you! ♥

Great video, especially liked all the little tabletop simulator examples you showed, really helps a ton.

great video, will probably watch it a few times. loved seeing the examples. hope you can similarly cover any other tricky rules that come up

A video on Cover vs True Line of Sight and how hostile and friendly models can affect (or not) each would be helpful

THANK YOU for demostrating via Tabletop Simulator! It helps so much

Thank you, this is very helpful to new player. (I started 40k late in 9th and barely grasped cover then...) This is a really helpful guide.

This video is gold. Great talent explaining complicated stuff.

Thank you so much for this video! I wanted to play knights but found the visibility rules daunting. Your explanation here of towering is wonderful!

super helpful coming back to the game after a long time! fantastic breakdown

Great video, thanks for sharing. GW has ported over a lot of the Kill Team 2nd edition rules into 10th. While it feels a lot of them work because KT 2nd was a great revamp, the visibility rules definitely don't come over as easily. I agree, much preferred 9th on this one.

The TTS examples really help, thanks

Thanks for this video, it's really clear now.

Wow that is very helpful... i will use this as a reference to our game...

the new flying rule should save us all some time and read "Monsters with fly cannot move over buildings"

Adriaan's edits 1. Benefits of Cover: The model being allocated a wound can claim the benefits of cover if it is either partially or wholly obscured from every model in the attacking unit by a piece of terrain with this keyword 2. Flying over terrain: just revert back to 9th.. why make it so much more complicated.. else if they really think that Fly needs nurf then just impose a -2 inch penalty over unbreachable terrain... that would be a simplified nurf

Out of all the Tabletop games Ive played, Ive never seen a game with a Fly rule like this, same with LoS....

This is my first edition so this video is legit saving my butt , ty 😅

I’m super curious about what kind of house rules we can look forward to for major tournament play/ITC rulings.

Very helpful and well done video!

thank you for explaining ruins to me! i just got back from a local beginner 40k intro event, and our gm said that you just cant see through ruin walls(even with windows) period. i was highly sceptical, but the rules are really confusing in the rulebook atm, so i coudnt argue. but having taken a second(proper) look at the rules and watched your vid, im now 100% certain i was scammed. still was a great time tho so not mad. ps great vid overall

Cheers mate, this actually helped a tonne

Awesome video, thank you so much!

great guide, thanks a lot!

RAW because they dont specify the base size if a model, it is possible to park a flying vehicle with an old flying base on a ruin and be immune to assault while also benefiting from plunging fire.

Great video, very helpful.

The fly move measurement is ridiculous.

Always good content!!

Great video. Really helped my group of newbies out.

VERY useful, thank you!

I wish your example around 18:30 also had one space marine completely behind the wall (not visible at all to the monster). How does that work in both cases: (1) Marines attacking and (2) monster attacking. I believe, when the marines are attacking, that model with no LOS would not be able to shoot at all? and on the other side with the monster attacking, it's the same as you describe? (the defending space marine player can choose to allocate wounds to that model first, with the benefit of cover?)

Thanks for the video If GW just did one thing it would fix alot of the true line of sight things of tips of guns seeing around corners seeing a tip of a wing. Just like scenery has a footprint that makes and imaginary line vertically. Just make it that a model base is a footprint and you measurements for line of sight are determined from the base to the enemy base.. So if the attackers whole base can draw Los to the whole base of an enemy modle, then no cover. If that footprint of that base is obscured by scenery that = cover. That means your lascannon example would have 1 outcome always, not 3 - 5 different outcomes depending on models facing, etc.

Agreed with so many of the positive comments. So nice, we watch this twice or tres.

New sub, great idea for a video

Clear as mud. Lol

@TacticalTortoise How does visibility with ruins work if you have a model with something like wings hanging inside the terrain feature but the base is wholy outside of its footprint, and a unit is shooting from the opposite side? Is it an eligibke target or does this prevent the shooting unit from targeting it? Thx for the answer already! 😊

the Tesseract Vault is a huge model! if I can set the base on a top level of a building or ruin and the base does not overhang even tho the hull does is this legal? would it benefit from "plunging fire"(is this an additional effect of the ruin)? if the base is over 6" or the model? would it receive the benefit of cover as well?

Great video

I now have a headache. Thanks. ❤

I dont understand how if one marine is partial obscured line of sight firing at a monster/unit, that the rest of the squad counts as being obscured visibility when attacking even though the rest of the squad has clear sight (surely youd separate the shots?), whereas the monster attacks the unit and only one model gets cover, just doesnt make sense.

Awesome!

I feel like units that have a lot of low AP ranged weapons will like to be on top of ruins as much as possible. It will give them the AP boost they need. Inceptors will really like the extra AP to their Assault Bolters, to have each model have 3 shots at Str 5, AP -2, 1 Damage twin linked. Another unit would be Suppressors, They would give them just the right amount of AP to be able to get a Terminator to save on a 4+ and if they fail the save, will kill them. The best unit that would benefit from plunging fire for the Space Marines would be the Desolation squad. Any model that is above 6 inches would have for their Castellan launcher would have D3 shots at Str 4, AP -1, 1 damage, which would give them the punch they need to hurt other +3 save units, since they ignore both cover and indirect penalties if they stay still. A unit I am also interested in would be the Tau's Crisis Battle Suits. Their Burst Cannons would be given -1 AP if they are top of the ruin, allowing them to more easily get through +3 save models.

remember the ruin line of sight rule. all models need to be wholly inside the ruin or the unit only counts as inside the ruin not wholly inside the ruin.

Just to clarify if you were playing at an event and first floor windows were blocked the knight can’t see him correct? 36:46

How do you do vertical measurement in TTS? I've been trying to figure that out since my Knights can walk over anything 4" in height or smaller.

How do you do the vertical measurements in tts? Or the diagonal ones for the fly movement?

I miss the 25% hidden to claim cover rule from generations past... Was kinda hard to rule though

@20:21 Question. my 5 model unit blasts another 5 model unit. 1 enemy model is behind cover. Lets say I hit 4 times. 1dmg to 1 wound models. When opponent allocate saves to the model behind cover, should he roll 1 save at a time? Because how I understand this, when that model dies and opponent must allocate next model, they now have no benefit of cover? I thought since all attacks/shots happen at the same time, the attacking unit will be affected generally by the opponent unit having benefit of cover? That it is not "lost" even if that one model is killed.

I’m loving the new rules for the most part. Easy to understand and show examples while playing.

I feel like the woods ruling may have been an oversight. What makes sense to me is to drop the partial visibility part. It just provides cover if you are firing through, except for aircraft and towering. Of course, RAW is not this case.

If I have a unit of let's say 5 intercessors, and 3 of them are completely open and 2 are completely behind a wall, and I then target an enemy unit in the open with these then a) can all of them or just the 3 that have line of sight shoot? b) if only 3 then does the enemy unit get cover even when my two guys who didn't shoot were the only ones without full visibility

I’m sure you’re doing a great job explaining this and it’s just me being dim but I’m still totally confused!

So if the las cannon can't see the exocrine @6:25 he cannot shoot it even though the exocrine is visible to other members of the squad?

If you are fully in a ruins with windows and are shooting at a enemy unit in the open do the enemy unit get cover?

If both units are not within the Ruin and half of your unit's line of sight is blocked off by the ruin, can you still shoot with the remainder of your unit? Or does your whole unit not get to shoot?

Thanks fo a great vid! One thing is bothering me: are enemy models from enemy unit blocking line of sight to models from other enemy unit that is behind them? Or are the first unit granting this second one benefit of cover because its not wholly visible?

A question I had that came up in a battle was, Does your own units provide cover for the enemies units? here is an example of how this came up, I had line of site but could not see the enemy unit wholly because I hade a vehicle between my shooting unit into the enemy. So I declared and proceeded with my shooting phase, my enemy stated he has cover due to another unit vehicle was blocking some of his unit.

Where in the does it say you can't move freely over a 2" high section of a terrain piece that has other sections that are higher than 2"?

I’m assuming some aspects of this video have been overcome by the clarifications on ruins? Eg the land raider “toe in” to the ruins cannot target the marines?

What is that diagram from for the 10:00 mark? I don't see it in the core rules which could lead to confusion regarding players thinking you can only move diagonnally if you start or end your fly movement on terrain. There's nothing in the core PDF that says you can go diagonally during the middle of movement.

I'm going to tell you now that the vast majority of casual players are going to ignore the fly rules

Wait situation on 32:30 only works IF ruin have windows? If it was ruin that was completely closed, aka if there's no line of sight at all, marines wouldn't be able to shoot Exocrine?

Thanks again for this! If possible, would be really cool if you could make a video about vehicle (hull) movement. Like can tanks move sideways, how does turning go etc.

Thanks trevvy

comments for the RU-vid algorithm! ! ! RU-vid cares not from where the comments come, only that we comment!

What I'm confused about is that the valiant Knight gives cover to units exclusively to ones that already have 3+

19:27 I have a feeling that GW is going to FAQ'd this.

Just wanted to ask at 17:48 does that mean the whole unit can claim cover but damage should be assigned first to the model that is behind cover? And if that model behind cover dies, you just minus the save roll you did on the rest of the model or you reroll saves without cover?

I hate true line of sight just for the simple fact that it takes 40 minutes to explain it. Terrain has footprints. It should be as simple as "is the models base in the footprint of a terrain feature? if yes give it cover". It should take 3 seconds to explain and learn.

So is partial visibility the same as cover?

They really need to do base to base LOS like from DUST Warfare, its much cleaner and less subjective, either your model can draw a line to the target models base or it can't.

How are you doing the vertical & diagonal measurements like that in TTS? I thought the measurement tool could only snap to the horizontal plane.

If your unit A is wholly within ruins and you're shooting at a unit B standing out in the open but some models can only partially see them, say half base, due to the build of the ruin and/or limited window size. Would unit B receive cover bonus?

One thing I don’t understand about flying movement-the picture GW provides seems to be wrong? The base seems the phase through the crate’s corner? Did they forget to add another 1-2” to move the base totally off the terrain?

really good video, one thing i think you totally forgot to cover, and which I cannot find the answer to in the rulebook, is unit to unit, thinking here of a unit of 10 models shooting against a unit of 10 models, where half of the unit is in cover, how does this work?, If half the unit is in the open, but the other half is in cover, what happens?

thank you for silencing the magnet baron humongous noise I lost count of how many times I stopped watching a craftworld eldar video because it honestly hurt my ears

In the rule book it explains the types of visibility but only references terrain features as granting a cover save, no where can I see that models blocking visibility give a cover save, only "terrain features". Am I missing something?

I think I'm just going to play most of my games with fully opaque ruins, lol. I'll plug up the windows and doors so infantry can hide right behind walls before jumping out. I think infantry could use the advantage as well, since vehicles/monsters are looking so strong at the outset of the edition.

It's a lot but reading it by myself vs listening is a lot worse so tyvm for the great video

sometimes, partial cover realy is stupid. at our table, we ruled, that: 1: you have to draw los to the actual model. raised weapons dont count as a target and putting your gun behind a wall doesn't grant you cover 2: at least 1/4 of the model has to be behind cover. your toe behind some rubble doesn't grant cover. just as that grass tuft on the edge of the base behind cover doesn't give you cover this makes it more real and less gamy/stupid

Could anyone tel me what the keyword "towering" means for thé rules purposes ? Where Can i find in the core rules ?

If you can draw line if sight from any part of the model, is there a mandatory height limit to models/scenic bases etc...? What's to stop someone RAW putting a long aerial coming out of each unit that gets unobstructed LOS to any unit?

Great video. You should just mention that visibility has changed for towering units and ruins since you posted it, shouldn't you?

What about melee and cover?

Wait, so if your unit is receiving an attack and all models are fully visible except one model in the unit, only partially visible from the attacker, thus gaining cover, you could allocate all of the incoming attacks to that one model behind cover before having to go through your models that are fully visible? Essentially if one model out of a unit of ten is in cover, the whole unit gets cover?

Gw : we make the game simple ! Also Gw : oh yeah your fly unit gonna take 2 minutes each to move

I wonder why they didn't do the cover rules like in older editions : TLoS but to claim cover you need to have 50% or more of the unit obscured

GW: Cover: Each time a ranged attack is allocated to a model... Me: But attacks are allocated to a unit, and that units controlling player selects the model that takes the wound. So who determines if cover is taken if 2 models have cover and 2 don't?

Can a fly unit move from one building top to another without going down?

How good do you think these rules are on a scale of 1 to 10?

The people I normally play with house rule that you have to see the core of the model, meaning the directly over the base, we do not count Spikes, gun barrels, hair on top of helmets, etc. GW has models in dramatic poses or with extra bits that stick out, swords raised over heads etc. You also can't draw line of sight from those parts sticking out. For Ruins and forests, because you have to have room to place models you can't build them with all the debris, trees, undergrowth they would have, that is why the foot print counts for cover. GW does well on some parts taking in to account that it is a game and terrain can't be built like it would be in real life because you have to place models, but fails when using True LoS with dynamically posed models and not taking in to account they would be positioning weapons and bits so you couldn't see them if they were trying to hide behind cover.

Not sure if I should trust this video, the tactical squad was missing half the unit!

If you are an aircraft in Hover mode, you are simply a tank with the fly keyword and then the LOS rules work just like any other non-aircraft/non-towering model. Hover makes you lose ALL aircraft keywords.

can someone explain to me how fly isnt a massive penalty to your move??

Can confirm, magnets are miraculous.

It's not complicated if you see the multiple models units as one big multipart model

Mahalo!

Anyone who can answer my question: In 9th ed. monsters and vehicles did not get cover; am I right in saying they get cover in 10th ed., from everything i see, it seems this way. From no mentions in the core book, or even the example in this video, where he mentions the exocrine would get cover. Am i right or have i misunderstood things?