Ok came across this the other day my regular VC oponent had a unit of 5 ethereal vampires (2 lords 3 regular) Now I managed to cast flaming sword of ruin on a unit of skinks (flaming and magic shooting and cc attacks) and shot at this unit. The question is as there is no rank and file can i choose who is hit or is it randomised? My other question is bit more difficult . Lets say I have a unit that is left with 4 saurus warriors and a scar vet. oponent shoots at this unit . Can he aim at the scar vet? are hits allocated ? The rule book says to roll to hit roll to wound then if there is less then 5 rank and file wounds are allocated 1 at a time (1 on every model before a second) But surly it makes more sense to allocate hits as there are differnt profiles who do you use to wound. thats what i ment by hard to explain. so same example 4 SW 1SV dark elves xbows shoot at this unit and score 10 hits whos profile do you use to roll to wound against. If you follow the rule book you wound use SW profile. so doing that 5wounds are scored so I allocate those so 4sw dead and a wound on the scare vet. Well he has just taken a wound that was caused against toughness 4 how is that fair. So is this a mistake in the rule book and they ment to say allocate hits. Or as my first question could he choose to shoot at the scar vet?
In the first case, the controlling player can allocate the hits as they wish since there are fewer than five rank and file models. However, they must allocate at least one hit on each model before allocating a 2nd, two on every model before a 3rd, etc. (pg. 99 BRB). After the hits have been allocated (including autowounds from poison), you then roll to wound based on the weapon strength and each model's stats. In case #2, you can allocate BS based shooting (not templates) as you wish. So, if skaven hit the unit 4 times with jezzails, you could have the rank and file eat all 4 shots or choose 3 rank and file + the character. In case #3, everyone is hit 2 times (10 hits divided by 5 models) and there are no excess hits to allocate. The DE player would then roll to wound 8 hits vs T4 for the unit and 2 hits vs T5 for the SV. Armour saves from any wounds caused would then be taken based on the model's AS.
ok in the first one with the vamps its the vamp player that allocates hits but has to do 1 hit on each before a second can be put on. Are magic spells against this unit done the same?
If the spell is something that allocates a certain number of hits (say a magic missile), then yes, the hits are allocated in the same manner. However, a number of spells have descriptions that allocate hits/wounds differently so check the spell before deciding what happens.