This past weekend I finally got to play Tactics (yes, I'm late to the party, and parking was difficult).
We were a little confused about Turret Bot at first--mostly about range, but it seems that doesn't factor into attack dice since they're hazard spaces. We're less confused now, but I'm not entirely sure about line of sight issues.
Specifically, does Turret Bot need line of sight to all affected hexes to create hazard spaces and/or attack targets that trigger the spaces? Since hex elevations can change between the time the hazard space is created and when it is triggered, this is a two-part question.
By contrast, Ra's Blazing Tornado specifically states that the hazard space can be created on a space that Ra has line of sight to, and there's no similar qualifier on Turret Bot's card. Other hazard spaces are triggered even if the entity in charge of the space doesn't currently have line of sight, though that's hard to picture since Turret Bot is, thematically, laying down suppression fire from his position (even though that's not necessarily how it translates to game mechanics). So I'm not sure of the correct way to play it. This may be a case where game mechanics override theme, or vice versa.
All hazard attack check both range and line of sight from whatever generates them, so Turret bot checks line of sight to himself, then uses the range from himself to the target for the attack. Likewise, Blazing Tornado technically needs line of sight to its hazard spaces from the token, but since it has a radius of 1, it has that by default and any attack ra makes via the Blazing tornado checks range from the tornado token, so being at a higher elevation helps protect you from radius hazards. The line about requiring line of sight is more the limit where you can place the tornado and has nothing to do whith how the hazard spaces themselves are resolved.
Hmm, that seems very different than the entry in Spiff's FAQ, unless I'm reading something incorrectly. Which is possible.
I'm not sure what you're seeing different from that and:
Except maybe the idea of what generates the hazard space? An object that generates hazard spaces is placed in a location. It must be able to draw line of sight to any target it attacks. At a radius of 1, it can draw line of sight to any target because adjacency negates cover. At a radius of 2, cover will prevent line of sight to any target 2 or more hexes from the hazard space generator. Once line of sight is determined, you can make the hazard attack. The attack rolls have to take distance into account (they must make range). A target 3 elevations higher than the hazard space, but adjacent to the generator can ignore 1, 2, and 3 from the hazard's attack, while a target at the same elevation and adjacent has to take all non-automisses into account. Likewise, a target 2 hexes away from a hazard space generator that can hit radius 2 can ignore 1's as they don't make range.
Ra's Blazing Tornado is probably the most complicated example, as when he plays the card, the tornado is placed on the map on one hex within Ra's line of sight. Then, when an enemy enters a hex adjacent to it (or it's hex), Ra gets to make the tornado's attack against the target. It doesn't matter if Ra has line of sight to the target or not. The line of sight has to be from the Blazing Tornado. Just like any ranged area attacks. The attack's origin is the hex that the hero targets. The radius is from that origin. And line of sight from the attack is drawn from that same origin, not from the hero that made the attack.
Does that help any?
"Deja-fu? You've heard of that?"
- Lu Tze, Sweeper, Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
Thanks, Donner, that does help.
When I read the phrase "...hazard attacks require line of sight to the thing which activated the hazard space" it came across to me as "the thing which activated" to mean "the thing which triggered" rather than "the thing which generated." Kind of like how a clumsy thief breaking into a jewelry store activates the alarm.
Calculating the range from the creator of the hazard space to the target, rather than from the hazard space itself to the target, does make more sense thematically and realistically. That just wasn't explicitly clear when the card says it generates hazard spaces, and the FAQ says to calculate range from the hazard space to the target (note it references the space itself, not the creator of the space).
In both cases, now we know! Cheers!