Allocation of Hits

Once the attacking unit has rolled to-Hit, the defending player must allocate each Hit to a model in the target unit.

The defending player must allocate the Hits using the following criteria, in order of priority.

In Shooting and Firefight:

• The model must be in range of the firing weapon.
• If the weapon permits the attacker to single out a target model, that model must take all hits from the weapon.
• Hits must be evenly distributed.  So each model in range must take 1 hit before any model may take 2, and each model in range must take 2 before any model takes 3, etc.
• If the weapon permits the attacker to designate a particular target type, the hit must be taken against a preferred target type before against any other.  (This is relevant to certain heavy weapons.)

In Melee:

• Hits must be taken on models within 2" of the attacker.
• Hits must be evenly distributed.  So each model in range must take 1 hit before any model may take 2, and each model in range must take 2 before any model takes 3, etc.
• Hits must be taken on a models in base contact with the attacking model before being taken on a model within 2".

Beyond these guidelines, the defending player may chose which model is Hit.

In some cases, you may be able to fast-roll the Wounds and Saves for multiple Hits at the same time, but you may only do so if you and your opponent agree that it won't make a substantial difference.

Geek Notes

I've been playing a lot of 6th ed Warhammer 40k recently.  One of its peculiarities is its wound allocation system -- the closest target model takes all the hits till he dies.  Then the next closest model takes them all, till he dies, and so on. I think I prefer this system over 5th edition, where a player could artificially ensure the survival of a powerfist or meltagun till all the rest of the squad had died.

It's annoying to lose your good stuff - and presumably, a real commander would also try to keep the special weapons in action.  Thus I prefer a system such as this, in which the defender has certain limited ability to avoid losing a key model.