[Alan Tibbetts]

Yes Jim, that would be great. A couple of examples
– Units within dense terrain need 50% of their figures in terrain to get cover. Units obscured by the same piece of terrain need more than 50% to get cover. (Both page 57, Cover).
– Recce units with dual direction steering can take a full Run in reverse, those without only get a full Advance. However, when it comes to Escape Reaction its an Advance or Run, forward or reverse, doesn’t seem to matter about dual-direction steering.
– Explain, exactly and fully, how flat roofs work, especially a story that is partially enclosed and partially a flat roof.  Are units on a flat roof abstracted as they are inside an enclosed space? Extra protection? Template or HE vs target in a building, can a unit be partially on the flat roof and partially inside the enclosed space on the same story?

[Alan Tibbetts]

With a +1 to hit Veterans would be hitting on 2’s a lot, too much, overpowering. Better to give them an extra dice for every 3-4 they already get at the same to hit number.

[Alan Tibbetts]

Alan – Augusta, Maine

Member of Bass & Curry Bolt Action Brigade, Bolt Action League of Maine and Maine Historical Wargamers Association

[Alan Tibbetts]

But MRLs never get better than a 6 anyway.

[Alan Tibbetts]

Spearmen should do fine against any open topped armor without recce. Personally, I think they should have a suicidal charge rule, making them -1 to kill (inexperienced die on a 2+).

[Alan Tibbetts]

Fix SMOKE. Instead of letting opponent move it to their advantage when it isn’t on target (1st edition smoke must have been really broken), have it drift in a random direction 2D6 or D6+6 inches.

MMG teams – a la Juggernaut have them do 1 pin for firing at a soft target in range and another if they achieve a hit.

[Alan Tibbetts]

Armies of the Soviet Union page 35.

“Dog mines can only target stationary vehicles (i.e. any vehicle that does not sport an order dice showing a Run or Advance order).”

So, a Down vehicle that did a Recce move is a legit target. I did not realize that.

[Alan Tibbetts]

“Bolt Action doesn’t care about the past, only what is currently shown on the order dice”

So, once a Recce move is done the vehicle is given a down dice, is considered stationary and mine-dogs and infantry can attack it as if it never moved?

I suppose that’s no different than a tank which has moved getting hit and receiving Crew Stunned/Immobilized/On Fire result.

[Alan Tibbetts]

Perhaps I should amend that to say they are overlooked in early war – when facing mostly armor 7 and 8.

“A vehicle that has made a Run action and subsequently been immobilized or otherwise brought to a halt that turn can be assaulted . . .” (pg 112)

It doesn’t say if you would need a 4+ or a 6 to hit such a vehicle. It also doesn’t explain the “otherwise brought to a halt”. What would those instances be?

Also, fully enclosed vehicles that fire pintle weapons at ground targets count as open-topped for the rest of the turn.

I’m in agreement that 2 points is probably too high.

Tank hunters don’t come in a large enough squad (max 4 men) to make them useful tank killers, except for the single Panzerfaust, and 14 points per man (regular) is pricey (33 points for 2 men with a Panzerfaust). The infiltration rule is useful.

Fortress Budapest book now allows the Soviets to buy Mounted Recon Squads in regular infantry slots from 1943 on. They don’t get any Panzerfaust, but they can buy a flamethrower. (5 man squad with flamethrower = 70 points). They also have the ability to leave 1 or more troops in their transport vehicle to fire vehicle mounted weapons. One must presume that the vehicle counts as occupied, not unoccupied, when this happens.

A flamethrower might not kill a tank outright, but it’s going to put pins on it and make it take morale rolls.

[Alan Tibbetts]

There has been a fair amount of errata, but what I’m hearing is Warlord has asked for input on rules changes for a 3rd edition.

The biggest rumor is a possible move from d6 to d10.

[Alan Tibbetts]

Easy Army has been slow to add the recent Theater Books, looks like we are on our own for new titles. This is sad and spells the coming of the end for Easy Army.

[Alan Tibbetts]

A vehicle that is equipped with a flamethrower suffers a +1 on the vehicle damage table. Page 68, BA 2nd edition rule book.

[Alan Tibbetts]

Mine Dogs are an okay AT choice, no negative DRMs for moving, range or inexperienced. I always buy inexperienced.

Ampulomet is a better anti-personnel weapon than an AT weapon (only 2 Pen).

Buying Panzerfaust for your Guards and other squads that can have them is a cheap alternative.

Paying 2 points per figure to give squads AT grenades is overlooked.

[Alan Tibbetts]

If the officer is also a passenger in the vehicle he can issue snap to orders to the vehicle and other passengers, so a 1LT (or a German 2LT) could pull command dice for the vehicle and one other passenger.

The enemy always gets a vote. Ambush orders could interrupt this “flow” at one or more points. Actually, the order dice is fair. The enemy spots the loaded vehicle as it approaches their position and, if they get the next dice, should be well prepared to greet the advancing vehicle/passengers.

I can recall a maneuver rights exercise in Germany where my tank platoon sat in a wood line watching a platoon of M113’s advance across 2 km of open fields, drive up to 50m in front of us, then disembark and conduct a standard fire and maneuver assault against my tanks.

They were toast 200m from their start point, and again at 400m, and again at 800m, . . . .

[Alan Tibbetts]

If you are looking for specialized Soviet assault vehicles there are several flamethrower tanks, the PT-34 mine clearing attachment and the aforementioned assault guns along with the KV-2.

Soviets now have the Mounted Recon Squad (regular or veteran) which can have a flamethrower and “counts as Infantry for the purposes of the generic Reinforced Platoon Selector” or “may be taken as an additional infantry squad option in any of the Soviet Theater Selections from 1943 on in the Armies of the Soviet Union book.”

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