Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

can a skimmer tank shock through a building - not fortified, but like ruins that grant a 4+ cover save? The ruins could have multiple levels for example. If so, how would that affect units on different levels?

You can't tank shock through (vertically) impassible terrain so normally you would stop, however skimmers may go over. Take a dangerous terrain test as you enter the terrain, if you cannot move forwards move up till you can. Only models that are on the level its traveling at are tank shocked.

This is as close to RAW as i can possibly be.

A skimmer performing a tank shock through a ruin would have two options:
a) From the skimmer rules, it would have the option of moving OVER the terrain and thus not interact with the ruin; or
b) From the ruin rules, it would have the option of moving on the bottom floor of the ruin.

Keep in mind that a tank shock is performed in a straight line, and no changes of direction are allowed during a tank shock. This would make it extremely problematic to go part way into a ruin and then suddenly pop up to a position above the ruin. Importantly, nothing in the ruin rules allow a vehicle to move through walls or other solid portions of the ruin. Presumably, everyone should reach an agreement with their opponent whether or not vehicles can plow through walls.

If you do manage to get a skimming tank moving through a ruin, according to the tank shock rules, the vehicle has to move into contact, presumably hull contact, in order to tank shock, so I would expect it to be very somewhat difficult to tank shock a model standing on a middle floor with a ceiling above its head without having the tank's hull pass through a floor or ceiling along the way.

As far as any tank shocked units, there shouldn't be any major differences compared to the normal situation. Fallback distance trumps difficult terrain, so they'd probably be able to get out of the ruin faster; and it's possible that the shortest distance out of the position of a tank which stopped in the ruin could be to move to a floor directly above the tank; but that's all straight forward stuff.

Sadly, a straight line has no requirement on height. While moving in a straight line, any altitude change is allowable, due to it not altering the path of said vehicle.

InquisitorFabius wrote:Sadly, a straight line has no requirement on height. While moving in a straight line, any altitude change is allowable, due to it not altering the path of said vehicle.

That's only true in a 2-dimensional setting. Moving in a straight line means moving in a straight line. If you alter your height along the way, (other than moving at a vertical angle) you're not moving in a straight line.

However, it would seem that Tank Shock would have to disregard vertical height, despite the rules not actually saying to do so, as otherwise regular tanks would be similarly unable to perform a tank shock unless the section of table they are on is perfectly flat. Any terrain in their path, however small, would cancel the tank shock.