Questions... mostly about the Fortress Door (FotA)

[eveningdrive]

Had some issues crop up during a game:

1) When using Jotun's Wild Swing or Deathwalker 9000's grenade attack on the door, do figures adjacent but behind the door get affected?

2) Jotun is adjacent to the door and to an opposing figure which is outside also adjacent to the door (essentially the door, Jotun and the figure are all adjacent to each other).

Jotun Wild Swings the door, is the figure affected?
Jotun Wild Swings the figure, is the door affected?

(I guess the answers also apply to the grenade ability of Deathwalker 9000 and the AE?)

3) Does height advantage / extreme height advantage apply against the door?

[DingoDarkly]

I don't think figures on the other side of the door are affected.

[Eclipse]

1) Logically it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but going by the rules I'd say yes, they are affected. I don't see anything in the rules to suggest otherwise.

2) I'd say yes to both of these questions as well.

3) We've given height bonuses when attacking the door to a higher figure. We've also given the door a defense boost when its higher than the attacking figure.

[Draconious]

I would say by the rules you cannot use those powers on the door...

"Choose a figure to attack" is used in both of those powers, and the door is not a figure, it is a destructable object.

[Riptide]

Originally Posted by Draconious

I would say by the rules you cannot use those powers on the door...

"Choose a figure to attack" is used in both of those powers, and the door is not a figure, it is a destructable object.

I was about to say that! I agree with Draconious, special attacks are for figures. Even if you targed a figure that is adjacent to the door, the door would not be affected.

[Eclipse]

Originally Posted by Riptide

I was about to say that! I agree with Draconious, special attacks are for figures. Even if you targed a figure that is adjacent to the door, the door would not be affected.

As per the castle rules:

Attacking and Defending: The Door may be attacked by a normal attack, a special attack, or by special powers that only cause wounds.

[Riptide]

Originally Posted by Eclipse

As per the castle rules:

D'oh!!! Sorry, I don't own the Castle set. I only quickly scaned the rules to see if it is a destructable object or not.

Ok then, I would say that a special attack that has an area affect directed at the door would only include figures on the same side of the door as the attacking figure, it would not be able to include those figures on the other side of the door.

Unless maybe that attack succeded in destroying the door, then maybe the figures on the inside would have to roll for defense.

[Eclipse]

Originally Posted by Riptide

D'oh!!! Sorry, I don't own the Castle set. I only quickly scaned the rules to see if it is a destructable object or not.

Ok then, I would say that a special attack that has an area affect directed at the door would only include figures on the same side of the door as the attacking figure, it would not be able to include those figures on the other side of the door.

Unless maybe that attack succeded in destroying the door, then maybe the figures on the inside would have to roll for defense.

Problem is there's NOTHING in the rules that would suggest that.

[Riptide]

Originally Posted by Eclipse

Problem is there's NOTHING in the rules that would suggest that.

But it doesn't make sense that Jotuns sword would go through the door to the figures inside during a wild swing.

[Eclipse]

Originally Posted by Riptide

But it doesn't make sense that Jotuns sword would go through the door to the figures inside during a wild swing.

That's not the question here.

[tsukifu]

The problem is, at the most technically strict level, the rulings on the door have been contradictory. DW9K's special says "Choose a figure to attack." While the Hasbro FAQ does says you can hit the door with a special attack, it also says the door is not a figure.

Now, I'd never argue that you couldn't hit the door for that reason--that'd be silly, I think. Nonetheless, you could try to argue the because the door is not a figure it doesn't get affected by those attacks which hit the target plus "adjacent figures" (like Explosion, Wild Swing, etc.). That seems reasonable to me. We house rule it based on logical assumptions--namely, that figures adjacent to the door but on the other side of it are exempt from such area-effect attacks. But Eclipse is right, there's nothing official that makes that clearly unallowable.

The point is, I don't think you can reduce this to the strictest interpetation level, because at that level things fall apart, as written.

[Eclipse]

An interesting line of questioning I suppose. This theory makes the door immune to every special attack in the game besides the following:

Roman Archer's Arrow Volley
Brunak's Blood Hungry
Deathwalker 8000's Rapid Fire
Nilfheim's Ice Shard Breath
Kaemon Awa's Quick Release
Sir Hawthorne's Blind Rage

It would also make the door immune to quite a few special abilities, including Agent Carr's Sword of Reckoning and the Blastatron's Homing Device.