I know this is a total n00b question, but I'm not able to find where this info is located. All my rulebook says is that a figure with the colossal symbol has the colossal team ability without telling me WTF it is (real helpful, wizkids. )

My searching of 'colossal' on the forums isn't helping me either. So if someone would be kind enough to explain what a colossal does, or provide me with a link to where this info is located, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Yeah it is confusing to sort out colossal because so few characters have the colossal size ability and those that do are very different.

From the blackest night PAC
"COLOSSAL SIZE (NON-OPTIONAL) Only characters with the symbol block lines of fire to or from this character. A character with this ability ignores the effects of hindering, elevated, and outdoor blocking terrain on movement. This character can’t be knocked back and can make ranged combat attacks against non-adjacent opposing character when they are adjacent to opposing characters. This character and a character on elevated terrain draw line of fire and make ranged combat attacks against each other as if they were both elevated. This ability can’t be countered."

So the way this breaks down. You can shoot over and be shot over normal figures and giant figures. I have argued that the wording allows you to shoot through walls too but I keep getting shot down. If you were to move you are only hindered by indoor blocking. You can not be knocked back. You can always make ranged attacks against anyone in your range even if you are adjacent to someone. So someone could be adjacent to your Groot and you can still shoot another figure in his range.

From the September 2010 Player Guide but this is crossed out so this ability has been recently removed.
"Colossal Characters
Colossal characters ignore the Danger Girl and Skrulls team ability."

Up until this came out Groot would have been able to ignore these team abilities.

And that is it. Now the characters like Fing Fang Foom and Dr. Manhatten have all kinds of other special rules about them that give them multiattack and lets them ignore a bunch of stuff. But those are special rules outside of colossal size.

Thanks. Rep.

How can people shoot that idea down? I hadn't thought of it before but the way the wording is written colossals CAN shoot through walls. As proof we can look at the wording of ha040 Captain America

"DEFLECTION TRAJECTORY: Captain America's line of fire is blocked only by walls and indoor blocking terrain."

This means cap can shoot through other characters, hindering terrain, and even stealth. In the wording they specifically put what can block line of fire.

In the colossal wording they specifically put what can block line of sight which is "only other characters with the colossal symbol." Which means colossals can shoot through other characters, hindering terrain, stealth, walls, indoor blocking terrain, and elevated terrain.

And it can't be argued that it is bad wording because this is the current wording in the Web of Spiderman errata (I just looked). If it was bad wording it would have been changed by now. How many years have the colossals been out? In fact they were even errataed to take out their ability to ignore the danger girl and skrull team abilities, but the ability to shoot through walls as stayed.

Is there any way we could get an official wizkids verdict on this wording?

edit: now before people say I necroed I was searching for information about the colossal characters and this is the most recent thread about this argument. After reading yourbudrob's post my mind was blown and I could either start my own thread or necro this one. I chose to necro.

It means that the only characters which block the LoF are those ones.

See the wording of Captain America makes that not true.

Cap: line of fire is blocked only by walls and indoor blocking terrain.

Colossal: Only characters with the symbol block lines of fire to or from this character

The word "only" makes it so that the items following it are the sole objects that can block line of fire.

It could probably be worded better, but the Colossal description is talking about just characters. A better way to read it would be:

The only characters that block line of fire to or from this character are characters with the symbol.

Though now that I think about it, the last person to play a colossal at my venue played it the way you are describing, where the colossal ignored all terrain.

if a colossal character is in hindering terrain he gets the +1 to his defence bonus¿?

Absolutely.

just based on the colossal ability yes. However most colossals have funny rules many of which cause you to treat them as though they are always in clear terrain (Big G, Foom, etc)

Assuming you are drawing LOF to a square in hindering terrain (or that LOF crosses hindering terrain.) If you draw LOF to a square that is not in hindering terrain (and doesn't cross hindering terrain) even if a different square of the colossal character is hindering terrain, the hindering terrain modifier will not apply.

For example:

. . . . . .
. . . A . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . .
. . 1 2 . .
. . 3 4 . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . .

If (A)ttacker draws a LOF to 1 (in hindering terrain) then the colossal character will get a +1 to its defense value. However, if A draws a LOF to 2 (not in hindering terrain) then the colossal character will not get a bonus to its defense value.

As far as I've seen the rulings, that applies to movement not combat.

From the Player's Guide:
That one clarly only applies to movement.

From the Fin Fang Foom Rules:
This one also only seems to apply to movement. I can see your argument that it could apply to combat, but I've never seen an official ruling that it does. Might be nice to get one either way.

If all parts of his base are considered to be in clear grounded terrain, how does that not effect line of sight? It certainly doesn't change anything with how he ends his movement. If he treats elevated/hindering terrain as clear grounded terrain for movement, why would they need to specify that the squares are still clear grounded terrain after his movement has ended. If they went back to being hindering terrain, for example, he would still ignore them the next time he started moving.

The implication of the last sentence is clearly about what happens between when he stops moving and the next time he starts moving.

First, those rules are always under the movement section of each characters rules, not in the combat section. Second, I think what the rules were trying to say is that those characters can end their movement with part of their base on grounded terrain and part of their base on elevated terrain (as one example). The first part of the quote wouldn't allow that, so the second part is necessary. I don't think it was meant to apply to combat. Third, I've seen numerous questions on here asking what happens if Foom or whoever is standing on hindering terrain and whether he gets the hindering terrain bonus and the answer has always and consistently been yes. I agree there is ambiguity in the wording, though, which is why it could use some rules posse clarification.

The part about elevated would be accomplished by just saying the terrain he ends his movement in is considered grounded terrain.

I didn't realize it was in the Movement section since I do not own the rules and was only going by the information you provided.

You know how strong WizKids is when it comes to writing the rules. And we're talking about rules language that they wrote many years ago and have just regularly recycled.