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Someone brought this up in YMDC and it is interesting because it is something that I have thought for a while you should be able to do if your own troops are in combat.

Something like this:

50/50 who gets hit.
Your own guys autmatically fail morale and run away giving enemy possibility to sweep.

Although it wouldn't get used much, there are times it would be useful (IG squad being eaten by Hive Tyrant)

Maybe require a Ld test for doing this friendly-fire, and can only shoot if they fail the test.
Its more likely to happen for Guardsmen, Orks, Traitors, No-Synapse ´Nids etc.

Of course there should be firing into HtH, what about all the situations where the firers couldnt hurt their own side anyway...

Like Marines firing into a CC with a friendly dreadnought getting swarmed?  Or Shuriken Catapults and a wraithlord? Or firing on models that arent in 2 inches of an assault, essentially unengaged?

Or what about hopeless assaults where the guys are dead anyway?

Troops firing into a tyranid/dreadnought/wraithlord assault where the basic models in hand to hand can't even hurt the target anyway?

There probably out to be voluntary fallback rules also, with some effect for swinging at the disengaging guys and a morale penalty.

What about armies with more men than sense, and deliberate use of fodder, like gretchins and conscripts?

I like your idea, I think there ought to be firing into CC, and actually there is...

(Vindicare assasins ignore enemy models and the usual targeting restrictions when they select a target.)

So just play one of them! and Viola!

Blood for the blood god. I think that Chaos should get bonus BS to firing at their own troops. hahaha

Yeah, this seems like a pretty easy one. Make a LD test to fire into combat involving your troops. (No test necessary if none of your guys, though normal target priority applies.) Any misses are randomized on the non-targetted models involved in CC then re-rolled. So, for example 10 marines open fire on a Chaos Lord that is devouring their buddies (5 left). They rapid fire 20 shots scoring 12 hits and 8 misses. The 8 misses are randomized on any non-targeted unit/models (here the marines are the only other unit involved) and re-rolled. So the marines take all 8 and 5 hits are scored. Roll to wound and take saves normally.

Models in combat should probably also get some sort of cover save to reflect the additional difficulty of firing into combat. Probably 5+ cover save.

On voluntary fall back: no way, it can be abused way too easilly. It would devistate cc infantry armies.

On shooting into cc: it would also suck for cc armies, but I can't say they shouldn't be able to do it. I do believe, however, that the risk of hitting one's own troops should be higher, considering in many circumstances they'll be between your firing lines and the enemy. I'd also never want to see people using small sacrificial units to hold an assaulting unit in place in order to allow their army to light it up from safety. The only way to do that is to make the price for the action a costly one.

On second thought, if I was able to fire into a combat, and got myself engaged with banshees, kroot, wyches, gaunts, or anything with a low save and toughness, I'd need only to heavy bolter away.

So nah, the majority of the armies a voluntary fall back or shooting into combat rule would hurt have it hard enough as it is.

If you are going to do something like this, keep it simple. Something along the lines of 50/50 to hit your guys or the enemy regardless of numbers. Sure its not realistic when you have 10 guys beating up on 1 guy (or the reverse) but it makes the rolling simple. Any missed shots should remain just that...missed.

Voluntary fall back was taken out of the game for a reason. That reason was that on the enemy turn of assault, regardless of the results, marines would voluntarily fall back. If they got caught, they stayed in hand to hand just as if nothing had happened. If they got away, they would auto rally, shoot the squad that they had previously been assaulting, and then charge them again. Voluntary fall back was broken and I'm glad to see it go.

50/50 means orks fire into combat just as well as expert snipers....

Posted By Phoenix on 09/19/2006 3:32 PM
Voluntary fall back was taken out of the game for a reason. That reason was that on the enemy turn of assault, regardless of the results, marines would voluntarily fall back. If they got caught, they stayed in hand to hand just as if nothing had happened. If they got away, they would auto rally, shoot the squad that they had previously been assaulting, and then charge them again. Voluntary fall back was broken and I'm glad to see it go.

It's not totally obliterated - there's still the Hit & Run USR, and that's a good deal better (although much rarer).
 Tau commanders regularly make use of it, but they only get to give one model in any given army that ability.

But I agree, I'm glad voluntary fall back is gone. That, and I'm glad you can't Rapid Fire and then charge.

Hit and run doesn't bug me so much because the units that get it pay for it. That in and of itself makes me much more ok with it than just getting the ability for free and being able to abuse it due to some of your other special abilities. Most hit and run squads' ability to blaze up the squad they had previously been assaulting is generaly fairly limited as well.

First, it should require a ld check to do.

I think the idea of a swirling mass of guys should be difficult to miss. I think that you should have a minus 1 to hit unless the enemy outnumbers friendly models by 2 to 1 or more.

I think ALL misses should be hits on friendly units.

Lastly, I think each friendly fire casualty should lower the units leadership by 1 for a full turn.