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.

I've been wondering how the ghost arc shooting really works. My friend is the necron player and he uses ghost arcs with 10 necron warriors in it. He moves up and if he gets within 12 inches of something he can then shoot 40 gauss shots from that one ghost arc. I'm a bit unsure about using both sides of stationary mounted weapons at the same time. It does say though that if you can draw line of sigh of the sponson weapon then it can shoot. So if it just faces front first vs a unit then everything can shoot? If feels strange that they can all shoot straight through the vehicle just because the front tip of one of the guns on the side can draw line of sight(although not in a frontal cone) and it also feels slightly overpowered.
I'm sad to say i think my friend is correct but hoping for an answer to make them slightly more balanced.

Going by the sculpt of the model in theory you could rotate the offside guns to shoot *through* the model if it's broadside on. Whenever I've fielded it we've counte it as having a broadside channel (see Dystopian Wars for where we took it from) which works nicely with the design of the vehicle. So it would give 30 shots if side on, 20 if pointing forwards.

Its supposed to be a 45 degree arc so he shouldnt be able to target you with all his guns face on unless you play a wide wide spread 30 boy horde

No i play Wolves and nidz. Depends on how you count that first gun in the front. Normally it's pointing straight out so it's not withing a 45 degree angle but it coul d possibly pivot forward and then it could probably see a bit of a unit in front so all 5 on the side gets to shoot. So I guess he's technically right just feels really silly. Oh well guess I will have to figure out a way to deal with it

The broadsides only pivot up and down though so if you take it a 45 degree angle from the end of the barrel it still can't hit to the front. They're even described as broadsides in the book, I wouldn't ever consider hitting anything in front of my Ark with the side weapons.

Guns only pivot as much as they do, OR 45 degrees total - so 22.5 degrees forward.

Getting both broadsides (10 shots each) into a single targert is difficult, unless youre using a gaunt screen or similar. Additionally you get 20 shots from the guys on board

Ok that is good to know and will work as an argument. The 20 shots from the guy onboard I do realise

Ok talked to him and he claims that it says as long as it has line of sight they can all shoot. But does the 45 degree arc mean that it doesn't have los forward and only in 45 degrees or does it still see a unit infront since you can trace a line from it to the unit even if the line is basically in the front weapons back?

Tops he could get 1 side and the squad to shoot if he angled his ark a bit. See the thread about Land Raider turrents from a bit ago. theres diagrams and everything.

even better, invest in a dollar or so clear protractor and physically show the 45 degree arc to him

Just a question from me too. The broadside guns are normal flayers so, since flayers are rapid fire anyway, wouldn't they get 2 shots each as well? Totaling up to 40 shots with the Warriors on board (with only 1 side firing - not face on)

Ye I would agree but he claims the faq clearly states that if he can get los from the turret it's allowed to shoot. So is there two rules clashing here? :O

There is no clash. The GA has no turrets.

It has hull-mounted weapons. The rulebook clearly states that weapons have the arc they actually do (or appear to, if glued), and that if on a fixed hull mount, they have 45 degrees (to 22.5 to each side). The only was the gauss flayers on both sides of the GA will be able to shoot at the same unit is if it's a bit squad which wraps around and stands on both sides of the GA at once.

Thank you all for helping clearing this out.

Mannahnin wrote: The only was the gauss flayers on both sides of the GA will be able to shoot at the same unit is if it's a bit squad which wraps around and stands on both sides of the GA at once.

That would be a big unit.

angelshade00 wrote:Just a question from me too. The broadside guns are normal flayers so, since flayers are rapid fire anyway, wouldn't they get 2 shots each as well? Totaling up to 40 shots with the Warriors on board (with only 1 side firing - not face on)[/quote

5 "guns" in each array, so 10 shots within 12"

Necron FAQ wrote: Q: What is the arc of fire for a gauss flayer array? (p53)
A: As it is mounted on the hull it will have a 45 degree
arc of fire. However it is slightly unusual in that it has
multiple gun barrels. As long as you can draw line of
sight along one of them, you can target the unit.

So yes, in summary your friend cannot shoot something in front of his Ghost Ark with the Gauss Flayer Arrays, just the guys on board for a total of 20 shots.
If he's side on to you then it's the 20 embarked guy shots and then 10 Array shots from the side facing the enemy.

Wait guys, you all confused me. The arc only shoots 1 heavy 3. How are you getting even numbers? 10 warriors inside, broadsiding 12 inches and under would be 23 attacks.

The only Hvy 3 thing i know of is theCrons Monoliths gauss weapons.

The Ghost Ark has a gauss flayer array which is described on page 53 of the codex and does not have an entry in the summary in the back of the codex.

Hahha! So, is it five gauss flayers, or what?

A Gauss flayer array is 5 Gauss flayers that count as a single weapon for purposes of weapon destroyed results. Thusly, at 24 inches, a single array will provide 5 shots. At 12 inches, a single array will produce 10 shots. The line of sight is 45 degrees from the tip of ANY of the flayer barrels. I have attached an example of this for you.

EDIT: Fixed LOS drawing. Orange is good LOS, yellow is NOT LOS.

That LOS is not correct; it is 45 degrees total LOS, meaning 22.5 degrees "left" of perpendicular, and 22.5 degrees right

@Nosferatu

Lordhat wrote:

Necron FAQ wrote: Q: What is the arc of fire for a gauss flayer array? (p53)
A: As it is mounted on the hull it will have a 45 degree
arc of fire. However it is slightly unusual in that it has
multiple gun barrels. As long as you can draw line of
sight along one of them, you can target the unit.

Carrying the rule of the 45 degree arc in mind, having that LOS to the target along one of the five barrels is suffiecient. Thats the way I see it, at least.

That's correct. But that drawing uses a 45 degree angle coming off of the leftmost gun - it should be a narrower 22.5 degree.

45 degree LoS means 22.5 to either side. That image uses a 90 degree LoS.

Ah, yes, true. Well I redact my comment, because Nos was correct in judging that diagram.

*pulls eyeballs out of his a$$ and plugs them into his sockets*

That certainly is a 90 degree angle jutting from the leftmost barrel.

Necrons have these flying ghost "ships" and must broadside the enemy? Pirates? Undead robot pirates? Dare I bring up....DREADFLEET!?!

You should have a couple of rounds to deal with the Ghost Ark, as long as your army contains anything like Lascannons or Deepstriking suicide Meltagun squads. It's not Fast so it only moves 12", and Fast or not passengers may only shoot if the transport moved 6" or less (though they can still disembark and shoot at 12").

Otherwise the LOS was covered - it's not enough that some part of the gun barrel might be visible from the target unit, the target must actually be in the right sector.

Yeah sorry i didn't mean to get the angle that big... ill blame Ms paint and lack of sleep. Regardless its pretty apparent you can't shoot anything in front of the ghost ark.

nosferatu1001 wrote:

angelshade00 wrote:Just a question from me too. The broadside guns are normal flayers so, since flayers are rapid fire anyway, wouldn't they get 2 shots each as well? Totaling up to 40 shots with the Warriors on board (with only 1 side firing - not face on)[/quote

5 "guns" in each array, so 10 shots within 12"

I stand corrected.