Transport/tow & British Army question

[Lee]

Hi, just want to make sure I have this right,

1. if I have say a bren carrier as a transport and give it a pintle mount lmg upgrade it then no longer transports units but can fire both weapons itself and moves into another slot say armoured car?

2. with the british army can I take gurkha paratroopers from the empire in flames book (which is says they count as infantry in a generic platoon) and still take one national rule from say the western desert book for “indian manpower” etc?

[Stuart Harrison]

1.  Not quite correct – the only transports that lose transport capacity when taking an option are those that have it specifically listed in the option for the upgrade – ie: jeeps – “May have a pintle-mounted MMG for +15 points, losing all transport capacity”.  If you take the option to add the MMG, the jeep loses transport capacity and becomes an armoured car choice for selection, see p153 for full explanation.

2.  Use of campaign book units with special rules from another campaign book is something best discussed with your opponent/event organiser.

[Lee]

Hi Stuart, my confusion comes from the section on page 153 of main rule book under the “if a vehicle listed as ..”  ? surely this isn’t only referring to a couple of jeeps in old army books as I couldn’t find it on any other transports in several books.

I went back and looked at the first edition bolt action transport rules and it’s even harsher it says no transports weapons can be fired if no passengers are aboard?.

[Master Chief]

Bolt Action 2nd Ed page 153:

If a vehicle listed as a transport/tow picks a weapon option that means the transport loses its transport/towing ability, it no longer counts as a transport/tow for the purposes of force selection, but as either an armoured car (if wheeled and with damage value 7+ or worse) or an anti-aircraft or self-propelled artillery vehicle otherwise.

The bold words you referred to should be read as how Stuart has described i.e. if you choose a weapon option that causes (means) the vehicle to lose its transport capability (as stated in the vehicle’s entry), then that vehicle does not take up a transport slot, but takes up an armoured car slot if wheeled with damage value 7+ or worse, or an anti-aircraft or self-propelled artillery vehicle slot otherwise.

In the Universal carrier’s case the pintle mounted LMG option does not state that it loses its transport capacity, so it will still take up a transport slot.

This rule isn’t only referring to “a couple of jeeps in old army books”. For example the US M3 White Scout Car can gain the recce ability by giving up its 8-man transport capability. It should then be considered to take up an armoured car slot and not a transport slot in your army selection.

[Lee]

No worries, thanks for clearing that up, I was reading that line as 2 statements but I can see now what it means

If a vehicle listed as a transport/tow picks a weapon option  —-    that means the transport loses its transport/towing ability

 

[Stuart Harrison]

Yep, the whole bit is the criteria (takes an option which states transport capacity is lost), the consequences follow on if that entire criteria is met (ceases to be a transport and takes up another slot) – you’re not the first to interpret it as criteria (transport takes an option) and consequence (loses transport capacity) with following in game effects).   There is an errata expanding it from weapon options to any option that costs your transport capacity which rolls in the White taking Recce.

It’s a specific second edition fix to the first edition MG jeep spam where you could take a jeep for every infantry squad and arm them all.

[Author]

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