All missile weapons have a maximum range which indicates the greatest distance that they can shoot. If your declared target lies beyond this maximum range, your shots will automatically miss. This is why you must pick your target before measuring the range.
Missile Weapon | Range |
Short Bow | 16" |
Bow | 24" |
Long Bow | 30" |
Crossbow | 30" |
Repeating Crossbow | 24" |
Sling | 18" |
Javelin | 8" |
Thrown Weapon (axe, knife, dart) | 6" |
Handgun | 24" |
Pistol | 8" |
For example: The Empire player is using bows, which have a range of 24". He declares that he is opening fire on the nearest Orc unit. When he measures the distance, he finds that the Orcs are 25" away. His hail of arrows therefore falls short of the jeering greenskins.
It often happens that some models in a firing unit will be within range and other models in the unit will be out of range. If this is the case then only those which are in range can shoot and the remainder automatically miss.
These ranges are the maximum distances that the weapons can fire. Missiles lose power and accuracy long before they reach their maximum range, so ranges are divided into two types: short range and long range.
Short range is up to and including half the maximum range of the weapon.
Long range is between half and maximum distance of the weapon.
For example: Short range for a short bow is up to 8". A target that is at more than 8" counts as being at long range.
As we shall see later, there are modifiers that make it much more difficult for a weapon to hit a target at long range.