Hammer of Democracy initial queries

[Tim Snoddy]

I am confused by the rules for concealment area fire and cover, P38.  A unit in a trench has damage reduced by one if hit on target number?  A unit in terrain automatically has damage reduced by 1?  Not sure why this is better.  What about a trench on the edge of a wood what is damage reduced by?

P31 Movement.  First paragraph talks about may move.  So a unit given a defend order may move or not according to player preference?

Also looking for what happens to infantry when their transports are hit.

Can’t wait to try the rules out.

[Ivan Sorensen]

For units IN a feature, we assume they are not very visible and any shots at them are basically just pelting the area with gunfire.

So you can fire at troops within a forest area, but they’ll take pretty minimal damage.

If you are on the edge of the woods, you get Concealment (+2to hit) and the trench benefit.

Does that make sense?

Defending units MAY move but are not required to.

[Tim Snoddy]

Sorry Ivan, I am still pretty confused.  I understand the rationale.  The following couple of sentences from P38 seem to contradict each other:

“Units within a terrain feature, such as woodlands, not positioned along the edge are
Concealed and all fire against them is Area Fire.
Such troops may only be fired upon if they are within 3” of the edge.”

Can I try asking my question in a different way.

My unit is 4″ inside a forest, can it be targeted or not?  If yes, does the -1 to all damage apply.  I take it that is what the term area fire means.  If it can be targeted I believe it would get the +2 to target number for concealed.

My unit is 2″ inside a forest.  It can fire out as normal.  Fire at it is +2 to target number for concealment and damage is reduced by 1 if the to hit roll exactly matches the target number.

Re defend order P32

“Defend
To Defend, the unit takes a normal move but may not move closer to any known enemy
position”

I would read this to imply the unit must take a move.  You have it covered earlier 0n P31 that it is may but I would suggest inserting may again in the defend order text.

 

[Ivan Sorensen]

Sorry, my bad.

If you are 4″ in, you cannot be targeted.

If you are 2″ in, you get the +2 target number and damage reduction.

If you are on the edge, you get concealment and cover.

Does that help?
Clearly I need to add an example or a diagram for this, so I’ll put that on the list.

On Defend, yes, you are correct and I’ll fix.

[Tim Snoddy]

Got you, absolutely sound.  Diagram is the way to go, very hard to express that purely as text.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Yeah, for sure. Appreciate the help.

[Tim Snoddy]

Sorry to come back on this yet again.  Can a unit 2″ inside a wood fire out?  I think they can in which case the wording on P20 should be cleaned up.

P20 “Troops within Open features can only be seen if they are placed on the edge of the feature.
Likewise, they can only fire out if positioned at the edge.”

That would suggest absolute edge to me which is a different tactical position.

Should that be troops within open features can only be seen if they are placed within 3″ of the edge of the feature and the same amendment for the second sentence.

If I am wrong I promise to shut up and patiently await the diagram.

[Ivan Sorensen]

While I tinker with a diagram, this is the new explanation (with a few tweaks to reflect how it was meant to be played).
Let me know if that parses a bit better.

Concealment, Area Fire and Cover
Units are Concealed if they are on the edge of or directly behind any terrain feature.
This raises the Target Number by 2 points.
If the terrain feature is a purpose built fortification (such as a trench) or is made of stone, the unit benefits from Cover.
On any Hit roll that rolls the Target Number exactly, reduce Damage inflicted by 1 point.

Units located up to 3” into a terrain feature are Obscured.
Raise the Target Number by 2 points as above and all Damage is reduced by 1 point. Exception: Forest features do not reduce the damage from artillery fire.

Units may fire while Concealed or in Cover but not while Obscured.

[Author]

Posts