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[Trotsky]

Comprehensive turn example. Presented here is a turn sequence example. This example sees two opposing tank companies join battle. This turn example uses the newly published revised Command and Morale Drop-In’s.A company of T34/76 consisting of: T34/76 company command tank.Platoon A – 3xT34/76.Platoon B – 3xT34/76.Platoon C – 3xT34/76.A company of PzlV G1 consisting of: PzlV company command tank.Platoon A – 3x PzlV.Platoon B – 3x PzlVPlatoon C – 3x PzlVAll units start in command and moving. Both players roll a twenty-sided dice to decide who has the initiative. The Soviets roll lower than the Germans so have the choice to choose who activates first. They choose to activate first.

[Trotsky]

Soviet Platoon A activates first – they move their Standard Action and Bonus Move to move forward. The whole platoon is now marked with an ‘activated and moving’ counter.

[Trotsky]

German Platoon C as well as the company commander activates – remember a command stand can activate during any friendly activation phase. The company commander uses his Bonus Move to move off the hill, and uses his Standard Action to undertake a movement command action. The company commander gives himself a 1” bonus and also gives this bonus also to Platoon C. Both Platoon C and the company commander are now marked with an ‘activated and moving’ counter.

[Trotsky]

The Soviet player checks whether his Platoon C can see the German Platoon A – these checks are free and can be taken at any time. However, the Soviet player cannot measure the distance without committing himself to the shot. The Soviet player estimates the distance is greater than 24”, therefore earning a -5 penalty and declines a shot (also at the start of a scenario all units are considered moving so a further -1 would also be deducted from the chance of success.)The Soviet player activates Platoon C and places the entire platoon on Overwatch duty anticipating a better shot when the opposing German Platoon moves. All units in the platoon are marked with an Overwatch counter ensuring that the counters arrow points in the direction the units wish to Overwatch – in this example they are all watching the German Platoon A (although they could all cover different areas of the battlefield if they wished.) The platoon is also marked with an ‘activated and stationary’ counter.

[Trotsky]

The German player now activates Platoon A. Although the PzlV’s have better optics than the Soviets, the T34’s have a lower profile making them more difficult to hit. So he decides to withdraw back down the hill rather than advancing towards the Overwatching Soviets. The German player announces that the rear tank is beginning to move. This gives the Soviets the choice to activate any of its Overwatching units that are in Line of Sight of the moving tank. The Soviet checks if any of his Overwatch units have Line of Sight to the rear tank and that they are in the units Overwatch arc (remember, vehicles block line of sight). Only one tank can see and takes the shot. The Soviet measures the range and works out the target number needed to score a hit.Soviet regular troops have a TQ of 10.Modifiers:T34/76 OM1: 0DM of PzlV: +1Target moving: -1Range 33”: -5Total modifiers: -5Target number is therefore '5'. The Soviet tank throws a '14' so it misses. Its Overwatch counter is removed.No other Soviet tank has line of sight to the moving tank so it uses it Bonus Move to move in reverse at a movement cost of x2 back down the slope. It then uses its Standard Action to move forward around the bottom of the hill using intervening trees to shield itself from the other Overwatching Soviets.The next German tank also decides to reverse back down the slope and the Soviet player again checks line of sight and decides to take a shot with an Overwatching T34/76. The probability of a hit is the same, so they will need a '5' to score a hit. They roll a '15' and so miss. The last tank on Overwatch could also fire if it wishes, but decides to hold its fire to cover the remaining PzlV. The moving German tank reverses and then uses its Standard Action to move forward following the other tank.The final German tank declares it is beginning to move and the last Soviet Overwatch tank opens fire, still needing a '5' to score a hit. They roll a '3' and score a hit.The Soviets are shooting standard AP with an offensive value of '9'. The low quality of Soviet AP at this range earns it a -1 penalty, yielding a final value of '8'. A quick check on the facing template shows the hit is scored on the German front armour – this has a defensive value of '8.'Subtracting the Soviet offensive value of '8' from the German defensive value '8' yields a 0.The Soviets roll on the ‘0’ column the ‘Kill Table’ and roll a '12.' This causes the German tank to be Immobilised and Suppressed, and is marked with the appropriate counters. As this unit is now Immobilised over 2” from its platoon the Germans will have a difficult choice next turn, whether to leave the unit Out of Command or move the rest of the platoon back to within 2” to support their immobilized comrade. The platoon is marked with an Immobile, Suppressed, and ‘activated and moving’ counter.

[Trotsky]

[Trotsky]

The Soviets now activate their final Platoon B along with the company commander. The company commander uses his Bonus Move to move off the hill, and uses his movement Command Action to give himself a 1” bonus and also give this bonus to Platoon B. Both Platoon B and the company commander are now marked with an ‘activated and moving’ counter.

[Trotsky]

The final German platoon goes on Overwatch to cover any future advances of the Soviets. The units are marked with Overwatch and ‘activated and stationary’ counters.

[Trotsky]

Turn two.Roll for initiative – German 19, Soviets 3. The Soviets briefly consider giving the Germans the first move, hoping to force their hand by having them activate their Overwatch troops before all the Soviet units have been activated, but giving up the initiative is not to be done lightly and so they declare they will activate first.The Soviet player wishes to active Platoon B, but first they must check if they are in command. To be in command each stand must be within platoon command distance of each other, usually 2”, and at least one stand must be within 12” of its company commander. In this case, the unit is obviously within 2" and therefore does not need to be measured.

[Trotsky]

The platoon wishes to move onto the hill in front of them and seek hull down positions. The hill is shielded from the German’s Overwatching on the far side of the battlefield and hopefully the Soviets will be able to interdict the other two German platoons. T34’s have a cross-country speed of 6”. The first tank moves using its Bonus Move forward 2” to the foot of the hill, to advance uphill costs an additional 1” leaving it a further 3” of forward movement.

[Trotsky]

The opposing Germans on Overwatch check to see if they have Line of Sight to the Soviet tank. They don’t because the woods block it, but these checks are free. The tank on the hill attempts to gain a hull down position — this is a Standard Action and requires a TQ check – the Soviet tank gets a '6' and so gains a hull down position. A hull down position only offers the benefit to the front facing of the tank and therefore it is important that the tank is placed accurately facing the direction the Soviet player wishes before attempting for hull down. The other tanks follow, one gains hull down on a roll of '8,' and the last tank fails on a roll of '15.' Remember you can resolve Standard Actions and Bonus Moves in any order in a platoon, for example:[ul]move one, move anothermove part of a stand's Bonus Move, conduct a Standard Action, then move the remaining Bonus Movego back to the first for a Standard action[/ul]and so on. The platoon is marked with a moved and activated counter.

[Trotsky]

The German player wishes to activate platoon C and checks if it is in command, which it is. The Soviet tank facing this platoon failed to gain a hull down position, so the first tank decides to open fire. The first tank decided to use stationary fire and so uses it OM1 value.

[Trotsky]

German regular troops have a TQ of 12.Modifiers:PzIV G1 OM1: +1DM of T34/76: 0Target moving: -1Target on higher elevation -3Range 14”: 0Total modifiers: -3Target number is therefore '9.' The German tanker rolls a '12' and so misses. This tank cannot use its Bonus Move as it used its OM1 value. The next tank is a little further away at 16” but the modifier is the same. This tanker rolls a '2' and scores a hit.The German is shooting standard AP with an offensive value of '10.' The Soviet has been struck in the front armour, which has a defensive value of '9.' Subtracting the offensive value from the defensive value yields a final value of +1.The Germans roll on the ‘+1’ column of the ‘Kill Table’ and get a '1!' This causes 2 hits, as PzIV’s can only take one hit this means it brews up. At the start of the game wind direction and speed were determined using the deviation dice. The wind is blowing at strength two in a NE direction. The brewed up tank is marked with a cotton wool ball and a further 2 (equal to wind strength) are placed in the direction the wind is blowing. As we are using the optional Morale Drop-In in this game, the Soviet platoon is marked with a Morale Check counter as it has suffered a casualty. The platoon will have to check its Morale at the start of its next activation.

[Trotsky]

[Trotsky]

The final PzIV moves forward 4”, not wishing to move over 2” from the rest of his platoon and therefore going Out of Command. The tank decides to go on Overwatch.The tanks that did not move are marked with an activated and stationary counter. The remaining tank is marked with an activated and moved counter.

[Trotsky]

The Soviets activate Platoon C, which is in command. The Soviet company commander is also activated with this platoon. The Soviet platoon activates its first tank, and the Overwatching Germans check if they have Line of Sight, which they do. The German tanker has to decide whether to fire now or not. He has a clear Line of Sight, however the Soviet has a height advantage, which equates to a -3 to hit modifier and the range is high. The German decides not to fire just yet to see if the Soviet is moving towards him, which will eliminate its height advantage, or it may turn to its right to enable the intervening trees to block the Line of Sight.

[Trotsky]

The Soviet tank begins to turn to its right — obviously seeking the cover of the intervening trees. The German tanker, knowing he is not going to get a better shot, declares he is taking the shot.German regular troops have a TQ of 12.Modifiers:PzIV G1 OM1: +1 (the German is marked with a stationary Overwatch counter)DM of T34/76: 0Target moving: -1Target on higher elevation -3Range 33”: -5Total modifiers: -8Target number is therefore '4,' not a great shot but as the German platoon has not yet activated this turn they have nothing to lose. The German tanker rolls a '5' and misses. Its Overwatch counter is removed. The German, thinking that this is going to be their best shot this turn, fires a second tank at the Soviets.Target number is still '4.' They roll a '9' and miss; their Overwatch counter is removed. The final German tank checks line of sight but it is blocked by the intervening woods.The Soviet tank resolves its move, it is allowed up to a 90 degree turn free as part of a move action so completes its turn and moves forward 6” into the safety of the cover of the intervening woods. The following tanks also use their Bonus Move to move to their right.

[Trotsky]

The tanks then use their Standard Actions, expending them as move actions to move towards the low hill in front of them. Remember T34’s have 6 move pips. The first tank reaches the bottom of the hill for 4” (pips = inches). It costs 1” to move onto the hill, which leaves it 1” of forward movement. The other two tanks take 5.5” to reach the base of the hill, so they lack the required 1 pip to move onto the hill and so finish their movement there.

[Trotsky]

The company commander uses his Bonus Move and Standard Action to move towards Platoon B. He will give a +2 bonus to the platoon morale recovery roll if he is within 2” of the individual stands when the platoon has to check its morale at the start of it next activation. The Soviet player ensures he keeps his command tank behind the platoon, as he will become a legitimate target if he is the closest target in the least amount of cover to a German stand. Of course, the Germans could try a CO identification check, but the Soviet player is banking on the Germans having enough going on in their activation to not undertake such an action. The commander and Platoon C are marked with activated and moved counters.

[Trotsky]

The Germans now activate Platoon A. One tank is beyond the platoon command distance of 2”, and so is marked Out of Command. Out of Command gives several penalties — the most serious of which is the loss of its Bonus Move. As the stand in question is already immobilised it could not use its Bonus Move anyway. Also it should spend its Standard Action moving back into platoon command distance of its platoon, but again because it is immobilised, it cannot do this. This stand is also Suppressed. When using the Morale Drop-In a stand auto-recovers from Suppression at the end of its activation. Therefore this stand cannot undertake any action this activation.