1 reply to this topic

[Patrick Ries]

Hi

we had a discussion during this evenings game regarding overwatch. A Sherman was in overwatch and took the shot. Question now, does it get the modifiers of a "reactionary fire" in the to hit table or can it shoot clean, ie without the modifier of 1/2 or -3 whatever is worse. The argument here was that it was a reactionary action and hence that it has to shoot with the malus in the to hit

Thx

Pat

[Bob Benge]

Hi Pat!

Thanks for the question. Overwatch firing is independant of Reactionary Action.

Per the rules in the Chapter 5 Advanced Game Mechanics, Page 5.3, 3rd column, 3rd paragraph labeled Overwatch;
Overwatch - Standard Action - Any stand with the ability to fire a weapon may go on Overwatch, which represents the stand waiting for opportunity fire.

and Page 5.4, 1st column, 2nd paragraph labeled Overwatch under the Reactions heading;

OVERWATCH
Any stand may use a Standard Action to go into “Overwatch” which allows it to react later to enemy movement (or fire) within their Overwatch sector. See the Direct Fire chapter for complete details on using Overwatch.

Overwatch is taken as a standard action during the units activation. The unit is thus conserving its fire to take opportunity to fire at any enemy unit the moves within the opportunity fire arc.

Reactionary Action is a specific action as stated in the rules Chapter 5 Advanced Game Mechanics, Page 5.4, 1st column, 4th paragraph
labeled Reactionary Action

REACTIONARY ACTION
When an enemy stand moves within 2" of a friendly stand, it could trigger what is called a Reactionary Action, or RA. This situation is not automatic, as the friendly stand must first pass a TQ, or Troop Quality, check. This TQ Check is modified by the conditions below, depending on whether the testing stand is infantry or a vehicle.

Note that a distinction is also made within the Reactionary Action Rule later in the 4th paragraph of the Reactionary Action;

If the stand is on Overwatch it could feasibly take its OW and then follow up with a Reactionary action, one after another.

The Reactionary Fire Modifier is only used when a Reactionary Action is taken. There is no specific fire modifier for taking an Overwatch Fire, however, a unit taking Overwatch will lose 1 from its rate of fire (ROF) but not reduce the ROF below 1. This is outlined in Chapter 7, Direct Fire, page 7.5, Overwatch Section, paragraph 5, bullet 3;

Weapons have their ROF reduced by -1 when taking shots of opportunity. Bonus Shots due to Troop Quality may still be taken from Overwatch.

Bottomline: Overwatch is not a Reactionary Action it is a Standard Action. There is no Fire Modifier for firing in Overwatch. A unit in Overwatch may only fire in the arc it is in Overwatch and will lose 1 from its ROF, but not reduce its ROF below 1.

Hope this helps Pat!