You have gone one step too far. Wounds are not radomized, hits are. So lets backtrack. Lets assume there were 10 shots that hit 6 times. Now since there are only 5 models, each will be hit once. Then you roll as you said, picking out the models. So 1 will hit the first trooper, 2 the second, and so on, till 5 hits the character, and 6 is rerolled. Then you roll to wound on the individual models.

Hope that explains it,
SirKently

 

Right, of course. My mistake, worded improperly. Obviously, the hits would need to be randomized as opposed to the wounds, in the case of a character with a different statline, with a higher/lower toughness.

The big point of contention arose when it came time to randomize. In the original example, if the randomization roll results in four 5s (highly unlikely, but for the sake of the discussion), would all four hits strike the character? I think not, as the wounds are meant to be distributed across the entire unit. For instance, if there had been exactly 5 hits, then all the models would be hit once. It only makes sense, but the ingrate rules lawyer in our group attempted to twist the RAW (two results out of four resulted in 5s), hoping to kill the Wizard.

In my opinion, three of the four hits are allocated to rank and file. The final hit is then randomized between the remaining rank and file model and the character. In other words: If there are less hits than models, no model can be hit more than once during the randomization. And with your example, more hits than models, everyone gets hit once and the remaining hits are randomized - in this case, no model can be hit more than twice. This first 5 would indicate a second hit to the character, additional 5s are ignored and count as rank and file.

 

You are correct overall. If there were 5 hits, each model would be hit once. 6 hits each is hit once, and the last is randomized. Now lets say there were 9 hits on the 5 models. You would randomize who didn't get hit.

Basically, no model can be hit more than one more time than any other model.

SirKently

 

Excellent! Thanks for the help!

 

Yup, it's quite simple. Allocate evenly first and randomize after that. If fewer hits than models, then randomize.

 

Indeed. That was my thought as well. It's not complicated. However, the RAW leaves room for unscrupulous misinterpretation, even though the intended method is quite obvious. In the case of more hits than models, allocating evenly is clearly written and cannot be argued. It became a matter of whether or not the eventual randomization adhered to the same principle of even distribution. Common sense dictates that it does.

Cheers!