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Last night's game had some fervent rulebook reading right from the get go.

Opponent was setting up Shooty fexes on top of one and two story buildings. I told opponent that monstrous creatures cannot be deployed in such a way. We both scoured the BGB.

Under Occupying buildings the rules only describe infantry units being allowed to "occupy" a building. Occupying seems to mean existing inside and requires egress through designated doorways etc.

There were also other rules for Parapets, which includes similar rooftops.

However, Opponent was looking under Ruins and found that Monstrous creatures may move up and down floors of ruins and may move through ruins classified as dangerous terrain.

He then tried to get me to classify the building as either impassable or dangerous terrain.

Since I was unsure of the repercussions of calling a building "impassable terrain", i demanded the structure be classified as neither and instead a concrete building.

He later tried jumping genestealers through a window in the building, i which case I again raised dissent. I said the only way in or out were throught the designated modes of egress, the doorways. He found language permitting otherwise, however it again was language from the Ruins areas of the BGB.

So for my question; who was right in these circumstances? Was I correct in asserting the "Occupying buildings" and "Ruins" subsections of the BGB are independant and distinct? Were Opponent's attempts afoul of the BGB?

Last question regarding a situation which also occurred last night. Can you enter a building, which uses rules for embarking vehicles apparently, in the shooting phase after you run?

I know this was a lot but I hope I can be assured that I was not being a whiny girl.

You have to classify the structures on the table as ruins or buildings according to how much damage has been taken by it. My rule of thumb is that if it's missing more than one wall or corner it's ruins, but anything could go as long as you agree/decide to dice it.
But yes, Ruins and Buildings have separate rules.
I don't think you can enter a building in the shooting phase because I don't think you can embark on a transport either.
Same issue came up last night and I decided to just let my Initiates run up to the very base of the building rather than enter it.

None of that sounds like whining to me (unless the "buildings" were rubble, in which case yeah, you're being whiny)

the structures in this case were fully in tact in every way. thanks for your clarification.

Then it's a very simple case. If I were in your situation, I'd borrow an observer or someone from the next table over and ask them "are these structures: A. Buildings or B. Ruins"
That should give you an impartial enough answer.

Also, I believe a Parapet is a section of a wall by definition, and a building is definitely not a wall, so Parapet rules are for fortifications that are NOT buildings in the usual sense.

Hope that helps.

Moving out of the building w/o using doors is only allowed if they're ruins.
However, as far as deploying on top of a building, they are counted as any other "impassible" terrain. You can deploy on top of plateaus or rock formations as long as they are within your deployment zone and you can place the model on them.

As mentioned, Buildings and Ruins have two completely separate sets of rules. So if you're classing them as Buildings, you use the Building rules for them, not the Ruins rules.

Moving in and out of the building works the same as embarking and disembarking with a transport vehicle. It's up to you and your opponent to designate access points and fire points, set the Buildings armour value, and decide whether or not the roof or any balconies are accessible from inside the building before the game begins.

There is nothing stopping him from deploying onto the roof of a building using the regular deployment rules. Note though that the model still counts as occupying the building, and you get a bonus on attacks against the building.


If you class the building as Impassable, nobody can enter it, although models could still be deployed on top of it and jump infantry and the like could still land on it, provided there is space to stand. In this case, the model is not occupying the building, and you're free to shoot at them.

If this makes it clearer: A building and it's roof often can be considered 2 different sections of terrain. Most flat-roofed buildings I play with consider the first (enclosed) level as a building, and the second (roof or open level) as clear terrain.

After rules "discussions" in previous games, I have made a point of clarifying all terrain before a game starts.
When using my own terrain pieces, I have a written list of each piece and it's options (e.g. are the barricades difficult or impassable? Is the bunker AV14-all-round or 14/13/10? How many fire-points do the slits count as?).

Thanks for all the info...

Impassable terrain is not dangerous unless designated as such, is that right?

Can you deepstrike onto impassable terrrain without mishap?

Impassable terrain cannot be moved through by infantry (like a sheer wall or something)
Dangerous terrain can be moved through, but there's a chance that you'll get hurt moving through it.

You can't put a model on/in impassable terrain, so no, you can't deap-strike in to it.

However, with things like a roof or platform, the walls around it might be impassable, while the roof itself is clear terrain.

If the enclosed building is classed as impassable, jump troops can still land on the roof provided that there is somewhere for them to land. In that case they treat it as dangerous terrain.

Building rules, page 78