Q: The rules for the arc of fire of pintle-mounted (or
bolt-on) weapons address those mounted on turrets
and those mounted directly on the hull. But what
about those mounted on smaller structures (like a
Rhino’s cupola) that look like they can rotate 360º,
even though they aren’t proper turrets? (p59)
A: Remember that the rule is: if it looks like you can
point the gun at it, then you can, even if it’s glued in
place’. The rest is just a set of guidelines about the arcs
of fire of weapons glued in place, and does not cover
all possible weapons mounting and vehicles. If the
structure the gun is pintle-mounted on is obviously
capable of rotating 360º, like in the case of a Rhino’s
cupola, then it should be treated as having a 360º arc
of fire. However, if you mount the same storm bolter
on a Razorback, even though it still can rotate 360º, it
won’t obviously be able to fire through the Razorback’s
main turret, and so it will have a ‘blind spot’. In the
same way, the shuriken catapult mounted under the
hull of a Wave Serpent, Falcon, etc. looks like it can
rotate 360º, but it does not look like it can be fired
through the main hull right behind it, so we normally
play that it can be fired roughly in the 180º to the
vehicle’s front, as an acceptable compromise.