Compiled ATS ver. 1.65 Rules Q & A
The following Q & A is deemed OFFICIAL and should be
reviewed by all players using the ATS 2nd Edition rulebook for Advanced Tobruk,
Scottish Corridor-Lion Rampant,
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1.
Overview
2.
GAME SCALE AND TERMS
2.1.
Personnel, Vehicles, Time and Distance
3.
COMPONENTS
3.1.
Maps
3.2.
Topography
3.3.
Overlays
Q: Is H24 in both Tobruk expansions? What are C1 and D1? Deirs
and Camps?
Also, is
there any possibility of later games coming in larger boxes? Please?
A: Yes, in both or you
would have had to buy one to play the other. The overlays are in a scenario and
referenced there in the SSRs. Look, this is
3.4.
Charts and Tables
3.5.
Scenario Cards
3.6.
Counters
3.7.
AFV Cards
3.8.
Fate
4.
SEQUENCE OF PLAY
4.1.
Overview
4.2.
Initiative
4.3.
Participation Requirements
4.4.
Optional Variable Sequence
Q: When
using the optional combat/movement combined rule is it just the direct and
movement that get combined or are all three thrown together?
A:
It's just Direct and Movement that get combined. Indirect still gets
performed separately during the Indirect Fire Phase. (It IS possible to use an
Optional-Optional rule that combines Indirect, Direct AND Movement.) csw 1708
4/22/03
Q: If I use the combined movement/fire option, how should I
handle the initiative bonus? Many of the scenarios give one side or the other
in Rangers. If the Germans were supposed to have 5 movement and 3 fire impulses
should I give them 8 overall? csw 1727
4/24/03
A: Combine them.
5.
STACKING
5.1.
Overview
5.2.
Vehicular and Heavy Crew-Served Weapons
5.3.
Personnel Unit Stacking
Q: Are the stacking limits in steeples strict or
do overstacking penalties apply? (Example: I have a German crew and MMG in a
steeple. They are fired on, lose one step and fail the MC. A reduced crew
counter still has two figures on it, so I assume it still counts for 2 stacking
points. Can a leader enter the steeple to rally them? overstacking the hex and
causing the penalty? Or is he banned from going up there at all because of
space limitations?)
A: Overstacking
applies. Yes. Yes, penalty. No, he can crawl up there and face the music in the
form of overstacking.
5.4.
Violation Penalties
6.
LINE OF SIGHT AND LINE OF FIRE
Q: Example page 33.
Why can't Unit 2 see Unit 7?
A: It CAN see
over the hedge due to being UP on the Hillock.
Q: Example Page 34 Last sentence. Why does unit
15 not see unit 10 in full cover? (15 is Adjacent to 10) Also, is seeing past a
hillock 5 hexes a hold over rule?
A: 15 is the ONLY unit that could see it due to being adjacent.
9 still can too of course.
Q: I see by reading the 8.19.8 that the steeple
is +20 high. This means that the LOS example is incorrect. A unit in the
steeple could see past the level +10 building in hex R21. Correct?
A: Steeple
is +10 higher than the HIGHEST building level in the hex it is in.
6.1.
Terrain/Topography
6.2.
Topography and Line-Of-Sight
Q: Does the Height Advantage still apply to Night/Khamsin/Fog
conditions? If yes, is the spotting range reciprocal even if the Height
advantage unit is only a Leader/FO?
A: If the book does NOT say a rule DOES NOT apply it DOES. Yes.
Yes.
Q: 6.2.612 state, "To
see if intervening terrain creates blind hexes, consult the LOS Blind Hex
Creation Table. The axis on the left, labeled 'HEIGHT DIFF' represents the
elevation difference between the firing unit and the intervening terrain. This
difference must be at least +10 in order for a line of sight to exist OVER
intervening terrain or land forms that are higher (in levels) than the firing
unit." Should this read "...(in levels) than the lower unit."
A:
Yes.
6.3.
Spotting
Q: Spotting
ranges. What if you assault move into a building hex? Do you take the higher or
lower distance?
A: Always take the highest range that applies.
Q: Does firing act to make units visible at greater-than-usual
range?
A:
The spotting table says
that the spotting range is double for firing personnel (only).
Q: The spotting
chart shows FIRED targets are spotted at Double listed range, but rule 6.3.3
repeats the old version of Fired units spotted unlimited range.
A: Double.
Q: Can smoke rounds be fired at a hex that is too far away to be
spotted?
A: Double the spotting range.
6.4.
Smoke
Q: Does
smoke add a cumulative modifier for movement +2 plus COT? Does a unit that
fires from IN a smoke hex adjust 4 columns left on the casualty table? What
about a unit making a grenade attack from IN a smoke hex or to a to a smoke
hex, any modifiers?
A: Yes.
Yes. No.
Q: The rules and table TC say smoke provides 4
shifts left. Table F1 says smoke provides 3 shifts left. Which is correct?
A: Four.
Q: When infantry uses smoke grenades, how long
does it stick around?
A: Place smoke grenades with the
'2' side up - they are in play only for the turn they are placed.
6.5.
Weather and Aerosols
6.6.
Limited Intelligence
6.7.
Fog of War
Q: Why aren't
there concealment and hidden rules for units other than Heavy support weapons?
Or at least some type of spotting rules for units in good and improved cover
that make them difficult to see from more than a few hexes away (until they
fire or move that is)?
A: We consider this scenario by scenario - most
of the engagements where this is important use Special Scenario Rules (SSR) or
Spotting Conditions to make things more iffy.
Q: Do aircraft act reveal enemy fog of war units within
spotting range?
A. Yes.
Q: Does a squad
with a LMG with the FoW side up gain the benefits of FoW for spotting and cover
purposes?
A: Yes. This makes it a good idea to always put
these weapons on top of a stack, since you also can't look at any units under
the top unit in a stack unless those units are within Spotting Range AND move
or fire.
Q: There are no
rules for moving dummy AFV counters - is it that they are not supposed to move?
Or carefully moved out of LOS/spotting range of enemy units using values of
other units included in the situation?
A: Move them like any vehicle using any number of
movement factors you see fit. Of course, if they move 100 MF or enter the
spotting range of an enemy unit, they are flipped in the latter case and simply
give away the game in the former.
6.8.
Hidden Set Up
7.
DESERT TERRAIN
7.1.
Overview
7.2.
Overlays
7.3.
Open Ground
7.4.
Roads, Tracks and Railroads
7.5.
Walls
Q: Which is
correct, rule 7.5.2 (halftracks make Immobilization check, tanks don't) or the
terrain chart (halftracks can cross only at a gate, tanks make immobilization
check)?
A: Neither and both! Use the terrain chart, only
tanks do not take an immobilization check for walls.
7.6.
Hillocks
7.7.
Deirs
7.8.
Rock-Strewn Terrain
7.9.
Scrub Terrain
Q: Does a Scrub hex provide 360 degree (all
around) hull defilade?
A: Hull defilade applies to the
Front covered arc only.
7.10.
Wadi Terrain
Q: Exiting Wadis - The exit cost is not on TC.
Do units still pay the 2 MP exit cost from the UP position to an adjacent
non-wadi hex? Is there an exit cost for units to exit an end hex?
A: Yes. No.
Q: When an AFV comes up from a Wadi, does the
AFV have the option pointing the LOS+10 marker to any non-wadi crossed hexside
while maintaining its current facing? (In the Example on page 9, could the PzII
point its LOS+10 marker south while still facing east?)
A: LOS +10 marker must face same direction as the vehicle. The
turret may face any direction.
7.11.
Buildings
Q: 7.11.8 Regarding destroying buildings. You can't get a C6
result with a 75mm gun. C6 results only show up on the 88 column. How exactly
is a C6 or greater result obtained on the 75 column?
A: You need *at least* a 75mm gun and *at least*
a C6 result.
Q: So I guess a 75mm could get a building to collapse but only
if a leader directed the fire to get that 1 right shift.
A: Shift is not applied to the Casualty Table. Put a big shell
in there and the building may crumble.
Q: Rule
7.11.31. If I am reading this rule correctly, players are allowed to setup 88's
on the 2nd floor of buildings. Correct? How would a heavy weapon enter a second
level(MP costs?)?
A: No. Strike
sentence 3 of 7.11.31.
Q: If I have an enemy squad on a rooftop and a
friendly tank sitting one hex away that wants to fire it's main gun (a 75C) at
them. Does the tank pay a +2 DRM for the building AND a +1 DRM for the squad
being in Good cover on the rooftop, for a total of +3 DRM? Also, when you get a
hit and move to the casualty table, you start in the 75 column. Do you also
have to pay a one column shift left for the squad on the roof being in good
cover, moving you to the 70 column for your results?
A: No - the unit only gets the +1 for Good Cover
on the HPT. No - once you get a hit on the HPT, roll on the Casualty Table
without modifiers for cover
7.12.
Soft Sand Terrain
7.13.
Sand Dunes
7.14.
Palm Groves
8.
EXPANDED TERRAIN RULES
8.1.
New Art Releases
8.2.
On Map Terrain
Q: Does 8.2.3 apply to the desert?
A: Yes.
8.3.
Alternate Roads and Paths
Q: In the rule book page 11 example...just wondering why the
Tiger would not be able to move into the CC6 road hex side? The BB5 CC6 would
still follow the road. Of course this would give that 6 lber a rear shot (if
this is possible) and the tank would have to pivot twice to the BB6 CC6 CC7
vertex to continue south on the road.
A: All
changed for this example going forward. The Tiger can do it all.
Q: The
opportunity fire example on page 11. I'm not clear when it says the tank can
fired at in CC5 because the LOS crosses both the hexside crossed by the Tiger
and also the road.
A: As per the example text, when the Tiger moves
from BB5 to CC5 the LOS can hit both the hexside crossed AND the road art.
Q: As I see the graphic (on page 11) a LOS traced from BB6 to
CC5 hits the corner of the building in CC5 and doesn't touch the road in CC5.
Clearly it crosses it between BB5 and CC6 but not in CC5.
A: In this case you are
tracing to ANY portion of the crossed hexside and road art.
Q: I'm sill a little confused about tracing LOS to roads
during opportunity fire. Do you trace the LOS (or attempt to) to the road
graphic on the hexside or do you trace to the center dot in the hex as usual?
A: Center dot.
Q: If you trace LOS directly along a building hexside is the
LOS blocked? What if the wall of the building starts at the corner of the
firer's hex (like the wall example p.28 imagine the 8/5/9 was a building which
occupied the full hex would the LOS be blocked to the 5/5/6?
A: No. No.
8.4.
Hills
8.5.
Brush
Q: Does the +1
HPN modifier for LOS traced through brush apply to each hex traced through or
just once?
A: Each hex.
8.6.
Woods
8.7.
Orchards
Q: Is the HPN mod for orchard hexes cumulative, ie, if you
trace through more than one orchard hex, do you get +1 per hex?
A
Yes, that's +1 per Orchard hex.
8.8.
Crops
8.9.
Swamp
8.10.
Junkyard
8.11.
Graveyard
8.12.
Hedge
Q: Bocage says that it affects LOS the same as walls but the
example says that if the walls were bocage then the LOS would be blocked.
Hedges also say that they affect the same as walls. What about tracing along
them? Do they fall into the wall or the bocage camp?
A: Wall
8.13.
Bocage
Q: Hedges
don't create hull-defilade as stated in the terrain notes, what about bocage?
A: Yes, Bocage treated
as a wall, noting specific exceptions in the Bocage rules section.
Q: Bocage is a +10 obstacle. While
I can imagine infantry and tanks firing through the bocage I'm not sure that I
see how it affects their hull-down status. Is it the same as a wall?
A. As per
rule 8.17.3, which states, "A High Wall hexside is Level +10 high and blocks
LOS along its hexside." Note the caveat stated in the first paragraph of the
rules for High Wall, and used as a convention throughout the terrain rules: "A
High Wall is treated in the same manner as a Bocage hexside WITH THE FOLLOWING
EXCEPTIONS." (all caps added for emphasis). Blocking LOS means nothing can SEE
or FIRE though High Wall hexsides.
Q: Does the Bocage-Full Cover rule (8.13.7) allow
any unit (squads, AFV's, etc.) to use Hidden Set Up (6.8) or just heavy crew
served weapons and other units as directed by SSR?
A: Once again, if the rule does not specifically deny an
action it is OK. Otherwise we'll be unable to play these games. Thus, if an SSR
says, "the Germans may set up two squads hidden" and there is bocage around,
they may use it to hide.
Q: Bocage is treated like a wall (rule 7.5) or
high wall (rule 8.17)? Also, if my AFV is in a hex with a bocage hexside, it
can be fired on, but with a +2 HPN modifier. But if my AFV is TWO (or more)
hexes away from a bocage hexside, it can not be fired on from a unit higher up,
correct? What about a unit that is on the same level?
A: Wall. No - the issue here is Blind Hexes.
Check out 6.2.6. You can't see *through*
bocage, unless one of the units or both are next to the bocage hexside.
8.14.
Ravine
8.15.
Sunken Roads, Lanes and Railroads
8.16.
Embankment
8.17.
High Wall
Q: High-walls are +10 terrain. Can anything fire through them?
A. As per rule
8.17.3, which states, "A High Wall hexside is Level +10 high and blocks LOS
along its hexside." Note the caveat stated in the first paragraph of the rules
for High Wall, and used as a convention throughout the terrain rules: "A High
Wall is treated in the same manner as a Bocage hexside WITH THE FOLLOWING
EXCEPTIONS." (all caps added for emphasis). Blocking LOS means nothing can SEE
or FIRE though High Wall hexsides.
8.18.
Shellholes
8.19.
Alternate Building Types
Q: Question
regarding rubble. The rules (v 1.65) state that GOOD cover is created by rubble
(8.19.1062, pg. 15), yet the Terrain chart shows IMPROVED|FULL Cover, with a +2
HPN DRM as well. So, which is correct, the rules (GOOD cover, with no mention
of a +2 HPN DRM) or the Terrain chart (IMPROVED|FULL cover WITH a +2 HPN DRM)? If the Terrain chart is correct, does the
IMPROVED|FULL cover status mean that units can dive into full cover like a
hedgehog?
A:
Rubble is Improved Cover, +2/2 Left. Rubble is Improved, no Full available...
8.20.
Water Obstacles
9.
FIELD EMPLACEMENTS
9.1.
Overview
9.2.
Minefields
9.3.
Hedgehog
Q. Hedgehog rules. Several rules sections point
to the Hedgehog rules as being the rule to use for Full Cover effects, but
hedgehog rules do not state if an adjacent firer can see a unit under a
hedgehog counter.
A. The important thing to remember is that once a unit drops
to FULL cover, it cannot be fired at using Gunfire Factors (by a squad or
machine-gun, i.e., using the Casualty Table directly without first securing a
HIT on the HPT).
Q: 9.39 - States units can move from full cover
to good cover under a hedgehog during the infiltration phase. Could a unit do
this if no enemy was present just to get on top of the hedgehog? I was under
the impression a unit could only infiltrate if it was going to engage in melee?
Is this an exception to the infiltration move?
A. No. Infiltration allowed ONLY to
enter enemy location for melee.
Q: 9.3.10 - Do units ON a hedgehog receive the
+1 morale boost?
A:
No.
Q: 9.3.141 - Do units w/ M|MGs derive benefits
from a hedgehog?
A:
Yes.
9.4.
Weapon Pit
Q:
Should case
"a)" only cover personnel units (i.e., should references to non-AFVs
and heavy weapons be deleted since they appear to be covered in later cases
A: Yes. Sentence one should read, "Add a
die roll modifier of '2' to the Hit Probability Number required to hit a personnel
unit..."
Q:
What indirect fire
mod should be used vs vehicles in weapon pits (not so clear especially for
non-AFV and small/very small)?
A:
The answer is +2, as
per 9.4.5, case 'b'.
Q: Can a heavy weapon fire from UNDER a weapon
pit in full cover?
A. Yes. But
only mortars may fire from UNDER a hedgehog.
Q: Guns in
weapons pits get a +3 if set up under the pit counter and can still fire. Does
the crew get the +3 also? Can you target the crew separately from the gun?
A: Yes. No.
Since the crew is with the gun under the Weapons Pit counter they are in FULL
cover, but may still fire (9.4.4). Fire against a Heavy Weapon in a pit targets
them as one target - the d case under 9.4.5.
9.5.
Sangers
9.6.
Bunkers
Q: Bunkers. All units in bunkers are in Full cover.
OK. Can they be shot at? Do they use the +2 full cover HPT and or 2 shift left
Casualty table modifier? OK. Why then does AP fire have a +4 modifier on the
HPT? Again, this goes to the question of whether or not a unit in full cover
can be targeted for direct fire.
A1. Treat them as Weapon Pits, adding a modifier of +2 to the
HPN when firing at units UNDER the bunker counter. And as per 9.4.4, personnel
units in FULL cover cannot be engaged by Gunfire Factors. Add the +2 HPN
modifier for direct and indirect fire. So, yes, you can shoot at them if you
are using the HPT.
A2. The important thing to remember is that some emplacement
types have rules that specifically apply to THEM, as is the case with Weapon
Pits (e.g., 9.4.6 only applies to Weapon Pits) and Bunkers (e.g., 9.6.6 only
applies for AP Fire vs. bunker occupants in keeping with historical methods for
dealing with them). The +4 represents the attempt to 'shoot in' through the
vision slit(s) of the bunker with solid shot.
9.7.
Blockhouses
Q: Blockhouses. Units in blockhouses are also in
full cover (just like a bunker), but they can't fire out. Can we use direct
fire INTO the blockhouse? And if I can fire in, why would they not be able to
fire out?
A. Yes. Add the +2 HPN modifier normally for FULL cover. They
cannot fire out due to the absence of vision slits.
9.8.
Anti-Tank Trenches
9.9.
Barbed Wire
9.10.
Roadblocks
9.11.
Foxholes
10.
MORALE
10.1.
Overview
Q: The Italians have a lower morale than British
and Germans, but they hardly seem to be as poorly armed or led as in the real battles.
Are there special morale or ops rules that deal with Italian ineptness?
A: We follow the hard research as regards how
they were "led" at the small unit level. (And not Carrell, a Nazi
propaganda guy who slandered Italians to make Germans look better.) The only
Italian "ineptness" we dialed into the system is expected from YOU,
the gamer who is not as proficient as his buddy that regularly cleans his
clock. (But many of the scenarios depicting the Italians start with them in a
tight spot orchestrated by bad higher-level commanders!)
10.2.
Morale Modifiers
Q: Unit
"A" is on level +0 in clear terrain.
Unit Z is in an adjacent hex at
+10 levels or higher in a building.
Does "Z" affect "A"'s morale support range and
vice-versa? Does "Z" affect
"A"'s ability to rally and vice-versa? What if "A" and "Z" were
in adjacent hexes both at +10 levels with a road between them?
A: Yes,
Yes, Yes. Proximity is defined by "all adjacent". Grenades are dropping all
around us Officer not moving around.
Q: Do 2 half squads (two stacking points each)
provide a +1 morale support (FRD) or must it be full squads of 3 stacking
points?
A: We don't have "half squads" in this game. A reduced squad is
still a SQUAD for all rules referring to squads.
Q: Do Broken Units
count for morale support on the M Table?
A: No. Consider Table M
to read in the header "Unbroken Friendly Units".
Q: For Friendly units
on the Morale Table, does that first entry mean "Each 3 stacking point
personnel" unit or do I (laughing now but still unsure!) add up all of my
stacking points and divide by 3?
A: Squads only. Here are the only friendly units that can
boost your morale:
·
Each 3
stacking point squad (it could be marked Casualties but can't be flipped to the
2 stacking point side)
·
AFVs
·