Rules Questions

[Stuart Harrison]

As it stands, you are correct. Hidden is useless in buildings when targeted by HE (you’re better off hiding behind the garden wall next to the building). It is also useless vs snipers.

[Master Chief]

Based on the 30 Jan 2018 FAQ and Errata below the sniper gets the small team bonus.

Page 124-125, HE weapons against buildings. The second and third paragraph will be changed to read as follows:

This means that when rolling to hit you ignore any to-hit penalties for cover. All other modifiers apply as normal – for example, Down in this case might represent the unit hiding in the building and if the enemy misses the shot, this might represent the them not having taken the shot at all, and instead still be searching for the target (and similarly a small team is more difficult to spot inside a building…).

• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Master Chief.

[Enquiring_Mind]

Thanks Stuart and Master Chief, that clears things up.

So to use a sniper in a built up area you would need to keep him/her in rubble, down at ground level, hiding on ambush.

This means to hit the sniper you have a huge negative modifier to be hit (guaranteed a 6 followed by a 6)

Once the sniper’s fired, to hit them it’ll be a -3 to hit?
-2 for the fire order (gone from being an ambush) plus a -1 for a small team.

So, if I’ve got that right you can’t do the overwatch thing from modern FIBUA but it does encourage the ‘Enemy at the Gates’ style sniper duels. Because all snipers ignore -ve hit roll modifiers.

[Master Chief]

Yes -3 should be right, I assume you mean -2 for hardcover (but not in building) and -1 for small team.

[Nat]

Ok, can I get some clarification on a couple of points that are confusing me please…

i) In the main rule book when talking about how far units need to move in order to stop the +1 for zeroing in indirect fire on them. The rule book says they need to be more than 2″ away… So if you have spread the unit out over a 5″ diameter area they will not be able to move away without a run command as at least model will still be within 2″ of the area that the unit was in when they where first targeted. Is this right? If so does that mean that I can ‘walk’ my zeroing along the battlefield with them? If its not right is it just that the squad leader moves more than 2″?

ii) the term ‘shot at’ as used in the rules for Soviet Tank Riders – Is this when some one has chosen a fire, advance or ambush target of the tank they are on, or after dice have been rolled and a hit made?

[Master Chief]

Here’s my take on the questions:

(i) On page 31 of the main rule book:
The distance between two different units is always measured between the bases of the closest models in the units.

So I think the entire unit (with a 5in diameter) will have to run. I guess it reflects reality that when an artillery shell hits but misses, you either go down or run (rather than walk) away quickly.

(ii) The term “shot at” is also used for HE fire on page 68 (see below), and is before the to-hit dice is rolled.

A unit shot at by HE can react by taking an immediate Down action in the usual manner. Once the unit has gone Down, roll to hit, place the template and determine the number of HE hits caused normally, but then halve that number, rounding up.

Transported units are usually forced to disembark only under close combat or the transport is routed/destroyed. Hence for the Soviet Tank Riders it says

however, unlike with other transported troops, tank riders must immediately disembark if the tank they are riding upon is shot at.

Again in reality I guess the troops will dismount once they are fired upon, whether it is a hit or miss. Hence before the to-hit dice roll they will disembark and not wait to see whether the tank they are riding on is hit.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Master Chief.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Master Chief.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Master Chief.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Master Chief.

[Nat]

cool, nice to see that I was on the right lines, but was questioning myself.

[James masonry]

A friend of mine recently contacted Warlord about rules for paratroopers and papuans. He was told that paratroopers did not have to obey the Geronimo rules but rather, they can drop anywhere on the board with an advance. With the papuans, which may start the game hidden, he was told that anyone firing at them would have a -5 to hit while hidden in hard cover and that they could remain hidden even if they fired. This led to unbalanced games. Should we follow the rules as stated in the book or do the rules that Warlord sent to my friend apply?

We have also been debating several other rules. When firing artillery or mortars, can a shot be aimed at a point near a unit to avoid the units cover? Also, during a banzai charge, can units run through buildings and terrain without reducing their distance moved? Also, after close combat, if the winner is within 6 inches of another enemy can they make a second assault on them in the same turn? Also does a single hit from a sniper destroy a mortar or mmg team? And lastly, doJ apanese knee mortars hit on a 3+ or a 6+ on the first shot at a target like other mortars?

[Master Chief]

My take on your questions:
(a) For paratroopers and Papuans I would follow the book. I think paratroopers can also use the combat drop rule as well in the Market Garden book.

(b) Mortars firing at a point near the target unit so as to ignore the cover bonus should be disallowed as it is working around the rules. The only case I see allowed in the rulebook is HE firing at an empty building.

(c) For snipers firing at mortars and mmg/hmg teams, since the sniper causes excepional damage the sniper player can choose to kill the gunner, which would eliminate the entire team (page 73).

(d) For Japanese knee mortars, I would say 6+ like normal mortars.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Master Chief.

[Master Chief]

… and … I believe no 2nd assault allowed in a regroup move.

[Nat]

@James & Master Chief.

for my understanding here:

Mortars are indirect fire so range in on a 6 irregardless of modifiers (pg 71) so why would they care about cover when trying to hit?

[Master Chief]

Yes you are right on the indirect fire hitting on 6 with no modifier 👍

[Tom H.]

When firing indirect, choose your aiming point and mark it with a d6. Roll a 6 to hit, if not successful that turn, turn the d6 to show 5 and then that’s where and how much you need to roll next turn. If the enemy has moved and their closest model is over 2″ from the d6, then you need to move it and start again at 6. having a couple of odd coloured d6 for this helps.

[Stuart Harrison]

@Tom H. You target a unit with indirect fire, not an aiming point (unless you are firing smoke which does target a point).

The unit must move at least 2″ from the area it was covering before (ie: the unit’s entire footprint, not a point within the unit).

Playing it as you stated would be a house rule.

[Tom H.]

No Stuart, I am not targetting a piece of dirt, I am targetting the unit, the die marks where the shot is aimed.

If you do not know where the shot is aimed how can you measure that the targetted unit has moved over 2″ to get out from under the template?

Once the shot hits the targetted unit you still move your template to ensure the maximum hits so the template could be centred 9″ from the aim point depending on the way that the targetted unit is deployed, you then flip the d6 marker to 2 showing that you are zeroed in on the unit.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Tom H..

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