Okay, so just a weird question I thought of while procrastinating this morning. Firing at a target that is in combat with one of your comrades gives you a hefty penalty to hit and risks friendly fire. And normal melee range is 1/2".

If two models without reach are 1" apart, they're technically not in combat, and you can still fire at one without the penalty, correct? What if your comrade has reach and his opponent doesn't? (or vice versa, I suppose.) If one is at the maximum reach distance of 2", does that still mean you'd get the penalty for firing into their combat?

I'm assuming it does according to the rules, and you'd still need to take the penalty, but it just made me wonder.