Teach me the 6th ed cover rules for vehicles

[Nabterayl]

I can accept that, though I don't think I'd play it that way.

Any other questions, Wildcard?

[Wildcard]

Yeah Oh, one thing though came into my mind at the last second.

But before that: Thank you all very much for the good answers (and page references - this makes it a lot easier to get it right with the other players).

Back to the issue:

We've implemented that "X from corner to corner", but some issues came with the eldar vehicle hull (wave serpent in particular, but i believe the rest are mostly similar anyway).
Where the wingtip ends and bulk of the hull starts, iirc right at the level of engine intakes and pilot cockpit. At the area around this the vehicles hull twists in all manner of funky ways (you know just by looking at it), and while drawing X from corner to corner does help most of the times, its with this vehicle hull in particular that gives us alot of trouble figuring if it is straight forward shot, or to a angle of the hull giving it +1 cover save.

(The original most broblem with vehicle cover came from the vehicle and ruins cover section, where it was stated that ruins give vehicles 4+ cover. Period. And if the vehicle was seen from the other angle than the dude was firing from, it got the +1 = 3+ cover save. AND those were the only possible cover saves from terrain.)
At that point I was teached the use of that X-drawing there as well

So, any good guidelines how you handle it, or you know it to be handled near you? Or are we taking this stuff just too seriously? (since there aren't no natural sloped armor multipliers etc)

[Nabterayl]

For the Wave Serpent and similar hulls, I think the important point is to identify the four corners of the vehicle, and just re-draw the X with a tape measure all the time. Find any thin, rigid object and place it over the vehicle so that it goes from corner to corner, and see which side of that physical line the shooter is on.

For the Wave Serpent et al., my group identifies the corners as the tips of the wings and the upper corners of the rear hatch, because those are all very easily identifiable points (as opposed to the engines, where it's harder to pick a single point on the engine). This gives those vehicles extremely narrow front and rear aspects.

[Wildcard]

Just to make sure i understand your point: Firing a wave serpent from behind so that you only see engine and wingtip is considered to be hit on the side facing, thus giving that +1 cover? And as such, it would have 4+ jink or 3+ if rest were completely blocked by ruin?

[Nabterayl]

What you can see is not the first question you should ask. The first question you should ask is where you are. Is the engine in the rear facing, or not? Even if you are "behind" the Wave Serpent, are you in its rear facing?

Let's assume that you're behind and to the left of a Wave Serpent, pretty much dead on the diagonal from the starboard wingtip to the port thruster. Somebody speaking casually might say you're "behind" the Wave Serpent, but what facing are you in?

If you pick the vehicle's corners the way my group does (drawing from wingtip to hatch corner) you are in the side facing (a tape measure placed from corner to corner would just barely pass to your right). If you pick a different set of corners (say, wingtip to wing root) then you're in the rear facing (the same tape measure now passes barely to your left). Each group must decide for itself.*

Now, as you say, let's assume you can actually only see the port engine and port wing owing to an intervening ruin (ruins provide 4+ cover, pages 18 and 98) and and that the vehicle moved at cruising speed last movement phase.

If you're in my group, you're in the rear facing, but can only see the side, so the Wave Serpent gets +1 to its cover save. It has two cover saves: a 3+ from the ruin (4+ +1) and a 4+ from Jink (5+ +1).

But if you're in somebody else's group, you might be in the side facing, shooting at the side facing, giving the Wave Serpent its base cover saves. It definitely has a 5+ cover save from Jink, and depending on how much (if any) of the side the ruin covers, might also have a 4+ save from the ruin.

* In case it helps your group decide, our rationale is this: by choosing corners that give the Wave Serpent a narrow front and rear aspect, it becomes more survivable - the thicker side armor and energy shield cover more of the vehicle, and it becomes easier for the Wave Serpent pilot/player to force enemies into out-of-facing shots. We feel this better represents the advanced, slippery nature of an eldar IFV. Your group might have different concerns. For instance, if you feel the narrow front and rear aspect make the vehicle too powerful, you can give it a small nerf by choosing corners (like the wing root, or the engines) that make the front and rear aspects wider.

[JMichael]

I play Eldar as my primary army and though each group may have their own verdict on the facing, I've found most are okay with the INAT FAQ.
See the diagram, but basically you create a box around the shape and draw the 'X' from the corners of the box.

[Nabterayl]

I think the INAT FAQ is unnecessarily difficult to use (finding those points on the leading wing edges seems needlessly fiddly to me), which is why I prefer the approach of picking four points on the model that are easy to identify. But honestly, I think most groups will be fine with whatever is proposed first.