Area terrain cover

[Nekiu]

The way I have been playing I have been having a unit of 3 models, 2 standing outside of area terrain and 1 inside of area terrain. Assuming nobody focus fires on the unit I assumed that they would get the cover save due to at least 25% of the unit being in cover.
However, I have been trying to find anything that supports this in the rule book but I could not find anything for sure.
Does anybody know where in the book it would support or deny the ability to do this? (Including if the closest model to the shooter is outside of cover)
Again assuming no focus firing

[Wolfshade]

I don't have my rule book with me but the rule for cover is done on a model by model basis. If 25% of the model is obscured you get a cover save. For area terrain you only have to be in it, regardless of being obscured.

So you would take wounds to the closest model first, if they are outside of terrain then they get no save. Wounds keep being allocated against the nearest model until it dies then it moves to the new nearest one and oyu keep going. If you get to the model in terrain with still unsaved wounds then that one alone will get a cover save.

[Anggul]

In 5th edition you only had to have 50% of the unit in cover for the whole unit to get the save.

In 6th edition it's now done on a model by model basis, so you roll saves individually for the closest model using the best save that specific model has available. If that model dies, you move on to the next closest model and roll the best save it has until it dies, and so on until the wound pool is empty.

[Dave Mcturk]

this means you can 'choose' to 'focus fire' on models that are not 'the closest' in order to deny them cover saves, or if firing normally and if the closest models are 'out of cover' they will be taken as casualties first anyway...

this sometimes allows you to narrow down the chances of hitting/killing particular models in an enemy unit

paradoxically you cannot choose to 'ignore' enemy models in the open even if you then want to charge them... so just like charging into cc it is best to 'wangle' fire positions where possible to advantage !

eg 'oh look' my unit is nearest to all your men in cover who i want to kill by shooting, but when i kill most of them i will have to charge the nearest remaining model who just happens to be standing in the open wondering why his red shirt didnt attract any fire !

[Batoche1864]

Yeah everyone is right

pg. 15 of the rulebook:

Mixed Saves
--If the target unit contains several different saving throws, you'll need to follow this process instead of the one presented above...

Allocate Wounds
--First, allocate a Wound from the Wound pool to the enemy model closest to the firing unit.

Take Saves & Remove Casualties
--The model gets to make a saving throw, if it has one...

--Continue allocating wounds to the closest model, taking saves and removing casualties until the wound pool is empty, or all models in the unit have been removed as casualties.

So to specifically answer the OP the 25% rule is only ever applied to a single model and not the unit as a whole.

[Batoche1864]

That kinda explains why Focus Fire exists.

A guy in Ruins (4+ cover) with Shrouded or with Stealth and has Gone to Ground now has maxed his cover save to 2+. I don't know about the rest of you but I can't count how often I've seen a 2+ save tank way more shots than I expected (unfortunately it always seems to be my buddies guy who pulls that off and not my own.)

If the guy with maxed cover also has an Invulnerable save and perhaps a Feels no Pain roll after that, he can eat a ton of shots and just laugh.

So you Focus Fire and kill the guys in the open.

[Gleipnir]

or Precision Shot, Barrage Snipe, or Just smack the guy in front soaking the shots with a D weapon

[Batoche1864]

Yes, this is a game of exceptions, but without anything else available to you, your squad of average shooty guys, without any access to an exception, can always just focus fire and not shoot at the guy in cover.

[Da Gargoyle]

I have a related question. Do you still get the 4+ cover save if you are within the perimeter of the ruin but are do not technically have 25% of the target obscured from the shooter? I am not referring to monstrous creatures, just infantry and jump troops etc

[Wolfshade]

The ruin would probably not be classed as area terrain, (it might be in some area terrain) so each model would need to be obscured by the ruin to get a save from it.