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So I want some clarification on the Monolith and how LOS works for it...

I've read some places that you can use the Monolith to block LOS from your opponents guns to your warriors or whatever else you want to hide behind it...

But then some people say you can still shoot "under" the Monolith?

Do both apply?

Its fairly simple, if you can see from the firing model directly to the target model and you can all of the target models then no cover saves. if the monolith model is obscuring half the unit then cover saves apply.

The monolith doesn't fly 4 inches off the table so there's no way to fire under it and see the target units clearly. So unless you've modeled your monolith to be flying around high in the sky then no, you cannot fire under it clearly.

Aramoro

Aramoro wrote:Its fairly simple, if you can see from the firing model directly to the target model and you can all of the target models then no cover saves. if the monolith model is obscuring half the unit then cover saves apply.

The monolith doesn't fly 4 inches off the table so there's no way to fire under it and see the target units clearly. So unless you've modeled your monolith to be flying around high in the sky then no, you cannot fire under it clearly.

Aramoro

Ah, thank you very much!

So...there is no consistent rule with the Monolith then? It all depends on how I model the Monolith itself?

Yes, just like any other model. The monolith has no special/unique LoS blocking capabilities.

Think about it this way. If you teleport out of a monoliths portal your warriors walk down the 3 stairs & onto the ground. Now I don't know how high that is but I wouldn't put that monolith more then 2 feet (60cm) off the ground.

If you can find someone good enough to make that shot while staring down a giant energized death machine made out of living metal & crackling with a high energy power crystal capable of obliterating a Leman Russ in one

shot & still be able to hit the necrons behind it in their legs, then I'll believe it. Aside from possibly a vindicare assasin I don't think there's a model in the game that is that good. So if he tries to argue that he can shoot

under it just bring that up. Otherwise it is always true LoS. You can refer to the BGB on "Cover saves" as they give several diagrams that explain how most cases will work.

The reason people bring it up is that all new monolith box sets now come with "flying bases" that put the monolith just high enough on the table that you can draw LOS from one infantry model to another infantry model on the other side.

Older Monolith boxed sets do not come with a flying base at all.

RAW you arre supposed to assemble your models with the bases they are supplied with, so people with older monoliths just set them on the table, where as people with newer monoliths would have to mount them on the flying bases. Because one can not purchase a monolith without a base at the moment, it could be argued that all older monoliths must also be mounted on flying bases, and thus the conflict arises.

I personally dont care either way. If my opponent was gracious enough to play Necrons, then I have pretty much won the game before it started anyways.

Flying base or skimmer base?

I have never seen one come with the new flying base, and the skimmer base does not really allow much (note: much, not "any") LOS under the Monolith.

Yeah I'm wondering (as the owner of several monoliths) what kind of base does it come with now?

Interesting to see them do this. Anyone got pictures of the new base for it?

In 3rd edition all Skimmers were supposed to be on Skimmer bases (AKA “Flying Stands”), but the Monolith did not include one, so everyone had to convert them. There were lots of easy conversions, one of the most common involving brass rod and a discarded CD as a nice, wide base. LOS to/around/under skimmers was actual, and we could shoot under them.

In 4th edition the main rulebook FAQ told us that all Skimmers were required to be on flying bases, but also told us to use the base provided, and the Monolith didn’t come with one. This didn’t make a big difference, though, because the rules allowed you to draw LOS through all Skimmer models anyway. Monolith flying stand conversions became less common.

Now in 5th, with true LOS for skimmers again, and with the ruling being a firm “use the one provided”, Monoliths have become fantastic walls, simply because of the lack of a flying base. If GW has started including them, however, then for consistency everyone should be using the current basing requirement. And Monoliths lose their awesome blocking ability.

Demogerg wrote:The reason people bring it up is that all new monolith box sets now come with "flying bases" that put the monolith just high enough on the table that you can draw LOS from one infantry model to another infantry model on the other side.

How recently was this? My friend bought a monolith a month ago & it had no base. Might just have been an older model I guess.

Monoliths do not come with any base - the two I bought about 2-3 months ago didn't come with one and the two other people I know have Monoliths didn't get bases (and those are 5+ years old).

If you look at the bottom of the Monolith, there is no slot for the peg.

Shas'O Dorian wrote:Think about it this way. If you teleport out of a monoliths portal your warriors walk down the 3 stairs & onto the ground. Now I don't know how high that is but I wouldn't put that monolith more then 2 feet (60cm) off the ground.

If you can find someone good enough to make that shot while staring down a giant energized death machine made out of living metal & crackling with a high energy power crystal capable of obliterating a Leman Russ in one

shot & still be able to hit the necrons behind it in their legs, then I'll believe it. Aside from possibly a vindicare assasin I don't think there's a model in the game that is that good. So if he tries to argue that he can shoot

under it just bring that up.

There you go bringing real world physics into our fantasy world again... for shame.

The only thing I thought of was this:
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/268/monolithbase.jpg
I had assumed the circled parts were supposed to be it's "mini-base" (Bad example: Those parts aren't on the DOW models for it)

at my FLGS (which is a new store, so all of their stock is merely a couple of months old from GW at best) 3 people have purchased Monoliths, all of them came with bases, not the new valk bases, and not the skimmer bases, but different bases that hold the model about an inch and a half off the table.

You're all forgetting that a flying "base" is really a stand, not a base. It does not fall under the requirement to use the included base, and by this alone, older monoliths would not have to modernize, just as older terminators do not have to have 40mm bases (this is technically illegal).

However, the rules for skimmers say that they have to be on flying bases. There's no way you're getting around that.

thebetter1 wrote:It does not fall under the requirement to use the included base

Errr... Whut?

Yes it does.

So, to wrap things up... if you have a Monolith that did not come with a flying base, are you required to convert/find/etc a base for it or can you continue to use it without a base?

RobPro wrote:So, to wrap things up... if you have a Monolith that did not come with a flying base, are you required to convert/find/etc a base for it or can you continue to use it without a base?

No, you are in fact required to NOT use a base or so help you Jervis and Gwar! will come to where you play, locked in an epic battle for all eternity, and totally feth that gak up!

Actually, you can use any base you feel like, but if your opponent doesn't like it you have to tie them to a chair and read the 4th ed Chaos codex to them until they lament.

Orkeosaurus wrote:Actually, you can use any base you feel like, but if your opponent doesn't like it you have to tie them to a chair and read the 4th ed Chaos codex to them until they lament.

Or better yet, slowly tear apart a 3.5 codex, and watch them weep.

It would be tears of joy for me, I prefer the 4th ed Chaos book.

Demogerg wrote:at my FLGS (which is a new store, so all of their stock is merely a couple of months old from GW at best) 3 people have purchased Monoliths, all of them came with bases, not the new valk bases, and not the skimmer bases, but different bases that hold the model about an inch and a half off the table.

PICS please. If they made something usable for the Monoliths I'm going to pissed since I just made my own using a clear plastic rods and high powered magnets.

RxGhost wrote:It would be tears of joy for me, I prefer the 4th ed Chaos book.

HERETIC!!

Oh wait.....

RobPro wrote:So, to wrap things up... if you have a Monolith that did not come with a flying base, are you required to convert/find/etc a base for it or can you continue to use it without a base?

If GW has indeed made it standard, players will start being expected to mount theirs on a flying base. Obviously the level of strictness will gradually increase over the next couple of years as people become aware.