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This is something I’ve been wondering for a while.
When it comes to placing models do they have to have their entire base on a surface? I’ve had a few situations where I can quite easily balance a model on a wall or a rock but is that legal? If using a tin can as makeshift terrain can a dreadnought sized model stand on top despite the radius being greater than that of the can?
I had one opponent tell me that because there was any amount of space at the top of a tower then his model could move onto and then wobbly model syndrome meant he could just say it was there, I’m a little dubious about that but it was one of my first games so wasn’t going to object since I was still learning. Does standing on all available space atop a 5” tall tower make you immune to ground infantry charging?
I’ve had so many different explanations from my local group I fidgeted I would ask here, much appreciated.

Gendif wrote:
This is something I’ve been wondering for a while.
When it comes to placing models do they have to have their entire base on a surface? I’ve had a few situations where I can quite easily balance a model on a wall or a rock but is that legal? If using a tin can as makeshift terrain can a dreadnought sized model stand on top despite the radius being greater than that of the can?
I had one opponent tell me that because there was any amount of space at the top of a tower then his model could move onto and then wobbly model syndrome meant he could just say it was there, I’m a little dubious about that but it was one of my first games so wasn’t going to object since I was still learning. Does standing on all available space atop a 5” tall tower make you immune to ground infantry charging?
I’ve had so many different explanations from my local group I fidgeted I would ask here, much appreciated.

It has to be fully on the table (i.e. you can't hang half your baneblade off into the aether), but otherwise there is no requirement for the model to be placed on the "surface". You use Wobbly Model Syndrome rule to declare where a model really "is", and leave it safely as close as possible.

 BaconCatBug wrote:

Gendif wrote:
This is something I’ve been wondering for a while.
When it comes to placing models do they have to have their entire base on a surface? I’ve had a few situations where I can quite easily balance a model on a wall or a rock but is that legal? If using a tin can as makeshift terrain can a dreadnought sized model stand on top despite the radius being greater than that of the can?
I had one opponent tell me that because there was any amount of space at the top of a tower then his model could move onto and then wobbly model syndrome meant he could just say it was there, I’m a little dubious about that but it was one of my first games so wasn’t going to object since I was still learning. Does standing on all available space atop a 5” tall tower make you immune to ground infantry charging?
I’ve had so many different explanations from my local group I fidgeted I would ask here, much appreciated.

It has to be fully on the table (i.e. you can't hang half your baneblade off into the aether), but otherwise there is no requirement for the model to be placed on the "surface". You use Wobbly Model Syndrome rule to declare where a model really "is", and leave it safely as close as possible.

Can you show me where it says models must be fully on the table?

This is a genuine question as it came up in a game, and I was damned if I could find anything in the Rules. Best I could do was cite general game assumptions, 'tribal knowledge'/convention, and reverse engineering the crashing Flyers rules.

Is it just understood models must be on the table, so GW didn't feel the need to add in something obvious?

The battlefield is determined before you start the game. If you aren't on the battlefield, you are off of it.

 Todosi wrote:
The battlefield is determined before you start the game. If you aren't on the battlefield, you are off of it.

That's usefui. How much of a model has to be on the battlefield for it to count as on the battlefield?

Considering the size of the battle field is determined at the start of the game I would say that you can't move outside those bounds otherwise there would be no sense in placing boundaries in the first place.

I just did some digging and I came up short. I you have to deploy wholly within your deployment zone, but I can't find any references to models staying on the battlefield, partial, full or none.

 deviantduck wrote:
I just did some digging and I came up short. I you have to deploy wholly within your deployment zone, but I can't find any references to models staying on the battlefield, partial, full or none.

Weird isn't it? It's clearly such an accepted gaming norm, or convention, that they don't feel the need to write a rule about it. I was surprised but I guess why waste words on something super obvious?

The only exception as I say is Flyers that die if they fly off the battlefield edge. But that's unit by unit and nothing game-wide is stated.

Best I could find; under Minimum Move (pg 177):

"If a model cannot make its minimum move, or is forced to move off the battlefield because of its minimum speed, it is destroyed and removed from the battlefield..."

Now, granted, by RAW this only applies in the case of minimum movement values, but the question of "on/off" the battlefield remains. When is "off the battlefield" really "off the battlefield"? Is it partially off, wholly off?

Personally, I think it's not a boolean of just on/off, but that both are statuses that are possible. If any part of the model is "off" the battlefield, then the model is "off" the battlefield, even if another part is still "on" the battlefield. So the model is both "on" and "off" the battlefield. However, nothing tends to happen for being "on" the battlefield, so the game doesn't care about the on part, but it does care about the off part, and as soon as the off part is true, the model is gone. It can't be forced to be destroyed like a flyer, so your opponent can just choose to not move, but you still shouldn't be able to be "off" the battlefield.

At the same time, I would only ever enforce this in a tournament. In a fun game, go ahead and skim that board edge, so long as your base or your hull is fully on the battlefield.