Buildings

A building has a Line of Sight value of 5 for each floor it has -- a model gains +5 to its own Line of Sight value for every floor it's on above the first.

Buildings otherwise act as impassable terrain, except that units may enter and "garrison" them -- a unit is always either garrisoning a building or not in contact with it at all, never moving through or sitting on top of one.

A unit can garrison an unoccupied building by moving into base contact with it during the Movement phase. Unless stated otherwise, only infantry, war beasts, and swarms can garrison a building; war machines can be deployed inside one only if there's room to deploy on the top floor. A unit can't garrison a building in the same turn it marched or reformed.

Since there's rarely room to actually fit every model in or on the structure, it's fine to place one representative model (a standard bearer is ideal) in, on, or next to the building and set the rest of the unit aside, as a reminder of who's inside.

Each building holds a single unit, plus any characters that have joined it -- once garrisoned, no other unit can enter until the current occupants leave or are driven out. A character can join a garrisoned unit by moving into base contact with the building.

A garrison can exit during its Remaining Moves sub-phase, though not the same turn it garrisoned the building -- placed in any legal formation with its rear rank at least 1" from the building (and no model within 1" of it), no model further than double its Movement value away. The unit can't move any further that turn, and this is the only way a garrison can leave voluntarily -- it can never charge directly out of a building. A unit that's Frenzied or otherwise forced to charge exits toward the nearest enemy instead, rather than actually charging.

Buildings offer no extra protection against magic missiles or spells that affect a whole unit or target individual models. Template spells and Miscast damage follow the usual template rules for buildings (hitting D6 models -- see Template Weapons). A Wizard inside a building casts spells normally, following the line of sight and range rules below.

A garrison can shoot in the Shooting phase, tracing line of sight from any point on the building -- its forward arc is treated as a full 360 degrees. Range for a garrison's shooting is always measured from the closest point of the building. War Machines must still pivot on the spot as normal.

Only five models are normally assumed to be able to shoot per floor of a building -- agree a different number with your opponent beforehand if you'd rather.

Enemy models can shoot at a building's garrison if they have line of sight to the building and it's within their forward arc -- the garrison counts as being in hard cover, otherwise resolved normally. A garrison is considered too spread out for multi-rank attacks like bolt throwers, which only ever hit one model.

A template weapon (a stone thrower or cannon, for instance) inflicts D6 hits on any unit in a building it touches -- a stone thrower's hits use its higher Strength only if the template's centre lies over the building, otherwise its lower Strength applies. No single model can ever suffer more than one hit from the same template weapon. For example, a building hit by a cannonball takes D6 Strength 10 hits on the unit inside, and since the cannon has Multiple Wounds (D6), every unsaved wound multiplies to D6.

Taking an occupied building means storming it -- an assault. Each occupied building can be assaulted by only one unit per Movement phase; the assaulting unit declares a charge against the building itself (needing line of sight to the building, not the models inside). If several units are forced to declare against the same building, only one can actually complete the charge -- the controlling player picks which, after charge distances are rolled, and the rest automatically fail.

An assault charge resolves exactly like charging the building as if it were the target unit -- succeeding if the charge distance reaches it, and otherwise failing as normal. The assaulting unit can't also charge another target at the same time; it wheels to maximise contact with the building and closes the door without touching any enemy unit outside it. If a unit assaulting a building is itself charged, the assault is abandoned (the assaulting unit moves back 1") and the two units outside fight a normal round of close combat instead.

Troop types that can't garrison a building can still assault it, except chariots. If the assault drives the defender out, the attacker still can't garrison the building in their place; for cavalry and monstrous cavalry, only the riders fight in the assault.

A garrisoned unit can only Hold or Stand & Shoot against an assault -- it can never Flee, even from a failed Terror test; a garrison that fails Terror is forced to Hold instead of fleeing as normal.

An assault isn't fought like a normal combat, since the two units aren't in base contact -- instead, a melee is assumed to swirl around the building's doors, windows, and other entry points. As with any charge in a confined space, models assaulting a building lose all charging bonuses: no +1 combat result, no lance or similar weapon bonus, and no Impact Hits.

At the start of the Close Combat phase, before any blows are struck, both players choose up to Unit Strength 10 models (minimum 1) from their unit to form the assault party that actually fights -- if a unit has fewer than ten models, there's no choice to make. Where characters are involved, this selection matters; players roll off to decide who picks first when it does.

A character not chosen for the assault party can't step up later to replace a casualty either -- they're too busy rallying the rest of the unit to join in.

Blows are struck in Initiative order as normal, directed at rank-and- file models in the assault unless the attacker says otherwise. If a character or similar model that could normally be singled out is part of the assault, up to half the enemy models may choose to attack them instead. Casualties come from the "back" of the unit as usual, with extra models stepping up to keep the assault party at full strength as long as there are survivors left to do so.

A single challenge may still be issued and accepted, but only between models already chosen for the two assault parties -- a challenge can't be used to bring extra models into the fight.

For special attacks (such as Stomps) and effects tied to base contact, a model fighting in a building is assumed to be in base contact with one enemy model nominated by its opponent -- unless it's fighting a challenge, in which case it's simply in contact with whoever it's challenging.

An assault's winner is worked out as for a normal close combat, except combat result points can only come from Wounds inflicted (including overkill wounds from a challenge) -- no bonus for standards, ranks, or flank/rear attacks (a unit in a building has no real flank or rear to speak of). A musician still wins a drawn combat as usual.

If the attacker wins, the defender takes a Break test -- a garrisoned unit always counts as Steadfast for this. If it fails, the garrison is placed outside, directly opposite the assaulting unit (as close as possible if that's not achievable), as if abandoning the building, then makes its flee move as normal. The attacker can't pursue, but may enter the building if its troop type allows it -- if it doesn't, it's moved directly back 1" instead.

If the garrison doesn't flee -- holding to a draw, winning, or losing but passing its Break test -- the attacker withdraws from the assault, nudged directly back 1". The combat ends there; the attacker must launch a fresh assault next turn (regardless of whose turn it technically is) to try again, though a unit assaulting or defending the same building across consecutive turns doesn't count as starting a new first round of combat. The assaulting unit never has to take its own Break test after a lost assault -- it simply retreats in good order.

A garrisoned unit takes Panic tests normally, measuring distance to the edge of the building, and flees as any unit breaking from combat would if it fails. A unit that breaks from combat or is destroyed while garrisoning a building can trigger Panic in friendly units as usual too.

These rules assume a fairly small (under 6"x6"), uniform building -- nothing stops a larger or more complex one, but it's usually best broken into several sections, each treated as its own separate building that can be occupied and assaulted independently.