Modeling for Advantage VS Positioning for Advantage

Greetings fellow wargamers!

Ran into an interesting situation in a game with a friend the other day and thought I might run it by the community to see if other folks had every run into something similiar.

So as nasty as I think Genestealers are in close combat, they have met their match many times before:  berserkers on the charge, grey knights basically all day long, plague marines, and now, Castellan Crowe!

Rather than getting into the nitty gritty details, I’ll just sum it up for you.  Crowe is s GK special character that can never be part of another unit.  He fights alone.  He isn’t an IC, he’s just a solo HQ choice.  It’s a odd place to be as a named character.  I can attest to this using figures like the Doom of Malan’tai on a semi regular basis, which will never know the benefit of being a member of a brood!

So, Crowe always fights along.

In the course of our game, my genestealers charged Crowe.  I moved my stealers up and surrounded him to the best of my ability.

Here is where it gets tricky.  Crowe has a special power (or three), but one in particular that is pretty nasty in close combat.  Without having the codex in front of me, it’s something along the lines of each model in base to base with him take an additional hit at Initiative 8 or something.  Being armed with a force weapon, this can be devastating to any squad/brood.

The question came up whether or not my genestealers were modeled for advantage.

In close combat, as the rule goes, you must attempt to get as many models in base to base contact as possible with your target.  My stealers were facing Crowe and due to how the models are made (all gangly arms and slashing claws and such) are hard to get into base to base with pretty much anybody.  That being said, I positioned about 3 figures around him and figured that was about the best it was going to get.

My opponent on the other hand pointed out that if I turned the models around, I would be able to fit more models in base to base with Crowe.

My only real response to this was it seemed kinda silly to me, for my stealers to be facing away.

Of course the base is really just a representation of the space occupied by the model.  Models are dynamically posed because it looks cool, its visually aesthetic . ..  it’s badass!  A bloodthirster wouldn’t be nearly as intimidating if his axe was clipped to his back, his wings folded up against his body and his arms crossed.  But you’d be able to get him into base to base with more models.

Furthermore during the other phases of the game, namely shooting, models like bloodthirsters and genestealers and such are a clear disadvantage, because their extra big, flailing limbs and wings and such can be shot at.  They are considered part of the model, and moreover a targetable part of the model.

So this raises lot of ?’s in my mind.

Is a figure modeled for advantage when they’re are assembled the way the rules/box/blister shows you to without conversion/modification in any way?

Are figures with bigger/gangly/flailing limbs at a distinct disadvantage (meta wise) because they are easier to hit in the shooting phase but then they do the about face during the assault phase?

In your games, tournament and friendly, did you run into a similiar situation where an opponent insisted you position your figures for their advantage in close combat?

To be fair, the rules DO state that you must move your figures so that as many of them are in base to base as possible, but does this imply you should play the hokey pokey to get every last base touching so that Crowe can have his force weaponed way with them?

Where does the meta meet the spirit of the game?

Is it just me?  Am I naive because I don’t play in tournament?  Where does the meta meet the road?

Chime in!

PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!

Caleb, WMG