Small team question

[Mike]

Played with some different people this weekend and a rules question came up. I know if a small team starts at 1 or 2 guys it has the small team rule since they are a small team. But what if a normal squad drops to one or two guys. We always played it as it had to start as a small team to get the small team rule. Does a unit that drops down to two guys also get this rule even though they didnt start that way?

[Stuart Harrison]

All that matters is how many men are there when you shoot at them – p54, Shooting, Roll to Hit, Hit Modifiers, Target is a small unit, last sentence – “Note, it doesn’t matter how many men were in the target at the start of the game – it is the number of men in the target when it is shot at that counts.”

Remember Artillery units can’t qualify for small team – the gun in an Artillery unit is also defined as a model in the unit, not just the crew (confirmed via FAQ – “If I shoot at a unit of artillery that has only one or two crew models left, does the ‘small team ’ to-hit modifier apply or not? e small team rule applies to units made of one or two infantry models (implying ‘and nothing else’, which should have been stated clearly). So, so as long as there is also a gun model, that unit is not made just of one or two infantry models, but also includes a non-infantry model, so the small team bonus does NOT apply.
“)

[Mike]

Actually artillery was one of the several times it came up. One guy running a howitzer by himself.

[Eric T Holmes]

One of the things we discussed is allowing a single figure remaining from a squad to join another squad if the figure is within “Run” distance of the squad it wants to join. Of course this is predicated by the fact that it must pass morale and any order check, as required.

[Stuart Harrison]

Eric – that would generate at least one issue that would need to be agreed on.

Victory points. When you absorb that last man into another squad, do you lose the victory point immediately (my preference if it was proposed to me)? If not, is the gaining unit now worth two victory points?

[Mike]

Interesting rule idea. Since its a home brew it would have to be agreed upon obviously. I think the opponent would get the kill point and the person with the one guy joining the other squad would lose the order dice for the one man squad. Should be fairly easy to pull off.

[Greg S]

You’d have to think about pins too. If one guy with 5 pins joins a sqaud with 1, what happens?

And can the squad suddenly gain a second NCO. Or a second LMG?

Can a veteran join a regular squad?

Can a Gurkha join commandos?

It’s a cool idea, and something that would probably happen in real life, but there’s a few wrinkles to iron out for the game.

[Mike]

I would think it would have to be the same type of model or they simply become the same type of model as the new squad carrying what they had beforehand and cease being a sergeant if they were one just for simplicity. I would just lose the previous squads pins. Since we are just spitballing ideas. I don’t have time to playtest this to see if it would work in game as well as it sounds on paper. TBH there are more important fixes that need to be made such as weapons teams being able to take over the weapons if the gunner dies which is exactly what would happen in the real world.

[arcole]

How does this fit with Mortar/MG teams?

These are Infantry teams. Does the weapon prevent them from being a small team?

[Stuart Harrison]

@arcole, no, it doesn’t prevent them being small team. They are not artillery, where the gun is defined as a model within the squad (definition of an artillery unit, p35), they are infantry with the team weapon being treated as part of the firer model – basically the reason you lose the weapon when you lose the firer (choosing to model the weapon separate to the firer doesn’t make it a separate model under the rules).

[arcole]

Thanks Stuart

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