FW vs AoE Attack

[Yansuf]

In the FAQ, one says:

<If a character makes an attack using an Area Of Effect/Explosion attack against a hex that’s inside a Force Wall, does the “intervening” FW automatically make the attack “detonate” in the hex where it contacts the FW?

No. The target hex is the target hex chosen by the attacker — the FW doesn’t change that. The GM might explain the special effect of the character’s FW protecting him as “it kept the grenade from exploding right next to you,” but in rules terms having a FW up doesn’t alter the target hex of an attack.>

Does this mean that a FW completely surrounding the hex a character is in cannot stop an AoE attack aimed at the character's hex? The statement above seems to say that, but that would seem to contradict the statement in the rules that you need indirect to attack through a FW, except by breaking it.

Thank you.

[Steve Long]

This is really just a matter of common and dramatic sense, plus of course considerations of game balance. Clearly the rules can't allow Force Walls to provide blanket immunity to Area Of Effect attacks such as grenades, but by the same token Area Of Effect attacks can't just bypass a Force Wall by declaring a target hex that's "inside" or "behind" a Force Wall. In the sort of situation you describe, just apply the Force Wall's defenses in the usual fashion. If the FW doesn't break, then the attack "didn't get through." If it does break, then "the attack blew through the Force Wall" and hurt the character.