Paul Rohrbaugh - 04:34am Mar 11, 2002 PST (#1004 of 1006)
Basta imparare, comincia a morire!

Greetings, Christopher!

Replies are in caps following each question:

Hello Paul & anyone playing PATTON'S FINEST -

I've finally gotten around to putting the counters together, reading the
rules and setting up, and before I begin pushing counters I've got a few
questions:

1. Activation chits for CCB - I've got 2 chits (an 'All' and a 'DR+2').
That's all there are for the CCB, right? (Looking at 8.1.4 made me
wonder, but CCB isn't available on the 19th, when 3 markers per
formation are used by the US, right?)

CORRECT, THERE ARE ONLY 2 ACTIVATION CHITS FOR CCB SINCE IT CAN NOT
POSSIBLY SHOW UP ON THE 19TH.

2. I assume (dangerously, *grin*) that air strikes can be combined
against a single hex. I ask because artillery cannot gang up on a hex
per 7.2.1 ("A hex cannot be the target of more than one artillery
unit."), but 7.1.1 doesn't prohibit such tactics.

CORRECT AGAIN, MORE THAN 1 AIRSTRIKE MARKER CAN BE USED AGAINST A HEX.
HOWEVER, NOTE 7.1.1 AND 7.2.3 THAT UNITS CAN BE DISRUPTED AND REDUCED,
BUT NEVER COMPLETELY ELIMINATED, BY ONLY AIR AND/OR ARTILLERY STRIKES.
ALSO, IF PLAYING WITH RULE 15.1.1 INTERDICTION, HAVING MORE THAN 1
ARTILLERY UNIT INTERDICTING A HEX IS NOT ALLOWED.

3. I assume (again!) that a target defender hex can be the subject of as
many separate attacks as can be brought to bear (including overrun, 1
hex and 2 hex range shots) in a single move and fire phase.

CORRECT.

4. And I assume (sorry!) that any single unit in a defender hex or stack
can be the subject of as many of those attacks as the attacker wishes.

CORRECT.

5. I am befuddled (no assumptions left) by the following contradiction:

The Combat Modifiers Chart says:

Moving and Firing:1/2 AAF/IAF (artillery, anti-tank and German assault
guns not allowed)

The rules (section 8.4.1, 6th bullet) say:

Moving and Firing: 2 attack factor

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A FAILURE TO EDIT (TO PARAPHRASE COOL HAND LUKE!).
RULE 8.4.1 SHOULD SAY 1/2 ATTACK FACTOR (TYPO). THE CHART IS CORRECT.

Which is it? And how do those two recon units with MF ratings and 2-1-5
combat/movement factors get handled?

A RECON UNIT COULD MOVE 2 HEXES AND STILL BE ABLE TO FIRE AGAINST AN
ARMOURED TARGET BEFORE OR AFTER ITS MOVE (NOT BOTH). ANY 1 CF UNIT COULD
NOT BOTH MOVE AND FIRE, SINCE YOU DROP FRACTIONS, AND IT WOULD HAVE A CF
OF "0."

And while we're on the subject, can those same two MF rated units with a
'1' IAF conduct a split move/fire, with fire directed at an infantry
unit? Or does the halve strength & round down rule (8.3) make that
impossible?

1 MP UNITS COULD NOT MOVE AND FIRE. THE ONLY TIME ANY UNIT WOULD BE
EXPENDING 1/2 OF A MP WOULD BE WITH ROAD MARCH (RULE 15.2). SUCH UNITS
WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO CONDUCT COMBATS.

6. The mechanics of reinforcement are a bit unclear. The rules (section
11.1.1) sometime say that reinforcements enter "automatically." The
designer's notes in the same section infer that reinforcement movement
is subject to activation limits. Is it intended that reinforcements can
become available though die rolls, but can be also unable to move if an
activation chit is insufficient to get them all going?

UNITS THAT ARE RECEIVED AUTOMATICALLY MUST STILL CONFORM TO THE
ACTIVATION RULES. IF THEY ARE NOT DEPLOYED/ENTERED INTO THE GAME AS PART
OF THE FORMATION'S ACTIVATED UNITS, THEY WOULD THEN ENTER THE GAME
DURING THE UNACTIVATED UNITS PORTION OF THE OPERATIONS PHASE, WITH
RUDUCED MOVEMENT AND COMBAT CAPABILITIES.

Ok, I think I've covered everything that came up in my game prep. My
apologies if these questions were asked and answered before (I searched
CSW and looked at Grognards before I started typing, but I may have
missed something), or if I just misunderstood plain English (something
I'm quite good at doing!)

Thanks again for any clarifications you can provide.

YOU'VE VERY WELCOME. BE SURE TO CHECK WEB GROGNARDS FOR ADDITIONAL
VARIANT RULES AND A REVIEW BY ROBERTO CHIAVINI. ALSO, IF YOU LIKE THIS
GAME, CHECK OUT THE OTHER TITLES THAT USE THIS SYSTEM; BLOOD AND STEEL
(MDG), BLOOD AND STEEL EXPANSION (SCHUTZE GAMES) AND REVANCHE: THE
BATTLE OF DOMPAIRE (SCHUTZE GAMES). ENJOY THE GAME, AND LET THE DICE FLY
HIGH! :^) Paul