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Title says it all - how do you guys judge 25% on odd shaped vehicles? Dark Eldar skimmers, Annihilation Barges, Night Scythes...

If the vehicle is a big square block like a tank it makes it fairly easy to determine as you just measure the thing. I constantly end up with very minor disputes over vehicle cover for my A. Barges and Night Scythes as they are so oddly shaped - what constitutes 25% of the thing? Without getting into complex geometrical math at the game table it seems a tad difficult to determine in many cases.

My group usually eyeballs it. If it looks like it would be about 25% we get the save.

You determine it in the same way.

Ignore frills like wings and sails.

25% of the silhouette , ignoring only gun barrels, banners, antennae and other purely decorative elements. Wings of course count, have always counted, were explicitly stated as counting in the 5th ed BRB FAQ, and GW went ahead and put that they count right in the rulebook this edition. Sails count too; they're important for propulsion per the fluff, and BITD when sailing vessels were used IRL wars, they were a primary target.

If my opponent and I are having trouble judging 25%, I usually try to be a good sport and give it to him if it's marginal. If I'm really sure, but it's close, I'll ask a neutral third party to judge.

Thanks for the replies. It didn't really answer my question but on second thought - it is a question that doesn't really have an answer.

I've just had many a debate over what 25% of an Annihilation Barge looks like - even with it being known that wings, etc count as part of that 25%. The model itself just isn't a large square like the Rhino and depending on the angle it's being viewed has a lot of questionable open space. It not being solid is what makes the judgement tricky.

To answer my own question in this case I'd just suggest a 1-3 Yes/4-6 No roll to determine if it gets it or not if the dispute reaches that point.

When it comes to the question of "does this have 25% cover?" for an oddly shaped vehicle, I let my opponent decide. (Usually, people who are giving you a fair shake, or winning, will choose to resolve it in their own favor, which is fine. If you're already winning, or your opponent is fudging the rules a bit, I find that their guilty conscience tends to lead them to give you the benefit of the doubt.) In seriousness though, it always seems fair to me to let my opponent make the call if I feel like it could go either way.

If it looks close I always say its got cover. Its usually easy to see if its close to 25%.

And people should realise that 25% isn't very much, most things can give cover of some kind to just about anything.

Even with square vehicles its a judgement call. No one is going to take the time to mathematically or scientifically calculate 25%. They will just 'eyeball' it. If player A claims the vehicle gets cover, but player B disagrees no amount of argument will quickly convince one player or the other. If neither player wants to let the other guy have his way for the sake of the game then you should roll of for it.

From the front, just about everything will give an A.Barge 25% cover. From the side, I'd say anything Terminator-sized or better.

When in doubt my group reduces the save by one, i know that's kinda oldschool but it still works fine for us.

Seems a little extreme, especially since the usual save is only 5+.

It's very rarely hard to judge, since most odd shaped vehicles are skimmers anyway it matters even less.