As described later some large weapons utilise a template to determine how many models are hit by a falling stone, a gout of dragon fire, and so on. Normally, models under the template are considered targets and will be hit on an appropriate dice roll. See the section on War Machines for details. A weapon which uses a template can also be fired into hand-to-hand combat, in which case the casualties are worked out as follows.

If a template is positioned in such a way that it touches only models from one side, and none of the models it touches are actually fighting (ie, in base contact with their enemy) then all casualties are worked out exactly as normal. The shot has struck in such a way that all hits fall on that unit.

If a template is positioned in such a way that it touches any models from either side that are fighting, or models from both sides whether fighting or not, then work out the number of hits as normal but distribute them equally to both sides. The shot has fallen in the thick of the fighting and both sides suffer the consequences.