Line of Sight, Cover & Control Range, Explained
A plain-English rules guide, with diagrams
Three spatial rules decide most Kill Team firefights: whether you can even see a target, whether it's in cover, and what its control range does. Here's each one, with a diagram.
Visibility & line of sight
To shoot an enemy operative, it must be a valid target. The core check is line of sight: from the active operative, can you trace a line to the target operative that isn't blocked by terrain? Heavy terrain in particular blocks visibility. If you can't see it, you can't shoot it.
Cover
Even a visible operative may be in cover — protected by an intervening terrain feature between it and the attacker. Cover does two big things in Kill Team:
- In a shooting attack, the target in cover can retain one defence die as a normal success without rolling it — a guaranteed save.
- If the operative is on a Conceal order and in cover, it can't be targeted at all (see our Conceal vs Engage guide).
Control range
An operative's control range is the area within 1" horizontally and 2" vertically. It matters constantly:
- An enemy within your control range is engaged in combat with you.
- You use control range to contest and hold objective markers — compare how many operatives each player has within control range of the marker.
Common questions
Yes. Conceal only protects an operative from being targeted while it is in cover. A Concealed operative with no cover can still be shot.
Generally yes for a valid target in cover, though some weapon rules (such as those that ignore cover) remove the benefit. Always check the specific weapon rules in play.
An enemy inside your control range is engaged in combat with you — control range is the measurement Kill Team uses for combat, markers, and several actions.
This guide explains the rules in our own words as a reference aid — always confirm the exact wording against Games Workshop's free official Kill Team rules for tournament or rules-critical play.
"Can I shoot that operative?" — just ask
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