Drop Pods, Movement, and LoS

[ElectricPaladin]

One of the thing I always liked about drop pods is that they are a form of deployable terrain. Put a drop pod down and you can dictate the flow of battle, forcing your opponents to redeploy around the drop pod. This is all well and good, in theory, but I've got a few questions about how the rules would actually work in practice.

1) Does the open interior of a drop pod block line of sight, or does true line of sight still apply?

2) If you can see someone through the interior of a drop pod and shoot them, do they gain the 4+ cover save?

3) The "petals" of a drop pod; are they a part of the vehicle, in which case they grant cover saves and block movement, despite being flat to the ground? And when I deploy troops from the drop pod do I measure from the opening or from the edge of the petal?

4) When a drop pod is destroyed and becomes a chunk of dangerous terrain, how does this effect the answers to the previous questions?

I'll continue to update the thread with any further questions I have. Thanks in advance.

[PaD]

I'm certainly no expert and I am sure others will come along and contradict everything I say, but....

1) A drop Pod is a vehicle, so yes - it blocks line of sight. This breaks the "True LoS" rules, but hey, it's much simpler.
2) No - see 1!
3) I usually just ignore the "petals" all together. Make all measurements from the hexagonal central section. We don't coun't them as difficult terrain, or allow a cover save or anything. Just ignore them. Again - much simpler.

But then - we don't play tournaments and usual play against the same (rather large) group of players (none of whom are "Rules Lawyers" or "Waac" loons)

[thecactusman17]

A Drop Pod is EXACTLY TLOS. You can see through it or not depending on how it's modeled and positioned. GW's Throne of Skulls tournament held that you could manipulate the petals when the pod came down, but not afterwards. Opened petals are not part of the hull for purposes of attacking, deployment, or movement bonuses/penalties. They do not exist for purposes of giving or removing cover etc.

[PaD]

So I was 50% right! That's good for me! LOL

[ElectricPaladin]

A Drop Pod is EXACTLY TLOS. You can see through it or not depending on how it's modeled and positioned. GW's Throne of Skulls tournament held that you could manipulate the petals when the pod came down, but not afterwards. Opened petals are not part of the hull for purposes of attacking, deployment, or movement bonuses/penalties. They do not exist for purposes of giving or removing cover etc.

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[whargoul666]

You can see through it or not depending on how it's modeled and positioned. GW's Throne of Skulls tournament held that you could manipulate the petals when the pod came down, but not afterwards.

This is just my opinion (and I am not saying that you are wrong) but that is utter BS to me. The petals should all blow out period. If your modeling or painting skills are "not up to it" to allow you to comfortably field it this way, you should still allow shots through with a 4+ cover. Again this is just my opinion, but to say other-wise, to me, feels like modeling to advantage and that is one of the worst gamebreaking rules. Playing against someone who would not allow shots through their drop pods would be no fun to me, because I would feel that I am being taken advantage of.

[ElectricPaladin]

This is just my opinion (and I am not saying that you are wrong) but that is utter BS to me. The petals should all blow out period. If your modeling or painting skills are "not up to it" to allow you to comfortably field it this way, you should still allow shots through with a 4+ cover. Again this is just my opinion, but to say other-wise, to me, feels like modeling to advantage and that is one of the worst gamebreaking rules. Playing against someone who would not allow shots through their drop pods would be no fun to me, because I would feel that I am being taken advantage of.

Sadly, modeling for advantage is alive and well. I wouldn't play with someone who did that, either, but what else can you do?

[Gotthammer]

I always wonder how people draw LoS through a drop pod when it's got all that junk in the middle of it.