unit perimeters

[Shadowdragon]

What do the unit perimeter rules represent exactly? Why can't a figure pass between two allied figures as long as there's room for it to pass between them? Is this just a game mechanic or is there an actual explanation for it?

[tnjrp]

I can't recall an explanation off the top my head although Demian may have mentioned something about it when our group was playtesting and one of the guys was asking the same type of question.

On a side note, the interspersing prohibition is not quite inviolate. Vehicles, Elites and single models ignore it.

[smokingwreckage]

I think it's mostly book-keeping, but it's also somewhat tied to friendly-fire IIRC.

Basically the game wants fairly loose rules as to how squads move but still wants to maintain coherency in a purely game/organisational sense. (That's also why only elites and vehicles get individual actions: mostly, it's to keep the game quick and coherent, but it also reflects superior control and coordination.)

It has real in-game effects: unit perimeter can allow a lucky or cunning commander to really disrupt his opponent by pinning an advance unit, whereupon following units will have to divert around it. For example, I rushed SI ahead of my PI; the SI took a "cower" individual morale test, and my cleverly screened PI ended up taking a LONG stroll to get around the situation.