Units in hand-to-hand fighting are far too busy to use missile weapons and therefore may not shoot.

Players are not allowed to shoot at targets that are engaged in close combat. The risk of hitting their own comrades is far too high.

Sometimes some weapons (such as stone throwers) may deviate and hit units already in close combat. As described later, some of these weapons utilise a template to determine how many models are hit by a falling stone, a gout of Dragon fire, and so on. Normally, models under the template are considered targets and will be hit. See the section on War Machines for details.

If a template ends up in such a way that it touches only models from one side, and none of the models it touches are actually fighting (ie, in base contact with their enemy), then all casualties are worked out exactly as normal. The shot has struck in such a way that all hits fall on that unit.

If a template ends up so that it touches models from either side that are fighting, or models from both sides whether fighting or not, then work out the number of hits as normal but distribute them equally to both sides. The shot has fallen in the thick of the fighting and both sides suffer the consequences.

If a charge is declared against a unit with missile weapons it can respond by shooting at the charging unit but only if the charging unit is more than half its charge distance away. This reaction is called stand & shoot. The shots are worked out once all charges have been declared and before the chargers are moved. Work out the shots at the measured range and apply the -1 to hit modifier for shooting at a charging target.

A unit which stands & shoots does so out of the normal turn sequence, in the other side's Movement phase before chargers are moved. Note that chargers who begin their move within half their charge distance of the enemy cannot be shot at in this way. They are too close, and there is insufficient time for the unit to shoot at their enemy.

If the chargers start their charge beyond the maximum range of the shooting unit's missile weapons, the shots are made at the maximum range of the weapons. The archers let loose as soon as their enemies are within range.

In most circumstances, a unit of troops takes aim and shoots at a single target, such as a unit of enemy troops, a huge monster or chariot, obeying the command of their leader who is assumed to direct the unit's fire.

A unit may divide its fire between two or more enemy targets if it is impossible for all the models to shoot at a single target. For example, it might be that no single target is visible to all shooters either because it is obscured or because it is so close to the unit that it lies outside the are of vision of some of the shooting models.

In the case of individual enemy models, such as large monsters, Heroes, Goblin Fanatics and similar, it is permitted to divide shots against these and other more distant targets, even if the entire unit could shoot against the single enemy model. This allows a shooting unit to spread its fire against a group of single models.

The chance of a shooter scoring a hit on his target depends on his Ballistic Skill, or BS. The higher the individual's Ballistic Skill, the greater his chance of hitting.

To determine whether you hit, you must roll a D6 for each model that is shooting. Note that the number of Attacks a model has will not affect the number of shots – each shooter can shoot only once unless the weapon he carries has a special rule which allows it to fire more rapidly.

Count how many models in your unit are shooting and roll that number of dice. It is easiest to roll all the dice at once, although you don't have to. If there are a lot of models shooting, you might need to roll several batches of dice. The following table shows the minimum D6 score you will need to hit.

If you score equal to or greater than the number required, you have hit. If you score less, you have missed.

For example: You fire with five Goblin Archers. Goblins have BS 3, so you need a score of at least 4 to hit. You roll 5 dice and score 1, 2, 2, 4, and 6 which equals 2 hits and 3 misses.

Of course, you cannot roll less than 1 on a D6, so troops with BS 6 or more will have a negative to hit score. However, in Warhammer no troops ever hit automatically, so a roll of 1 on a D6 always fails, regardless of the dice modifiers and Ballistic Skill of the model.