This was never cleared up, so I feel now is a good time to bring this issue back up.

How does a multi-base move?
I pick a "lead square", count its movement path, following normal movement restrictions and using any and all Improved movement that character possesses. But what about the "following squares"?

Are all non-lead squares restricted by normal movement restrictions?
Do they ignore all movement restrictions and simply verify the number of squares between where they started and stopped?
Do they get to use any and all improved movement the multi-base possesses?
Can/do these other squares interact with the game effects/elements they move in the area of?




And before all of you say it, yes, I have some knowledge in this subject, it is an outstanding issue that has never been asked. Several other people besides me have asked this, so there are people genuinely confused by this issue that would benefit from an issue. Yes, various rulings may create loopholes, but that is not relevant, the goal is simply to finally have a definitive answer and be able to move multi-base figures and know how it works. I apologize to everyone who I annoy with this question, but the answer matters to me, because so many players have asked and still don't know (myself included).

Thanks in advance for any and all help

Let me break this down to see if I understand it using a hypothetical

I have The Hunger that dooms the world Galactus on his first click who is 3x6 occupying squares A1:F3 on a perfectly blank 2x3 map (all clear terrain of elevation 1. And for those not familiar with Excell spreadsheet groupings this is the same as A1, A1, A3, B1, B2, B3 ... F1, F2, F3)

I give him a move action to move, not declaring any powers (that $#!? is way too fancy for me) now this applies Ok, I choose F3. So far so good no confusion I don't think.

Ok, so I have a 'character' in F3 with 12 movement who needs to move. So I'll head up to F15, because I don't want to waste any movement.

Galactus is still being treated as 1 square big because he moves as if he only occupied a single square, so I am fairly certain that this statement is merely a reminder about the Rule of Occupancy.

All of the base was one square when he was moving, so by definition his whole base moved exactly the same number of squares... Why this sentence needs to exist is beyond me.

Seems straightforward, choosing a square to start movement from doesn't let me bypass the whole 'standing in hindering' thing.

So Galactus gets treated as a 1x1 figure in F3 and moves to F15, and then...

Huh...

Um...

What happens when he stops being treated as a single base figure?

It becomes a single base for movement. Then, when you are done with that, you place it in a legal fashion wherein no square moved more than the movement value. If you cannot place it, you cannot move there. When you are moving there are no non-lead squares. They do not exist until you stop moving.

There doesn't look to be any issue present in this rule.

so you can't move F3 to F15 and then place his base in D15:F20 because then A1 has then effectively moved 21 squares.

Then you place the figure in such a way that no square moved more than his movement value. and no square is in a place where it cannot legally be (blocking terrain, over a wall, on different elevations than the other squares, on another character)

I'm confused as to how you guys are confused about how this works. It is pretty straightforward.

There is no non-lead square I don't believe. And I think that answers all of your other questions as well actually. Also, I'm pretty sure this has been brought up and answered regularly.

I don't think there's anything new on this subject.

anthony_barnstable is right about this still having some valid issues that should be cleared up.

The issue is this:

It says it moves as a single base figure. However, no part of the base can "move" further than the square you chose to be the single base. But those other parts are not moving. But they are moving if they can't move further. Well are they or aren't they?

I think its clear how its supposed to work, but the wording mucks it up. I have no idea how to fix it.

change
to

What I think it should be:

No part of the base may be in a square it could not have reached had it been chosen as the moving square. When determining this, the effects that the character can normally ignore for movement are ignored. However, other effects used or possessed by any character are not activated when determining which squares those parts of the base would have moved through. Terrain affects the potential movement of these squares as normal.

or similar.

@moom

I think the cleanest way to do this is probably something like this (addition/alteration in red, text that can just be removed in blue)

"MOVING MULTI-BASE CHARACTERS When a multi-base character moves, choose any square occupied by the multi-base character to begin the movement. The character moves as if it is a single base character moving from the chosen square and follows all movement rules accordingly. After completing movement with the chosen square, repeat this process for each square that has not yet been chosen in this manner. Multi-base characters must always end movement so that all squares of its base occupy legal, adjacent squares. No part of the base may be moved more squares than the one chosen for the move. If any square a multi-base character occupies is hindering terrain, the character is considered to occupy hindering terrain when it begins to move, no matter which square it starts from."

With the above added, everything else can merely be ruled on via a case-by-case basis consistent with the above.

For instance, if plasticity stops you, then you obviously need to move the remaining portions of the base. As such it would be reasonable to infer that the ending of movement means you now move to the "repeat this process" portion of the text.

Though obviously as a band-aid, there may be unintended consequences of this way of doing it (hypersonic speed gets really weird, since you can end your movement with the first square, but still attack with the others if you haven't made your attack yet. Which can mean that being forced to end your movement with a multibase might mean you still get to attack afterwards, unlike normal).

Since we are now actually moving each square on its own, we don't need the 'nothing can have moved more' text, since we are already moving each square independently.

Alright, I realize that the game counts "squares" for movement. Now what if I end my movement on elevated terrain in the shape of a rectangle? Would that mean that I wouldn't count spaces within that rectangle as counting toward my movement? After all, I'm not moving through squares, really; I'm moving through one BIG rectangle.

@thrumble, sure?

But the game doesn't care about how many rectangles, triangles, circles, or dodecagons you move through.

The game only cares about squares, particularly squares ON the map. Additionally this use of the word "squares" is not your normal everyday use, but a special "game defined" term.

My point is that, at a certain point, delving into the text to such a ridiculous level isn't really seeing the forest for the trees.

I agree, but I think this is an issue that could be cleaned up a bit.

The text from the rulebook implies that all parts of the base move. In Heroclix, move is specific. If something moves, it might have to breakaway, it might trigger other effects, it has to pay attention to the terrain. If the whole base is moving in this sense, the character is no longer moving as if they were a single base figure.

Maybe all it needs is a clarification like the one for knock back (its not movement movement). Maybe they need to fix the rule.

It came about because there were increasingly more multi-base figures that did not ignore terrain (Clown Prince of Crime is one of the first bigger than peanut), as well as many questions regarding multi-base movement. It was an attempt to simplify how figures move.

I would say the simplest solution is that the rest of the base doesn't actually move move, but I don't know how to best convey that.

The problem is if you don't move move (they essentially just move with IM: the board), they can "swing the butt". If you make them move move (using IMs and movement restrictions) tanks will rip through walls and blocking like crazy while the bug skywires people on in columns A and H. And if you make them move with no IM and following movement restrictions, most get stuck in place way too easily. Even worse, make them move without the ability to squeeze and we're back to the original problem that came up. It just feels like a lose-lose decision.