LOS Question

[Peter]

Hello everyone! I'm having a difficult time wrapping my head around LOS rules. I've read pages 54-58 several times now, but I have an example in a current game that I don't know how to resolve.

Scenario 1 of Heroes of the Falklands "By Dawn's Early Light"

Scenario states that hex 11I2 contains a steeple. Units in the steeple are considered at level 2 height (the steeple itself acts as a level 3 obstacle). The other hexes that are a part of this building are level 2 obstacles. My opponent just placed his sniper in the steeple and wants to fire on one of my moving stacks of units which just moved into hex 11K5. So does the sniper have LOS to 11K5 (see picture below)? Wouldn't the sniper's 2-hex distance from 11J4 effectively create 2 blind hexes behind 11J4?



Thanks!

Pete

 

[Peter]

Here is a side graphic of it. Is this accurate?

 

[Ralph Ferrari]

I think this situation is the most difficult aspect of the LOS Rules.

The last paragraph on Page 55 begins with situations like this. In this paragraph it talks about the firing unit being at the same height as the obstacle. So for this example say the steeple is on Level 2. So LOS is traced through J2 and J3 (also both on Level 2). This is where the extended shadow comes into play (second paragraph, second column, page 56). So hexes K4 and K5 are in the shadow and not in LOS.

In your example above, you follow the last paragraph on the second column of Page 56. Since the Sniper is on Level 3, and the building in hexes J2 and J3 are on Level 2, you are higher than the obstacle, and thus, there is only a one hex shadow total, which means hex K4 is the only shadow hex, and LOS picks up again in hex K5.

I hope that all makes sense and clears things up for you.

 

[Peter]

But the sniper is at Level 2 not Level 3. Level 3 is the obstacle height of the steeple, not the level of the sniper inside of it.

 

[Ralph Ferrari]

Well I guess I should learn to read better. In that case the LOS would be blocked since the LOS passes thru I3/J3 and J4, which would create a two hex shadow.

 

[Qwirz]

Ralph is right. The steeple, and the unit(s) in are at one level higher than the rest of the building. (probably level 3, but I have no games a hand now), creating just ONE blind hex.
If you are at ground level, you are at level 0; if you are at level 1, you are at level 1; level 2, at level 2; if you are at level 3, you are at level 3. Why do you assume that being in a level 3 steeple, your sniper is at level 2?

 

[MirabelleBenou]

The steeple is a level 3 obstacle (its height), but the unit inside are on level 2.

That's like a 2 story building which is a level 2 obstacle but unit on upper level are considered on level 1.

 

[Norm]

Peter, to my mind, your graphic is correct. Your sniper is standing on a level 2 floor and above his head is a level 3 obstacle (steeple). He is firing along a level 2 obstacle (the roof of the main building), as such the end point of that obstacle, hex J4 creates a blind hex. In addition, because firer and obstacle are both at the same elevation (level 2), the shadow is extended by 1 hex for every hex BETWEEN the firer and the final same level obstacle that is being considered in relation to the targets, which in this case is J4, giving +1 hex between firer and obstacle, giving a total shadow of 2 hexes.

The easiest way to think of hex height and obstacle height is to go back to the principle of a level 1 building on a level 0 landscape. The building itself is a level 1 obstacle, but an occupant would be standing on the ground floor which is level 0. So if you had a village full of level 1 buildings on a level 0 landscape, each building would block line of sight, even to the occupants of any of the buildings.

Visualisation of the formula is not always easy, for example, imagine that the enemy had managed to get into the building and in J4 has moved upstairs from level 0 to level 1, could the sniper have a line of sight to the enemy from the steeple position? I have it that J3 is a level 2 obstacle, so casting a 1 hex shadow means J4 units on level 1 could not be targeted, but looking at the map, I have to apply the formula rather than just 'seeing' the solution.