Some weapons or creatures are so powerful that they can punch right through armor. Such attacks inflict a modifier on the saving throw, just as shooting modifiers affect the To Hit roll.

An attack of Strength 4 inflicts a save modifier of -1, with the modifier growing a point higher for each additional point of Strength. Note that this means a model could be hit by an attack whose armor save modifier makes the armor save impossible to pass – in which case, the save is automatically failed.

For example: A crossbow bolt (Strength 4) hits a warrior wearing light armor and carrying a shield. Normally, the warrior would need to roll 5 or 6 to make his armor save and avoid taking the wound but, because of the crossbow's hitting power, a -1 modifier is applied to the dice roll. Therefore, the warrior must now roll a 6 to save.