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As title, question is; do you get to pick another unit for assaulting, if you wiped your target in the Shooting Phase?

All i could dig up from the RAW in the Assault Phase, under Disallowed Assaults (p33, BRB) was:
"In addition to the above, a unit that fired in the shooting phase can only assault the unit that it shot at - it cannot assault a different unit to the one it previously shot at. ..."

Now it might seem all clear, that you CAN'T assault a different target. But the question arises when that unit no longer being present on the board.
- e.g. A large squad of Termagants gets lucky against a 5-man MEQ-squad and is left in the open. "Hive Mind" be with them?

I think you answered your own question with your quote there.

Yes if you wipe them all out in shooting you are out of luck for assault.
That's the reason the shooting rule says you can fire with some or all of your unit's weapons.
If you are planning on assaulting, fire fewer weapons to make sure you don't wipe the target unit out.

Yup. That was what i was afraid of.
- Meh! At least you get a D6 for consolidation after you wipe a squad in the Assault phase.

You can also get denied the assault by an intelligent opponent because of your shooting without even destroying the entire squad. If they take away the models you're in range of you'll fail the assault range check. It's something to be wary of.

Oh crap, I never thought of that! Good call there!

So one thing to remember would be to always shoot with your assaulting unit last. If all your other shooting kills the target unit, then your assaulting squad can pick another target or just shoot without planning to assault.

What about a unit that can shoot at two different units? Must it assault both of them? If it wipes one out, can it then not assault the other?

axeman1n wrote:What about a unit that can shoot at two different units? Must it assault both of them? If it wipes one out, can it then not assault the other?

presumably you just get to choose, unless it is referenced anywhere specifically. Split fire is usually just used to fire heavy weapons at something big so assault is off the cards - its a good question, i've never seen it come up in play anyway

Fateweaver did it, and the TO ruled that even though he had killed the unit he shot at, the 2nd unit he fired at was still a valid target for assault.
I disagreed. Oh well, what the TO says goes.

Ahhh, but Fatreweaver has a special rule (We Are Legion, IIRC) that allows him to assault any unit he shoots at. So the TO was correct. This caught me by surprise first time I ran into it as well.

However, that won't be true of all units that can split fire. Case by case, depending on how their split fire rule is written.

Seems much like shooty armies have alot of advantages in 5th - or is it just me?

It's just you. With Mech and Run, shooty died with 4th edition. A pure Assault army can crush a shooty one, so long as you realize you can sacrifice nearlly all of your troops and still wipe out the other army. The only time I see shooty armies win is when the assault army decides to turtle.

Many (or at least several) units capable of splitting fire still use a 'main' target for the unit itself. With Tau, for example, target locks are used to allow a model to fire at a different target than the unit's 'main' target.

We've always played that the unit's 'main' target is then the only one the unit may assault in the following phase.

[edit] spelling

Enginseer wrote:Many (or at least several) units capable of splitting fire still use a 'main' target for the unit itself. With Tau, for example, target locks are used to allow a model to fire at a different target than the unit's 'main' target.

We've always played that the unit's 'main' target is then the only one the unit may assault in the following phase.

[edit] spelling

This holds true for the Blood Angels Librarian as well. When he uses Blood lance to shoot more than one unit, the first unit hit is the only one he is allowed to assault.

Q: Blood Lance is a psychic shooting attack that can hit
multiple units. If the Librarian wishes to assault after
using Blood Lance, which unit(s) is he permitted to
assault?
A: Only the first unit hit by the Blood Lance

From:
http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1240365a_FAQ_BloodAngels_2010.pdf

axeman1n wrote:It's just you. With Mech and Run, shooty died with 4th edition. A pure Assault army can crush a shooty one, so long as you realize you can sacrifice nearlly all of your troops and still wipe out the other army. The only time I see shooty armies win is when the assault army decides to turtle.

3rd edition was extremely assaulty (though I still saw lots of well-built & well-run shooty armies win a lot).
4th edition was more shooty (though I still saw lots of well-built & well-run assaulty armies win a lot).
5th edition is more balanced. True LOS, and assault armies losing the ability to Consolidate into a new combat help Shooty a lot. But the addition of Run to most units, the improved durability & lowered prices of transports, and the prevalence of improved cover saves are big hindrances for shooting.