40k vs. Fantasy – "Look Out Sir!" Edition

So I've played Warhammer Fantasy on and off for about a decade.  I've become very familiar with one of the rules known as "Look Out, Sir!" in that game as it is a way of protecting my often squishy characters from harm.  When the rumors for 6th edition 40k started springing up and indicated that "Look Out, Sir!" was to be included in this new edition I grew excited.  "What a wonderful addition to help protect my squishy Eldar characters", I thought.

When the book released the new "Look Out, Sir!" was one of the first dozen or so additions I checked out.  Much to my dismay, it seemed to work differently than the Fantasy version and that hit on one of my pet peeves- a lack of congruence between games.  In other words if they name a rule one thing in 40k, and then they have the same rule in Fantasy, I expect them to pretty much be the same.  Why?  Because I'm getting old and I hate trying to remember two rules that have the same name but are for different systems.



Upon playing my first 40k 6th edition game I found the rule was also very poorly worded.  I really felt it was  overly ambiguous compared to the Fantasy version.  They could easily have avoided the confusion by adding/removing a few words or sentences but they chose not to.

So let's take a look at the Fantasy rule and the 40k rule and parse them out.  First though, the pertinent text from each game.



Warhammer Fantasy

BRB -Pg93 -"If a champion is hit by a template as described above, there is a good chance a comrade will shout a warning or physically push him clear of incoming harm.  Roll a D6.  On a 1, the champion fails to bear the warning, or is too far away.  He is hit and damage is resolved against him as normal.  On a 2-5, the champion dives clear or is shoved aside - he is not hit by the attack.  Unfortunately, another member of the unit takes the strike meant for the champion (normally the noble soul who pushed the champion clear) - resolve the hit against the unit instead.

A "Look Out, Sir!" roll cannot be made if there are less than five rank-and-file models (including the musician and standard bearer, but not the champion) left in the unit. "

BRB- Pg97 - "If a lone character is hit by a shooting attack of any kind (including shots fired using ballistic skill, templates, and so on) a "Look Out, Sir!" roll can be attempted, provided there is a friendly unit of five or more models of the character's troop type within 3".  Roll a D6.  On a roll of 4+, the character has been successfully forewarned..."



Warhammer 40k

BRB - Pg16  "When a Wound (or unsaved Wound) is allocated to one of your characters, and there is another model from the same unit within 6", he's allowed a Look Out, Sir attempt."

"To Make a Look Ou, Sir attempt, roll a D6.  On a roll of a 3 or less, the Look Out, Sir attempt fails.  On a roll of a 4+, the Look Out, Sir attempt is successful.  You must pick a model from the same unit within 6" and resolve the Wound against them instead.  This can even be a model that is out of range or line of sight of the Shooting attack."

BRB - Pg26 "As with shooting attacks, if a character has a Wound allocated to him, and there is another model from the same unit within 6", he's allowed a Look Out, Sir attempt, roll a D6.  On e a roll of a 3 or less, the Look Out, Sir attempt fails.  On  a score of 4+ the Look Out, Sir attempt is successful.  Pick a model in the unit within 6" and resolve the wound against them.  If no model is in range, then you cannot attempt a Look Out, Sir roll."

BRB - Pg39 "Independent Characters pass "Look Out, Sir" tests on a 2+"

So the Fantasy rule is pretty clear.  If a character model (including champions) is in a model with at least 5 or more models and that unit is hit by a template attack, the character can make a "Look Out, Sir!" roll to reallocate the HIT to another model in the unit.  If the character is outside a unit but standing near a qualifying unit then they get a toned down version of the rule.  This is a way to mitigate people throwing templates around in fantasy as a way of sniping characters outside of units since ordinarily, you can't hit characters in units with normal ballistic skill type shooting.

The 40k rule is inherently different though.  For starters, you make the Look Out, Sir roll after the WOUND roll and he gets this roll against all types of attacks whether shooting, template, or even close combat.

Additionally, the 40k rule uses vague language such as, "When a Wound (or unsaved Wound)".  What exactly does this mean?  A Wound implies that the model has been hit and also wounded via the Strength versus Toughness roll but before the model has rolled an armor save or invulnerable save.  Unsaved Wound however implies something completely different.  An unsaved wound is one that has HIT the model, WOUNDED the model, and then the model has failed its SAVE (either armor or invulnerable).  So which one is it?



I have seen people play this rule in two separate ways.

1. A model rolls to HIT the unit with a character in it and succeeds.  He then rolls to WOUND the model.  If successful, the player controlling the wounded character decides whether to "Look Out, Sir" the wound or not.  If he succeeds the wound is worked out on a model within 6" using their Save value and the hit's AP.
2. A model rolls to HIT the unit with a character in it and suceeds.  He then rolls to WOUND the model.  If successful, the model rolls against his SAVE value (armor or invulnerable) and if he fails, the player controlling the character with an unsaved wound decides whether to "Look Out, Sir" the wound or not.  If he succeeds the wound is transferred to a model within 6" and the Wound is resolved against that model's SAVE value (using the firing weapons AP of course).