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This is an issue that has come up in one of my games. I have a Riptide equipped with a Counterfire Defense System, which enables the use of the associated strategy. The stratagem states that I can activate it in response to "an attack" when that attack is allocated to the Counterfire Defense System unit, and that doing so reduces the damage value of the attack to 1. This raises several questions:

1.) Is the attack in question a single shot, every shot from a single weapon, or every shot from the unit firing upon the Counterfire Defense System model?

2.) When is the attack considered allocated to the unit? Is it when my opponent first declares the Counterfire Defense System model is being target, or after the hit roll, the wound roll or the failed save?

Thanks for the clarification.

The core rules very clearly show when exactly an attack is allocated to a model. There is a sequence.

1. HIT ROLL
2. WOUND ROLL
3. ALLOCATE ATTACK
If an attack successfully wounds the target unit, the player commanding the target unit allocates that attack to one model in the target unit (this can be to any model in the unit and does not have to be allocated to a model that is within range of, or visible to, the attacking model). If a model in the target unit has already lost any wounds or has already had attacks allocated to it this phase, the attack must be allocated to that model.
4. SAVING THROW
5. INFLICT DAMAGE

The stratagem is used when an attack is allocated to a COUNTERFIRE DEFENCE SYSTEM model from your army, which is at step 3.

COUNTERFIRE DEFENCE SYSTEM
Use this Stratagem in your opponent’s Shooting phase, when an attack is allocated to a COUNTERFIRE DEFENCE SYSTEM model from your army. The Damage characteristic of that attack is changed to 1. If that model has a Wounds characteristic of 14 or more, this Stratagem costs 2CP; otherwise, it costs 1CP.

Normally, an attack is a single shot. The damage from that single shot is changed to 1.

NUMBER OF ATTACKS
When a model shoots a ranged weapon, it will make a number of attacks. You make one hit roll for each attack being made.

The number of attacks that a model makes with a ranged weapon is equal to the number written on that weapon’s profile after its type. For example, a model shooting an ‘Assault 1’ weapon can make one attack with that weapon; a model firing a ‘Heavy 3’ weapon can make three attacks, and so on.

Importantly, you use the strat BEFORE you roll the save. So it's a bit of a gamble.

Its not a gamble when the riptide is hit by a vanquisher cannon which ignores inv, and does D3+6 wounds plus D3 MW.

There are times when it isn't a gamble. Not many.