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So I'm trying to come up with a way to prevent massive losses from barrage weapons. In my current necron list I need to, ideally, survive two rounds of shooting before cronair shows up. At my club I have some friends who run various barrage weapons (most notably a twin linked manticore!) so my thought was to setup the ADL in such a way that if a direct hit occurs only a few models are feeling the full blast. So I guess my question is this: Does the ADL need to be in a contiguous line or could I make a star out of it?

Two things.
First barrage treats the hole as the origin of the shot regardless of how it fires.
Second the only restriction on the ADL is that all pieces used must be in base contact with another piece (possible exception with the weapon emplacement/comm relay, but that is beyond the scope of the question and does not need to be argued again).

All pieces have to touch at least another (that's the basic rule)
The FAQ clarifies the doubt some had about making smaller blobs out of it (you can't).
If your star shape is one piece, it can work.

 Happyjew wrote:
Two things.
First barrage treats the hole as the origin of the shot regardless of how it fires.
Second the only restriction on the ADL is that all pieces used must be in base contact with another piece (possible exception with the weapon emplacement/comm relay, but that is beyond the scope of the question and does not need to be argued again).

Yeah, it's the whole damage radiating from the center of the blast I'm trying to avoid....or at least mitigate. So if I make something like the following and place them throughout the star formation at least some dudes will have the potential of surviving. Sorry, ASCII art doesn't play well here but you get the general idea...


__ __ \ / \ / /---- *----\

If you are not putting too many troops into it I would consider a small box with the spare pieces making a line across from it

_________
|_____|.......\

(ignore the dots I couldn't get the \ to stay in place) sort of thing.

The bit on the right can be used for a tank if needs be.

The key you're ignoring is the point or origin for barrage weapons is the hole in the template. So if a Barrage Blast hits INSIDE of your ADL box/star/whatever...you do not get the ADL save against the blast.
The best way to do this setup is to make the ADL into a long line or large area, then spread your troops out as much as possible behind that line. That way you can limit the number of guys under the blast to 3 or 4 per blast template). It also increases the chance a scatter puts the blast off your unit or on the other side of the ADL (now granting a cover save).
Making a small box and cramming your guys inside it only means everyone dies on a hit.

No, he said he gets that. He's trying to make separations within the ADL that cut between the models in the unit so if a shot lands within it, only a few troops at a time are f-ed. Personally, I agree that you just spread out and mitigate that way, but if you only have a few guys in there (like a royal court of destructeks) it could be useful.

One thing you can do is deploy the ADL as normal sans 3-4 pieces and use those to subdivide the ADL on the troop side. Then you deploy your unit so they are between the separators and are protected from the others.

The only risk is if it land behind the ADL in the right way, or land on the ADL.

|n n n|n n n|n n n|
-----------------

Dashes are the ADL, "n" = necron models