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The Setup: A squad of Vanilla Marines holding an objective in a ruin. The squad is spread out among floors and spaced apart to avoid maximizing template damage. Bad guys are about 9 inches away closest to closest also holding an objective in an adjacent ruin.
I decide to maximize my shooting to soften up the bad guys (I have no intention for this squad to assault OFF the objective they already claim). After measuring distance I have 6 bolters inside 12" and 2 more outside 12". I choose to double-tap the bolters. My opponent claims that the 2 guys outside 12" don't get to shoot since all shooting in a squad MUST be of the same pattern (ie: they would have to double-tap also, but since they are beyond 12' they are out of range...12 shots total). My contention was the guys inside 12" can doubletap while the guys outside 12" only get a standard single shot...14 shots total.

So, is it only the 6 double-taps or do the guys beyond 12' get to shoot single rounds also?

Rapid fire weapons have the properties...

If you do not move you can fire them at full range.

If you do move you can fire them at 12" twice.

For bolters - If you decide to shoot with the squad and it did not move, then those within 12" shoot twice and those outside of 12" shoot once. With 6 marines in range you have 12 shots, plus 2 for the single shots at >12" for a total (as you said) of 14.

Edit: You can fire 12" not half range as previously stated. This exact scenario is also discussed in the last paragraph on pg 28 of the brb.

Also you do not choose to fire them in rapid fire. Rapid Fire weapons get two shots at targets under 12" or one at targets over 12" (assuming the unit did not move) automatically.

calypso2ts and zeshin he it spot on. You don't choose to rapid fire or not, you simply fire rapid fire weapons.

Whoever is in range to get 2 shots fires 2 shots and those not in range get 1 shot (assuming you didn't move).

dkellyj wrote:I choose to double-tap the bolters. My opponent claims that the 2 guys outside 12" don't get to shoot since all shooting in a squad MUST be of the same pattern (ie: they would have to double-tap also, but since they are beyond 12' they are out of range...12 shots total). My contention was the guys inside 12" can doubletap while the guys outside 12" only get a standard single shot...14 shots total.

Your opponent made up a bunch of nonsense. Each member of the squad can fire whatever he wants, there is nothing resembling a 'same pattern' rule anywhere. You could have one guy not shoot, one guy shoot a bolt pistol, one guy shoot a bolter, one guy shoot a ML, the sarge shoot a plasma pistol, one guy shoot a plasma gun, the attached librarian use a 'heavy' psychic power, and one guy shoot a flamer if you want (and the squad had that many weapons, obviously). Bolters are simply firing as rapid-fire weapons, you're not even firing them with a different pattern, they just get 1 shot at range X and 2 at range Y.

You did make one error - you don't choose to double-tap the bolters, that's not a decision you make in the 40k rules at all. You choose whether to fire nothing, bolt pistol, or bolter for a marine, you get 0 shots if you don't shoot, 1 shot to 12" with the pistol, or 2 within 12"/1 within 24" for the bolter. Rapid fire weapons always fire the 2/1 pattern if you shoot them, there isn't any decision. Since regular marines carry a bolt pistol, you can choose to take 0, 1, or 2 bolt shots with each guy within 12", but that's choosing which weapon to shoot, not which way to fire the bolter. If a marine has a plasma gun and is within 12", he can fire nothing, a bolter, or double-tap the plasma gun, but he can't choose to take one plasma shot.

BearersOfSalvation wrote:
You did make one error - you don't choose to double-tap the bolters, that's not a decision you make in the 40k rules at all. You choose whether to fire nothing, bolt pistol, or bolter for a marine, you get 0 shots if you don't shoot, 1 shot to 12" with the pistol, or 2 within 12"/1 within 24" for the bolter. Rapid fire weapons always fire the 2/1 pattern if you shoot them, there isn't any decision. Since regular marines carry a bolt pistol, you can choose to take 0, 1, or 2 bolt shots with each guy within 12", but that's choosing which weapon to shoot, not which way to fire the bolter. If a marine has a plasma gun and is within 12", he can fire nothing, a bolter, or double-tap the plasma gun, but he can't choose to take one plasma shot.

This is an important point! You simply declare who is shooting, and then they are required to take as many shots as they can. If you're worried about killing too many enemies (say, you need to keep some alive for assaulting), you can't control whether a rapid fire gun shoots 1 or 2 times, so be aware of what distance people are and how many shots they get!

Or shoot with less models.

kirsanth wrote:Or shoot with less models.

Oops, I meant to say that.

kirsanth wrote:Or shoot with less models.

Or shoot bolt pistols. I think this confuses people because marines do have the option to move and shoot either 2 bolt shots and not be able to charge, or 1 bolt shot and be able to charge, so they think of it as 'double tap or not' when it's really 'bolter or pistol'.