9. Line of Sight (LOS)¶
9.1 General¶
The LOS between units is a straight line, traced from the center dot of the firing unit's hex to the center dot of the target unit's hex. LOS works both ways; if a friendly unit has LOS to an enemy unit, the enemy unit has LOS back to the friendly unit. If the LOS is blocked the unit cannot see, nor fire on, the target unit.
9.2 Blocking Terrain¶
A hex, depending on the terrain or terrain features in the hex, may block LOS. If the LOS passes through any portion of a blocking terrain hex the LOS is blocked. A unit cannot see, or attack, a unit if the LOS is blocked. A unit may see and fire into a blocking terrain hex, but not through the hex. Units in a blocking terrain hex may fire out of the hex normally.
9.3 Hindrances¶
A terrain feature classified as a hindrance does not block LOS, but may modify movement and combat, and the effects are cumulative.
9.4 Hexside LOS¶
Hexside LOS refers to any LOS traced along the full length of a hexside between two hexes, or a series of hexsides between their adjoining hexes, and not simply across a hexside into an adjacent hex. If a hex on both sides of the hexside LOS path contains blocking terrain, even if the hexes containing blocking terrain are not adjacent, the LOS is blocked. If a hex on the hexside LOS path contains blocking terrain or a hindrance (orchard, hay stack, or palm grove hex), and a hex on the other side of the LOS path contains a hindrance, the LOS is hindered, and a +1 hindrance modifier is applied to any attack dice roll crossing the hexside. If a hex along the hexside LOS path contains blocking terrain or a hindrance, and all hexes on the other side of the path are open, the LOS is neither blocked nor hindered. LOS that travels along a hexside featuring hexside terrain is either hindered (hedge or wall) or blocked (hedgerow). Once it is established that hexside LOS is hindered, each additional hindrance hex (or hexside hindrance) along the hexside LOS, on either side or through full hexes in which the LOS passes, adds +1 to the cumulative total.
Line of Sight (LOS) and Cover Modifier Examples¶
Unit A. Unit A has LOS to units 1 and 2 (and vice versa). Since unit A is adjacent to the hedge surrounding hex A1, the hedge is not a hindrance to attacks that unit A conducts; it may fire over the hedge with no detriment. Fire coming into the hex, however, from units 1 or 2, will suffer a +1 hindrance modifier for the hedge. An attack from unit A on unit 1 would suffer a +2 modifier for the woods hex it occupies, and an attack on unit 2 would suffer a +3 modifier for the building hex it occupies.
Unit B. Unit B has LOS to units 1, 3 and 4. Since there is only one Level 1 hill hex between unit B and unit 4, the attack is considered up (or down) a continuous hill slope. If there were a second Level 1 hill hex between them LOS would be blocked. An attack on unit 1 would suffer a +2 modifier for the woods hex it occupies, but attacks on units 3 and 4 would not be modified as there's no cover terrain in the hill hexes. Likewise, unit B is in the open, and any attack from units 1, 3 or 4 would not be modified.
Unit C. Unit C has LOS to units 2 and 4. Again, since there's only one Level 1 hill hex between unit C and unit 4, the attack is considered up (or down) a continuous slope. LOS to unit 2 passes through two hindrance hexes (Orchard) before reaching the target hex, incurring a modifier of +1 for each hex, and the building hex occupied by the target provides an additional +3 cover modifier, for a total cover modifier of +5. Unit 4, however, is in open terrain, providing a more inviting target. Unit C is also in open terrain, receiving no cover modifier if attacked by unit 4, but an attack from unit 2 would suffer a +2 modifier for the two Orchard (hindrance) hexes.
Unit D. Unit D has LOS to units 3 and 4. LOS to unit 3 is not blocked because, even though there's a Level 1 hill hex between them, they are on the same elevation, and the hexside LOS crosses only has blocking terrain (the Level 2 hill hex) on one side. None of the units receive any cover modifiers in this example; they are all in open terrain.
Hexside LOS Examples¶
In the following examples, the players are checking for LOS between unit A and unit 1, which runs along the hexside between hexes B1 and B2. (LOS from unit A to unit 2 in the first illustration travels across a hexside to the adjacent hex.)
In the illustration above, LOS between unit A and unit 1 is blocked because hexes B1 and B2 both contain blocking terrain (i.e. both hexes are building hexes).
Note
The two hexes affecting LOS need not be adjacent, as shown in these examples. The two offending hexes may lie at any point along the LOS path, as long as one falls on each side.
In the illustration above, unit A and unit 1 have LOS to each other because hex B1 does not contain blocking terrain. It does, however, contain an orchard, which is a hindrance. A +1 hindrance modifier would be applied to any attack between unit A and unit 1.
In the illustration above, unit A and unit 1 have LOS to each other, but a +2 hindrance modifier would be applied to any attack between the units. The first modifier is applied for the orchard in hex B1 (as stated in the previous example), and the second because LOS runs along a hedge covering the hexside between hexes B1 and B2 (see 10.10 Walls and Hedges). If the hexside were designated a hedgerow LOS would be blocked.