Tank War and US Supplement Question

[Wilber Olive]

I have the main rule book and the US supplement book. I currently don’t have the tank war book. I have a few questions.

The US army list between the main rule book and the US supplement book contains many discrepancies. Which one is correct (or takes precedence). I would assume the US supplement book does, however it was written before the new 2nd edition rule book, so I’m wondering if the changes in the new rule book should supersede the US supplement book? Let me provide a few examples of discrepancies I’ve found so far.

1. Regular infantry squad composition is 1 NCO and 4 men in the new rules, but 1 NCO and 5 men in the old supplement. Which is it?
2. Sniper team is 50/65pts and carry rifles in the new rules, but 52/67pts and carry rifles and pistols with an option to upgrade to submachine guns in the old supplement. Again, which do I follow?
3. Light artillery (75mm howitzer) is 40/50/60pts and includes a gun shield in the new rules, but 36/45/54pts with no gun shield in the old supplement. Has this been upgraded?
4. Pretty much all of the tanks have different costs. They appear to be vastly cheaper in the new rules compared to the old supplement. For example the M5 Stuart is 108/135/162pts in the new rules, but 124/155/196pts in the old supplement. Is this because the old supplement uses gyro-stabilised guns on all the US tanks whereas the new rules don’t? I also notice that many tanks have additional options or even thicker armour in the old supplement compared to what they have in the new rules.

Anyway, that is just some of the discrepancies I’ve found. Sometimes it appears to be clear to go with the old supplement, like the case of the tanks. However, other times it appears clear to go with the new rules, like the case of the light artillery (75mm howitzer). Then there are times where it just isn’t clear at all which is the correct option.

Regarding the tank wars supplement, what does it actually add to what I already have? Is it just a flavour book with scenarios and things like that or does it add additional rules? Does it add lists for more specialised tanks? Just wondering if I need it or not.

[Stuart Harrison]

The MRB lists are purely “get you by” lists until you can get the armies of book. See p153, Playing a Game of Bolt Action, The Army Lists, where it tells you that where there is a conflict between the two, the Armies of book takes precedence.

The MRB lists are mash ups of a number of units and not particularly accurate for any – look at the infantry squads for example, one squad entry for each experience level to be used for all squads of that level. In the MRB, that one entry for veterans is meant to cover veteran infantry, veteran engineers, marines, airborne etc. In the armies of book, each of those gets it’s own entry.

[Stuart Harrison]

Re Tank War – that supplement adds an option for platoons based around armoured vehicles rather than infantry squads, provides rules for radio nets, additional command vehicles, a new vehicle type (recovery vehicles), scenarios optimised for vehicle based forces, rules for crew experience gain over a campaign etc.

[Gordon L. Allen]

Hello,

What Stuart Harrison said – The main rule books are basic guidelines per nation, but when you have the nation’s supplement, it takes precedence.

Touching on item #4 on your list – regarding gyro stabilizers – if I’m not mistaken, that’s only offered on certain tanks, and if you want it, the tank has to be a Veteran. I don’t have the rulebook or supplements in front of me, but the basic idea is – if it is listed as an option with the tank, then you get it if you make it Veteran.

The rationale being that crews had to be trained to use the gyro stabilizers because they were tricky to use. Inexperienced crews often just didn’t use them because they were complicated and well… tricky… But, once you learned to use them, they were quite effective. Making your tank a Veteran grants it the same ability as U.S. Infantry – it can move and shoot without penalty.

Hope this helps, and enjoy!

[Stuart Harrison]

@Gordon

“Making your tank a Veteran grants it the same ability as U.S. Infantry – it can move and shoot without penalty.”

Just keep in mind that only applies to the gyrostabilised weapon – any other weapons still suffer the penalty.

[Wilber Olive]

Thanks everyone. All makes sense.

I wonder though why they would do something like add a gun shield to the 75mm howitzer and increase its cost in the new rule book. Why not just keep it the same as the us army book for consistency. The actual model (and the weapon in real life) do not have a gun shield, so its a bit weird they would do something like that.

I’ll probably get the tank wars supplement as I just purchased 11 vehicles that I now need to build and paint…. oh joy.

[Stuart Harrison]

Re: “I wonder though why they would do something like add a gun shield to the 75mm howitzer and increase its cost in the new rule book. Why not just keep it the same as the us army book for consistency. ”

They didn’t add it. They cut and paste the army lists from the first edition MRB (without even correcting errors that had been fixed by errata until the second print run).

This is covered by p153 telling us that the “Armies of…” series of books takes precedence over the get-you-by army lists in the MRB whenever there is a conflict between the two.

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