Help with cover rules

[mecha82]

Hello hive, I need help with a rules issue that came up in my group.

One of the players in my group says that according to the rulebook, monsters do not benefit from cover under any circumstances. (Jormungandr trait, Broodlord octarius ability, etc.)
This is due to one of the rare rules stating that if you gain the benefit of cover, you count as being in light cover.

Then, in the terrain features section, it says that Infantry, Beasts, and Swarm gain the benefit of cover. So the reasoning is that, if a monster counts as standing in light cover, they would not benefit from it. My concern is that I have lurked here for awhile, and I have never seen anyone say that monsters do not get cover. I've seen the opposite.

So, do they get cover? Is there an FAQ or campaign book somewhere that clarifies this? Do official tournaments permit monsters to get cover bonuses from special rules?

Any help you can offer would be appreciated. I've tried to find any evidence on my own, and found nothing. Apologies in advance if the answer is obvious.

[No One]

They're just wrong: nothing in light cover says that you have to be infantry/beasts/swarm to get the benefit.

Light said:

When an attack made with a ranged weapon wounds a model that is receiving the benefits of cover from this terrain feature, add 1 to the saving throw made against that attack (invulnerable saving throws are not affected).

Receiving benefits of cover, get +1 sv.

How you normally get light cover is from terrain:

An INFANTRY, BEAST or SWARM model receives the benefits of cover from an Obstacle

INFANTRY, BEAST and SWARM models receive the benefits of cover from Area Terrain features while they are within it.

Emphasis mine. Jorm/Canticles/Broodlord/Tide aren't obstacles or area terrain. So that bit about infantry/beast/swarm doesn't matter.

[Bohxim]

I also checked this with the vets in the main octavius thread. Makes sense to me, otherwise it'd also say aside from monsters like the - 1 to hit portion

[tomb]

If this helps- from the advanced rules curtesy of wahapedia.

BENEFITS OF COVER WHEN NOT IN TERRAIN
Sometimes a rule will tell you that a model or unit gains the benefit of cover, even while they are not entirely on or in a terrain feature. If a model or unit is under the effects of such a rule, and that rule does not specify what the benefits of cover are, when resolving an attack that model is assumed to be entirely on or within a terrain feature with the Light Cover terrain trait for all rules purposes. This means that when an attack made with a ranged weapon wounds a model under the effect of this rule, add 1 to the saving throw made against that attack (invulnerable saving throws are not affected).

If a model or unit has a rule that only applies while it is receiving the benefits of cover, then that rule will apply while that model or unit is under the effects of any rule that states it gains the benefit of cover even while they are not entirely on or within a terrain feature.

Benefit of cover even when not in terrain = Light Cover.
+1 to saving throws against ranged weapons.
Invulnerable saving throws unaffected.

[tomb]

Reguarding gaining dense when not in cover- remember though that aircraft and 18w+ models don't gain dense ☹️

Obscuring and Dense Cover are two terrain traits introduced with ninth edition that interact with visibility. These rules do not overwrite the normal rules for determining visibility, though - they are in addition to them. Specifically, even though the Obscuring rules state that AIRCRAFT and models with a Wounds characteristic of 18+ can be seen through Obscuring terrain, they are still only visible (and hence eligible) targets if the firing model can physically see them (so if the terrain in question is solid and opaque, they are still not eligible targets). Also, in the same way that Obscuring terrain ‘blocks’ visibility when it is in between the firing model and its intended target, Dense Cover terrain imposes a hit penalty whenever it is between the firing model and its intended target (with the noted exceptions). It is not required for a unit to be fulfilling the criteria of ‘gaining the benefits of cover’, as described for Obstacles and Area Terrain, for this penalty to hit rolls to apply (but also note that any rule that ignores the benefits of cover, or that ignores the benefits of cover that impose a penalty on hit rolls, would still ignore that penalty)

[Bohxim]

But the dense cover rule from broodlord already specifically excludes monsters so that's fine with regards to the new war zone book rules

[mecha82]

Thank you so much everyone!
With your assistance, I was able to convince the person and now we can play the game as it was meant to be played.

[purestrain]

Oct 30, 2021 0:34:26 GMT mecha82 said:

Thank you so much everyone!
With your assistance, I was able to convince the person and now we can play the game as it was meant to be played.

Nice to see they weren't a stubborn person about it.