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So firstly I get that if you have a flamer and target a unit, it can hit models from another unit that may also be under the template. But the situation I'm unsure of is this; say a landspeeder with a multi-melta and a heavy flamer.
If there is a unit of guardsmen 5" in front and following the same line, a chimera 10" away, could I fire the multi melta at the chimera and call it my target. Then regardless of what happens to the chimera, can I fire my heavy flamer at it as well which will either a/ not damage it and/or b/ be out of range. Then when placing the flamer template it covers the guardsmen as they are in the way between the landspeeder and the chimera.

If your template is out of range it automisses so yes you can do this but no guardsmen are hit.

As long as you can hit your unit's target, flame away.
But, if the template doesn't reach your target model, and is then out of range, it doesn't fire at all.

You must also cover as much of the enemy vehicle as possible

As the others said. If the template is not in range to hit/cover the targeted unit, it does not fire at all, per the 6th ed shooting rules.

But otherwise yes, if it were close enough to cover even a little of the chimera, and as long as it is placed to cover as much of the Chimera's hull as you can (as the template rules require), then you can hit any intervening guardsmen as well.

 Mannahnin wrote:
As the others said. If the template is not in range to hit/cover the targeted unit, it does not fire at all, per the 6th ed shooting rules.

But otherwise yes, if it were close enough to cover even a little of the chimera, and as long as it is placed to cover as much of the Chimera's hull as you can (as the template rules require), then you can hit any intervening guardsmen as well.

This is correct.

The bigger question is Why would you target the vehicle that you can not damage when the guardsmen are so close you can just cover a bunch of them?

 IXLoiero95XI wrote:
You must also cover as much of the enemy vehicle as possible

you must cover as much of the enemy vehicle without touching any of your own models.

own models > cover as much as possible

 DeathReaper wrote:

 Mannahnin wrote:
As the others said. If the template is not in range to hit/cover the targeted unit, it does not fire at all, per the 6th ed shooting rules.

But otherwise yes, if it were close enough to cover even a little of the chimera, and as long as it is placed to cover as much of the Chimera's hull as you can (as the template rules require), then you can hit any intervening guardsmen as well.

This is correct.

The bigger question is Why would you target the vehicle that you can not damage when the guardsmen are so close you can just cover a bunch of them?

Because you are also shooting the MM at the vehicle.

In a similar vein to the above question, can the flamer be shot if it can't hurt the target? Over the weekend I had a dreadnought shoot his flamer and melta at my tank and he flamed a bubble wrap unit out of the way so he could charge the tank after. Could he even have fired the flamer at the tank as it had no chance of hurting AV14 and he just used it to flame an intervening unit(while still covering a part of the tanks hull).

In addition can I fire a chimera's heavy bolter at his AV13 dread with no chance of hurting it simply to searchlight it for other units?

magicafiend wrote:
In a similar vein to the above question, can the flamer be shot if it can't hurt the target? Over the weekend I had a dreadnought shoot his flamer and melta at my tank and he flamed a bubble wrap unit out of the way so he could charge the tank after. Could he even have fired the flamer at the tank as it had no chance of hurting AV14 and he just used it to flame an intervening unit(while still covering a part of the tanks hull).

In addition can I fire a chimera's heavy bolter at his AV13 dread with no chance of hurting it simply to searchlight it for other units?

Yes to both questions.

As long as the Flamer covered as much of the tank as possible it's fine to burn the bubble wrap.

Dam my poor Russes, he was using those forgeworld drop pods with ironclad dreads in them so I was down 2 units of bubble wrap and 2 russes before I had even moved T.T

yea i do this all the time, with dreads. ill drop in next to a tank or transport etc next to a bunch of guys, flame the tank as primary (and bake the guys next to it) then use the multimelta to pop the tank.

as mentioned, as long as your clear what the primary target is, and cover as much of the tank as possible, or in a way thats not just "nicking" the tank to get the infantry, i think its fine. [roviding the template hits the tank.

magicafiend wrote:
In a similar vein to the above question, can the flamer be shot if it can't hurt the target? Over the weekend I had a dreadnought shoot his flamer and melta at my tank and he flamed a bubble wrap unit out of the way so he could charge the tank after. Could he even have fired the flamer at the tank as it had no chance of hurting AV14 and he just used it to flame an intervening unit(while still covering a part of the tanks hull).

In addition can I fire a chimera's heavy bolter at his AV13 dread with no chance of hurting it simply to searchlight it for other units?

you could even shoot the heavy bolter at AV12 dreads, cant hurt them either.

Thanks for the responses. It makes sense about not being able to fire it if the flamers out of range, although I am a little surprised you can shoot it at a vehicle with no chance of hurting it purely to remove bubblewrap units. It will be something to consider in the future. Am I correct in saying that this would also apply to infantry squads, e.g tactical marines with a combi-flamer and meltagun. Use sergeants combiflamer on an AV13 tank to clear the bubble wrap and then get a clear shot with the meltagun?

Remember all shooting from a unit occurs simultaneously so .clearing the bubble wrap would have no impact on the melta shot and the tank would still get a coversave.