Is this really how falling back works?

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**Breazeal**

Let's say a unit fails a fallback test be it shooting or melee. If said unit falls back within its corridor into a friendly unit. Does it?

A) Die once it hits any models that take up its corridor?

B) Disperse itself amongst friendly models provided it can retain coherentcy and remain within the corridor and is lost if it can't?

C) Stops short and lives? (we aren't playing it this way.)

Furthermore, would they die once they contacted said friendly unit or provided they have enough inches to run past the unit, do they survive?

**yakface**

The answer is none of the above.

The "Trapped!" rules on page 48 state that a unit falling back may move around obstructions in it's fallback corridor as long as it takes the shortest possible route back to it's base line.

So in your example the falling back unit would move around the friendly unit (or through it if there were sufficient gaps between the models).

**Breazeal**

I probably worded it funny and/or was trying to ask too many questions at the same time.

Can a unit leave it's fallback corridor to move around a friendly? (The fallback unit's movement doesn't bring it beyond a friendly unit that is too densely packed for the fallback unit to stop there.)

Question #2: if a unit falls back and its movement brings it directly on top of a friendly tank...Is it destroyed?

I guess the real question is whether you can leave your fallback corridor and/or fudge the movement to go beyond densely packed/armored friendly units?

I probably worded it funny again.

**CaptKaruthors**

It's like Yak said. At any point in the fall back a broken unit can move around obstacles as long as they try to get back to their corridor via the shortest route. That includes: your units, terrain, and even enemy units. The only way to trap a falling back unit is to deny them their alternate route. The rules for Trapped! state that the unit is destroyed if it has no open route to their baseline with out doubling back. Capt K

**Breazeal**

So lets say they run into the middle of 2 x 2 foot section of impassable terrain (Ex: a building).

Would they turn 90 degrees and start booking it left or right to go around the impassable terrain on their way to the table edge?

**Glaive Company CO**

It's hard to say a definitive yes or no for any example. If the building's walls are only 3" high then their distance rolled could be enough to get them up and over the wall since in 40K models can move an equal distance horizontally as vertically in the same move. The one thing we know for sure is that if the unit is on the top floor of a building and it doesn't roll enough to get them back on the ground they are destroyed since the unit MUST move it's full distance.

So the distance is the constant, the direction and corridor leave some wiggle room for adjustment.

[edit] I just realized that there is a pretty heated debate over this very thing in the jumping off a building thread nearby. You guys should probably just ignore this post and jump over there if you want to debate this. Frankly, in my club we played it that the unit couldn't leave the corridor without being destroyed. Not RAW, but it stops broken units from lingering on the table longer than they should.

**snooggums**

Posted By CaptKaruthors on 06/13/2006 7:55 AM
It's like Yak said. At any point in the fall back a broken unit can move around obstacles as long as they try to get back to their corridor via the shortest route. That includes: your units, terrain, and even enemy units. The only way to trap a falling back unit is to deny them their alternate route. The rules for Trapped! state that the unit is destroyed if it has no open route to their baseline with out doubling back. Capt K

Could you quote the rule that allows you to go around enemy units? The only exception to staying in the fallback corridor is friendly units and impassable terrain last time I checked.

**yakface**

Could you quote the rule that allows you to go around enemy units? The only exception to staying in the fallback corridor is friendly units and impassable terrain last time I checked.

Okay. Page 48:

"Trapped!
Sometimes a unit will find its Fall Back corridor blocked by impassable terrain and/or models (ignoring eney models that have fought in close combat against the unit this turn but including friends). A unit falling back may move around any obstruction in such a way as to get back to their base line by the shortest route.

If a unit cannot perform a full Fall Back move in any direction, without doubling back, it is destroyed."

A Falling back unit may leave their fallback corridor expressly to move around any obstruction that would prevent them from falling back (and moving in any direction necessary to do so). Only if they cannot complete their move without "doubling back" are they ever destroyed.

Exactly what is meant by "doubling back" is a whole other can of worms, but not really what this question is about.

**snooggums**

That's what I get for letting my opponent read the rule out loud (he omitted the part in parenthesis). :S