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I'm really confused about this, can someone clarify the rules of firing ordinance/barrage weapons?

I was reading an article from Natfika, and this part here confused me even more;

2. Barrage Weapons can fire Indirectly. This is different in 6th edition, as any shot that either does not have line of sight, and or is within your minimum range (within 36" for a basilisk) is considered to be indirect fire. So minimum ranges now mean much less than they did in 5th edition.

Does this mean, a Basilisk can directly fire at an enemy that is within 36" of the tank?

no, it means you can fire indirectly at a target within 36".


In older editions the basalisk could not fire at anything inside its minimum range.

You do not choose whether to fire directly or indirectly. The determination is based on the target. If the target is within min range or out of sight you always fire indirectly. If the unit is within the range limits and in sight you always fire directly.

This is a change from 5th edition where direct fire followed the normal rules for blasts. In 6th edition the only difference between direct and indirect fire is whether or not you can reduce the scatter.

 Happyjew wrote:
In 6th edition the only difference between direct and indirect fire is whether or not you can reduce the scatter.

...and where you determine cover from.

 Maelstrom808 wrote:

 Happyjew wrote:
In 6th edition the only difference between direct and indirect fire is whether or not you can reduce the scatter.

...and where you determine cover from.

Barrage always treats the the shot as having come from the centre hole of the blast marker.

My mistake. I don't get to use it much and still had some hangups from older stuff.

Eihnlazer wrote:
In older editions the basalisk could not fire at anything inside its minimum range.

Not true, in Older editions it could fire directly at anything within 36"; but could not fire Indirectly at those targets.

6th flipped the Indirect/Direct fire ranges.

 Kommissar Kel wrote:

Eihnlazer wrote:
In older editions the basalisk could not fire at anything inside its minimum range.

Not true, in Older editions it could fire directly at anything within 36"; but could not fire Indirectly at those targets.

6th flipped the Indirect/Direct fire ranges.

Not quite true.
In 4th edition, direct or indirect was dependent on LOS and affected how many D6 you rolled for scatter.
In 5th edition, direct or indirect was dependent on LOS and affected whether or not you could subtract BS.
In both 4th and 5th, if the initial placement was within minimum range (before scatter) it was an automatic miss.

Edit: In 5th edition Ordnance Barrage could fire directly in which case minimum range was ignored.

 Happyjew wrote:

 Kommissar Kel wrote:

Eihnlazer wrote:
In older editions the basalisk could not fire at anything inside its minimum range.

Not true, in Older editions it could fire directly at anything within 36"; but could not fire Indirectly at those targets.

6th flipped the Indirect/Direct fire ranges.

Not quite true.
In 4th edition, direct or indirect was dependent on LOS and affected how many D6 you rolled for scatter.
In 5th edition, direct or indirect was dependent on LOS and affected whether or not you could subtract BS.
In both 4th and 5th, if the initial placement was within minimum range (before scatter) it was an automatic miss.

Edit: In 5th edition Ordnance Barrage could fire directly in which case minimum range was ignored.

And in 4th(and 3rd) the earthshaker was 120"(no minimum) where you had to buy Indirect(making it 36-120) and had the option to use either Indirect or Direct(Specific rule for the Basilisk; where the direct was the full 120")

 Kommissar Kel wrote:
And in 4th(and 3rd) the earthshaker was 120"(no minimum) where you had to buy Indirect(making it 36-120) and had the option to use either Indirect or Direct(Specific rule for the Basilisk; where the direct was the full 120")

This I did not know.

'Sok.

I am an old guard player and have always loved my Bassies.

So in short, all weapons fire directly unless they have the barrage rule. All weapons with the barrage rule always fire indirectly, or rather in a barrage. Firing a barrage weapon at a unit outside min range but in LoS is more accurate (reduced scatter) and at units either within min distance or out of LoS are less accurate. So shots are always possible provided they are withing max range of the barrage weapon, though they may be less accurate. Also, as pointed out, barrage weapons always count the shot from the center hole.

 Bausk wrote:
So in short, all weapons fire directly unless they have the barrage rule. All weapons with the barrage rule always fire indirectly, or rather in a barrage. Firing a barrage weapon at a unit outside min range but in LoS is more accurate (reduced scatter) and at units either within min distance or out of LoS are less accurate. So shots are always possible provided they are withing max range of the barrage weapon, though they may be less accurate. Also, as pointed out, barrage weapons always count the shot from the center hole.

Ehhh...close enough. You grasp the basic idea. Any corrections at this point would be semantics.

 Happyjew wrote:

 Bausk wrote:
So in short, all weapons fire directly unless they have the barrage rule. All weapons with the barrage rule always fire indirectly, or rather in a barrage. Firing a barrage weapon at a unit outside min range but in LoS is more accurate (reduced scatter) and at units either within min distance or out of LoS are less accurate. So shots are always possible provided they are withing max range of the barrage weapon, though they may be less accurate. Also, as pointed out, barrage weapons always count the shot from the center hole.

Ehhh...close enough. You grasp the basic idea. Any corrections at this point would be semantics.

Please, corrections in terms would clear it up. I only just woke up so was going though the basic idea.

First only barrage has direct and indirect. Barrage weapons fire (in)directly based on the target. If the target is between min and max range and in LOS you fire directly. If the target is within min range or out of sight you fire indirectly. The only difference between the two is accuracy.

 Happyjew wrote:
First only barrage has direct and indirect. Barrage weapons fire (in)directly based on the target. If the target is between min and max range and in LOS you fire directly. If the target is within min range or out of sight you fire indirectly. The only difference between the two is accuracy.

Yeah I more ment it always fires indirectly as in the shot is always lobbed, thus why the shot always still counts from the center hole. Which is different to the way it was in previous editions if you had los and out of min range it was fired like a cannon rather than barraged. Pretty much because no interviening cover/terrain/units that don't block los grant a cover save from the firing unit, that was the point I was getting at.

In 6th edition (unlike 5th), a barrage weapon does not have any option to fire as if it were not a barrage weapon. There is technically no such thing as "direct fire" in 6th edition (although it remains reasonable to use the term as a contrast to indirect fire, I find its use confuses people - they think it would mean firing as if you were not a barrage weapon, like in 5th, which is not possible in 6th).

Barrage weapons always use the center of the blast for determining cover and wound allocation.

Barrage weapons can fire indirectly at targets out of LoS or inside minimum range, which simply means that you don't get to use your BS.

Pyrian wrote:
In 6th edition (unlike 5th), a barrage weapon does not have any option to fire as if it were not a barrage weapon. There is technically no such thing as "direct fire" in 6th edition (although it remains reasonable to use the term as a contrast to indirect fire, I find its use confuses people - they think it would mean firing as if you were not a barrage weapon, like in 5th, which is not possible in 6th).

Barrage weapons always use the center of the blast for determining cover and wound allocation.

Barrage weapons can fire indirectly at targets out of LoS or inside minimum range, which simply means that you don't get to use your BS.

I think I like that Explaination of the Barrage special rule, best of all!

 Bausk wrote:

 Happyjew wrote:
First only barrage has direct and indirect. Barrage weapons fire (in)directly based on the target. If the target is between min and max range and in LOS you fire directly. If the target is within min range or out of sight you fire indirectly. The only difference between the two is accuracy.

Yeah I more ment it always fires indirectly as in the shot is always lobbed, thus why the shot always still counts from the center hole. Which is different to the way it was in previous editions if you had los and out of min range it was fired like a cannon rather than barraged. Pretty much because no interviening cover/terrain/units that don't block los grant a cover save from the firing unit, that was the point I was getting at.

To further clarify, the shot is considered to come from the center of the blast marker only for the purpose of determining cover saves and wound allocation.