Thanks to Jeff Shields for his editing work and for hosting this on his website for so long. Also many thanks to Rodney Kinney and Carl Fung for their VASL graphics.
This is a Basic Armor Example of Play. It is similar in design and purpose to the Basic Infantry Example of Play. The armor example plays out a turn or two of a real scenario in order to focus on the particulars of difficult rules sections. Players unfamiliar with AFVs may want to read the example and get comfortable with the concepts of firing and moving AFVs. This is not a demonstration of the best strategies for winning the scenario in question; it is an exercise for people to understand the AFV rules. If anybody finds an error, please email me
By convention, all DRs are given with the colored die first. Rules references are given in parentheses. Reference to a unit's front/side armor factor or kill number includes your understanding that the side armor factor also applies to the rear target facing (D1.62). Editorial kibbitzing from Jeff Shields is given in [].
The scenario we'll be working with is T2 - The Puma Prowls, found in the General v24 #2 and reprinted in the Classic ASL pack. (Look for Classic ASL in your local hobby store or call Boulder Games or Avalon Hill to get it - it's a very good compilation of early ASL articles and scenarios.) There are other good choices for learning armor (e.g., Under the Noel Trees and Blazin' Chariots are good), but Puma Prowls is small, 100% armor, and does not use the desert rules. Let's tool around with these vehicles for a while before having infantry run around underfoot (undertread?).
For those people who may not have the scenario, I'll give a quick rundown on it. If you don't have the scenario you can obtain a legal copy by writing Avalon Hill and requesting scenario T2, The Puma Prowls, from the General volume 24, #2, at a cost of $1 per page. While owning the scenario isn't necessary to our lesson, I recommend you do this as it will help you follow along. The intent is to get you playing the system so that you'll learn the game.
So here goes. Date is June 1944. Board configuration is:
+-----------+ |22 | N^ +-----------+ |4 | +-----------+
Russian moves first, both sides enter from offboard. Russian has five T-70s and a 10-2 armor leader; German has four PSW 234/2s and a 9-1 armor leader. Both SANs are zero since this is strictly an armor affair. Russians enter on 22GG1, Germans enter on 4A10. By SSR the Russians only have 1/2 of their normal MPs on turn 1.
Victory goes to whoever has the most points; you get 1 pt for each enemy AFV destroyed/Immobilized and 2 points each for exiting your AFVs off the far east/west side of the board on a road. The VCs are pretty darn symmetric. Both sides get to balance attack and defense. Given the small number of units, anything that results in either side having a 2-tank advantage is going to be big. Looks like Tension City.
That's pretty much all you need to know to get going in this scenario. Certain points like game length and particulars about the VCs are left deliberately unanswered to avoid any hint of copyright infringement.
Note 5 on page H21 covers the Russian T-70; nothing special there. The rightmost column of the chart on page H22 directs us to vehicle note C(dagger) on p. H25, which tells us that the T-70 has a Radio at the time of this scenario, which is good news. Being Radioless generally forces you to use AFV Platoon Movement (D14), which makes you slow and vulnerable. Radios make us happy.
Note 75 on page H15 covers the German Puma, again no help there. The rightmost column of the chart on p. H13 also doesn't point to anything special, something of a rarity for German vehicles.
OK, having checked out chapter H for special vehicle notes, let's look at the counters.
The FIRST things to look at are the armor and Gun sported by both sides. The balance of firepower often dictates what your AFVs can do on the battlefield; who they try to beat up on and who they run from. Some scenarios (particularly late-war Eastern Front) are "hit-kill" affairs where the combination of Gun caliber and armor factors yield To Kill numbers that are so high that hitting a target means killing it. In some scenarios, hits are easy but kills are hard to come by. I think the best scenarios yield To Hit and To Kill numbers around 7, where the chances of success are good but nothing will be a sure thing.
At any rate, we see that the Puma sports a 50L gun (with a boxed ROF of 2) while the T-70 has frontal armor of 6 and side/rear armor of 4. Looking on the C7.31 AP To Kill Table, the 50L has a basic To Kill (TK) number of 13. Therefore, if a Puma hits a T-70, the German player generally needs to roll a 7 or less for a front shot or a 9 or less for a side/rear shot in order to hurt the T-70. There are some modifications to this number which we'll discuss later, but a front/side kill # of 7/9 is pretty darn good.
On the back of the Puma counter, we see the notation "A5(^3)/4(^4)" where the (^4) is superscript 4, indicating that the Puma can fire APCR in 1944 with a Special Ammo Depletion Number of 4 (C8.1). APCR (or HEAT) is nice to have, as it generally bumps up your Gun's To Kill number by a few notches. The C7.32 APCR To Kill Table shows that 50L APCR has a To Kill # of 17, much better than the Gun's normal Armor Piercing punch; it should have little trouble killing a T-70 from any angle since the front/side kill # would go to 11/13 before final modifications.
Of course, you only get APCR if you declare the To Hit shot to be using APCR and must roll less than or equal to the Special Ammo Depletion Number (C8.9). If you roll less than the Depletion Number, you get that special ammo and can try to get it again in future shots. If you roll equal to the Depletion Number, you get that special ammo for that shot but no future shots (i.e., that's the last round of that ammo). If you roll greater than the Depletion Number, you don't have that special ammo and all aspects of that shot are stricken from the record; it's as if that shot attempt never took place (except for possible Gun Malfunction). Odds are pretty low that the German's To Hit DR will be a 4 or less to enable APCR, but it's something to keep in mind.
For the Russians, their 45L gun has a basic To Kill # of 10, which can punch through the Puma's 4/1 front/side armor to yield To Kill numbers of 6/9, nearly identical to the case of Puma firing at T-70. APCR is available to the T-70 in 1944 with a To Kill number of 12 which will bump the To Kill numbers on the Puma up to 8/11. More importantly, the Russian's APCR Depletion Number is a hefty 6, which is significantly more dependable than the chances that the German will roll his APCR Depletion number of 4. When trying for APCR, the T-70 will succeed 42% of the time while the Puma will succeed only 17% of the time. Ouch. Toss in the fact that there's one more T- 70 and the Russian gets the better armor leader, and the German is wondering what he's gotten himself into.
Well, if the Pumas can't outgun the Russians, can they outmaneuver them? At the top right of the counter is the AFV's movement factor printed over a white symbol showing the AFV's movement type. The T-70 has 14 Movement Points [MPs, not to be confused with the Movement Factors (MFs) used by Infantry and Cavalry] and the white oval background indicates that it moves like a Fully-Tracked vehicle (D1.13). The Puma has a generous 33 MPs, but the white circle background indicates that it moves like an armored car (AC) (D1.12), which hurts a lot, as we shall see.
Now go to the inside of the Chapter B divider. The big Terrain Chart shows the MP costs for fully-tracked vehicles and armored cars. Right off the bat, notice how armored cars expend THREE MP per open ground hex. On open ground, the T-70 is actually faster than the Puma! Now go down to the lines for Hedges and Walls. Notice that armored cars spend more MPs to cross hedges than fully-tracked vehicles do and may Bog in the process (note "B"). Also note that ACs can't cross Walls at all! Reading the rest of the terrain types on this chart will reinforce the notion that ACs need all of their thirty-plus MPs. They're truly Hell on Wheels when they have access to Roads, but over open terrain they're not nearly as mobile as they look.
The other features of the combatants in this scenario are their turret types, target sizes, smoke dischargers, and MG factors. Sometimes all of these factors are vital to an AFVs success, sometimes they're superfluous. Good armor commanders know how to use even small advantages wherever they find them.
Turret types - The Puma's thin white square indicates a Slow Turret (D1.32) while the T- 70's broken white square indicates a One Man Turret (D1.322). The One Man Turret is a big deal because the T-70 must be Buttoned Up (BU, D5.2) to fire. Note also that the Russian SAN is zero while the T-70's machine guns are weak, so the German Pumas can feel relatively safe in opening their turret hatches and exposing their crews (CE, D5.3). Since there is a +1 To Hit DRM when firing while BU (C5.9), the Russians will be at a slight disadvantage with regard to rolling on the To Hit table.
Target sizes - The white background on the T-70's front armor factor means that the T- 70 is a small target and benefits from a +1 DRM when being fired on on the To Hit Table (C6.7). Since the Puma is a normal-sized vehicle, this +1 DRM nicely balances out the BU DRM disadvantage the Russians suffer above.
Smoke Dischargers - The back of the Puma counter shows "sD7", which means the Puma can fire its smoke discharger with a usage number of 7 (D13.31). Note that it's a USAGE number, not a DEPLETION number, because vehicular smoke dischargers never deplete like special ammo. If you try for smoke discharger smoke and roll higher than the usage number, you don't get smoke that turn, but you are still eligible to try again in the future. BTW, it's a peeve of mine that boxcarring a smoke usage roll doesn't malf the smoke discharger. C'mon guys, those suckers had to fail once in a while too!
Smoke Dischargers are GREAT. They're very powerful on offense and defense. It's excellent to be able to have your AFV pop smoke in convenient places, and this type of smoke is the 5/8" variety that doesn't go away after the MPh like infantry smoke. Get excited about smoke dischargers, cuz you'll love 'em. In keeping with their national abhorrence of air pollution, the Russians don't get smoke here.
MG factors - Of little import here. In armor-heavy scenarios, AFV MGs are often used to keep the other guy's tanks from going CE. The threat of a German tank with 3/5 MGs firing on my CE armor crew at 8(+2) on the IFT is usually enough to make me stay Buttoned Up and eat the +1 To Hit DRM that applies to my Main Armament. In this case, the Russian's puny -\2 MG factors aren't going to scare the German tankers away from going CE, and the Russians are going to stay BU themselves (and thus invulnerable to German MG fire) because of their One Man Turrets.
OK. That's a lot of information to go through, but believe it or not you'll get the hang of going through these rundowns of strengths and weaknesses before the game.
To summarize:
German:
22GG0: ?, T-70, CA:22FF1, CE
22GG(-1): ?, T-70, CA:22FF0, CE
22HH(-1): ?, T-70, CA:22GG1, CE
22HH0: ?, T-70, CA:22GG2, CE
22HH1: ?, T-70, CA:22FF1, CE
All tanks are CE to cut their road movement rate down to 1/2 MP per hex instead of the 1 MP per hex that a BU tank must pay. Since the T-70s will be buttoning up quickly in order to fire their guns from the 1 man turrets, they've got to get the most out of the road movement while they can.
Concealment Since there is no LOS to/from offboard locations and everybody in this scenario starts offboard, everybody starts concealed. Vehicles not in Concealment Terrain automatically lose ? when the enemy comes into LOS (note H of the A12.121 Concealment Loss Table), so in this example, every vehicle will immediately lose Concealment when it sees an enemy vehicle. It's often worthwhile to drive a vehicle into good defensive Concealment Terrain to wait for the enemy to show up. Concealed vehicles benefit from the +2 Case K To Hit DRM as well as any TEM the concealment terrain might afford, which is usually +2/+3 for a wooden/stone building, or +1 for woods. Very nice. Note, however, that Concealment terrain is also usually Bog Terrain, which makes the vehicle vulnerable to Bogging in that location (see below). Your Panther might be hard to hit in that stone building, but he may never be able to move out of it either [unless it starts the game set up therein - jds].
Note that when using concealed vehicles, it's often worth something to keep your opponent guessing about just which vehicle is hiding under which 5/8" ? counter. Sometimes trucks and halftracks do a nice job of masquerading as tanks, at least until the enemy heaves into sight. In this scenario it won't help much since both sides have only one kind of vehicle, but it's a good habit to form.
Note that you don't put the armor leader on the board at the start; you note which tank he's in on a side record (D3.41).
Let's ignore Wind Change DRs for brevity. In a real game you would do them but let's choose to keep the wind out of it. Such power we wield.
VBM costs double the hex's non-obstacle terrain, which is why the T-70 paid 2 MP to bypass the woods in FF4. Bypassing 22DD4 along the DD4/DD3 hexside would cost 4 MP since the cost of Brush is 2 MP, but at least you get to bypass the woods and avoid the potential of Bogging your tank.
Bogging - sigh. Let's gloss over it. If your AFV actually enters the terrain in a Bog Hex (like entering the woods in 22FF4) instead of just skirting around it, you have to make a Bog Check to see if you've Bogged in the hex (D8.2). Bogging isn't the end of the world; it's not nearly as final as Immobilization and usually just costs you time while you try to un-Bog the vehicle. But by the same token, the reason you probably risked Bog in the first place was that you were in a hurry, so Bogging tends to be unbelievably inconvenient. We'll run into Bogging later. Bog hexes are mainly woods and buildings, although we noted before that the German armored cars must risk Bog to cross hedges.
Motion (D2.4) - another sigh. We're not spoon-feeding these concepts to you, are we? Motion is one of the hardest things to learn for some people; others just get it right off the bat. The terminology is somewhat confusing, even for native English speakers.
Motion is basically a way of telling you that your vehicle is moving in its hex while it's your opponent's player turn. It's not just sitting there, its treads/wheels/flippers are grinding along, propelling the vehicle across the ground/water/ether. Since it's in Motion, your vehicle is harder for the enemy to hit, but your moving vehicle isn't likely to be shooting its gun with any accuracy either (unless you have one of those beautiful Gyroscopes on your US Sherman).
C.8 (of all places) covers the quantum states of movement which a vehicle can have. When a vehicle starts its MPh, it is either Stopped (in which case it's just sitting there on the board) or in Motion (in which case there's a white Motion counter on it). During the vehicle's MPh, you take the Motion counter off; Motion is a non-applicable concept during your vehicle's MPh but it applies during every other phase of the game, including the phases of your turn before and after your MPh and all of your opponent's player turn. When your vehicle ends its move, it will be either Stopped (having expended 1 MP to Stop) or it will stay in Motion (with no MP expenditure required) and acquire a Motion counter. This dovetails nicely with the second sentence of this paragraph.
OK, so what's Motion good for? You want to use Motion mainly for two reasons:
1) Because you're in a hurry to get somewhere, or
2) Because you're in danger of being blasted to smithereens and you want to remain hard to hit.
#1 above can happen when your vehicle is moving to get into position (like what we've got going on in our game of Puma Prowls). You can save your vehicle 2 MP by staying in Motion at the end of its MPh - the first MP is saved from not expending a Stop MP at the end of its move, and the second MP is saved from not having to expend a Start MP at the start of its next move. Motion is also good for when you're trying to exit the vehicle off the board; why waste time Stopping and Starting when all you care about is leaving the board?
#2 can happen when your vehicle's trying to save its butt from being shot off. This is because Motion targets get a +2 DRM (Case J) added to To Hit rolls against them and because the Case L Point Blank Target modifier does not apply to Motion targets. Using Motion to save your butt is not just for Jeeps that are being run down by Panthers; it's also for Panthers that have been caught with their thinner side armor facing a BAZ team or for any vehicle that is worth more as Exit VP than as a source of firepower in the fight.
As we mentioned above, Motion is commonly employed by vehicles at the end of their move. However, vehicles that suddenly find themselves in a bad situation during the opponent's MPh can try to kick into Motion at that time (D2.401). This can happen when your defending vehicle is swarmed by overwhelming enemy force. Rather than sit there and get torched, your vehicle can make a Motion Attempt during the enemy MPh and if successful, it kicks into Motion and its chances of survival are greatly increased. Not only is your Motion vehicle harder to hit as described above, it can often spend the first MP of its next move in getting out of enemy LOS; Motion attempts allow for a free VCA (not TCA) change (D2.11), so you can swing your entire hull around and head for the rear echelon before the enemy can squeeze off a First Fire shot next turn. Very nice. [Or when you make your motion attempt declare Reverse Motion and back out of a tight spot. -jds]
To make a successful Motion attempt during the enemy's MPh, your vehicle has to make a dr which is <= the number of MPs spent by any enemy unit which came into your vehicle's LOS from out of its LOS in that MPh. Obviously the attacker wants to cut down on the number of MPs he gives the defender to look at, or just not give him any new units to look at in the first place.
We'll see all of this in action here. Suffice to say that this part of the game is often fraught with tension as the defender weighs the options of staying put and firing, blowing vehicle smoke, or kicking into Motion. The rules are simple, but the resulting tactics are complex and subtle. Great game, eh?
Ole Boe had an excellent article in the 1996 ASL Annual which covers Motion in fine-grained detail. We'll encounter these concepts again as we go along; let's hope Ole doesn't skewer us for using the wrong terminology.
OK, seventy billion words later, we've got one T-70 in Motion in 22EE5 (CA:DD6) with CE and Motion counters on it. Whew. Grueling stuff, eh?
It's left as an exercise for the reader to move the remaining Russian tanks to their final positions given below. Note that the tank in HH1 will spend its first MP in entering the board on GG1 and its second MP in changing covered arc from EE1 to EE3. VCA changes generally cost 1 MP per hexside (D2.11).
22EE5 CA:DD6
22FF4 (bypass EE4) CA:EE5
22EE3 (bypass EE4) CA:DD3
22FF3 CA:EE5
22FF3 CA:EE5
That last line isn't a typo; we've overstacked the hex. It cost the second tank one extra MP to enter the hex which already contained a vehicle (D2.14), but it was acceptable here since he had the MPs necessary. Now that you've seen vehicles overstacked, DON'T DO IT AGAIN FOR A LONG LONG TIME. The attack and defense penalties (A5.12, A5.13) are rarely worth it. I've only done it once in 50-odd games and even then I paid the price. I have never seen an opponent do it. The only reason we're getting away with it here is that the overstacked hex is pretty safe from marauding Pumas. DON'T OVERSTACK VEHICLES. At least, not until you know better :-)
Note that you can't have more than one vehicle bypassing the same hexside, even if two vehicles are bypassing obstacles on different sides of the hexside (D2.31). This is why we couldn't have a T-70 end its MPh in 22EE4, bypassing the EE4/FF4 hexside.
The guy in 22EE3 is there to show the German player that even though we're Russian, we do have some originality of thought and we're not gonna just plow everybody through the same narrow corridor because it looks convenient. These are important things to remind your opponent of :-)
4HH9: ?, Puma, CA:4B9
4HH10: ?, Puma, CA:4A9
4A11: ?, Puma, CA:4B9
4A12: ?, Puma, CA:4B10
It's left as an exercise for the reader to move the three remaining Pumas to their final positions:
4HH9 -> 4K4: ?, Puma, CA:M4, stopped
4A11 -> 4K3: ?, Puma, CA:M3, stopped
4A12 -> 22J9: ?, Puma, CA:22i8, Motion
Apparently the Germans want to be able to respond to whatever the Russians do, whether it's a thrust onto board 4 or a strike across board 22. The Stopped vehicles in 4K3 and 4K4 don't have great LOS down the length of bd 4, but ending the turn in Motion only saves them 1/33 of their MP's and it's a lot easier to hit something when you're Stopped.
2. Motion T-70 in 22EE5 moves
Buttoning Up - When moving along a road to advance to contact with the enemy, staying CE is fine (unless there are Snipers about). Once you get into the thick of things, Buttoning Up is a good idea, although there are many exceptions and personal preferences about this. We've noted that the Pumas don't have much to fear from the Russian tank's MGs, so they're gonna stay CE. The Russians, indoctrinated against boldness and fearful of the Puma's 5 FP cmg, will stay BU here. Note that moving along a road while buttoned up costs one full MP, and that Buttoning Up/going CE is a kind of toggle switch - you can only BU/CE once in YOUR MPh and then once again in YOUR APh. You can't change your BU/CE status during your opponent's player turn. One of the reasons it's prudent to BU is that you don't want to be caught CE and get whacked in your opponent's AFPh. Also, a CE vehicle that Prep Fires will have to stay CE during the DFPh; it cannot BU until the APh. Being CE is risky, but some people like to take that risk and avoid the +1 To Hit DRM for being BU. Also note that you have to be CE to fire an AAMG (D1.83).
Why didn't the Puma in K3 first fire as soon as the T-70 came into view in Q2? Two reasons. First, the odds of a hit weren't real high. Checking the C3 To Hit table, we see that it takes a 10 to hit a vehicle at 0-6 hexes range. Checking the C5 Firer-Based To Hit DRM table, we see that there are no Firer-Based To Hit DRM's (not even for being BU, since the Puma is CE). But there are plenty of Target-Based To Hit DRM's on the C6 table:
+2 for case J since the T-70 is moving
+2 for case J2 since the T-70 spent only 1 MP in entering 4Q2
+1 for case P since the T-70 is a small target
+1 for case Q since the hedge gives a +1 TEM
+2 for case R since there are 2 hexes of Grain hindrance in the way.
The total DRM is +8, which makes a hit very unlikely when you need a final DR of 10.
The second reason the Puma didn't first fire is that he knew that the T-70 was nearly out of MPs when it entered 4Q2. With only 1.5 MP left out of its 14 MP allotment, the T-70 could not enter 4P2 or 4Q3 without risking Excessive Speed Breakdown (more on that later) and it would have to change VCA and expose its weaker side armor to enter 4R2. Since the most likely thing the T- 70 was going to do was stop, the Puma held its first fire, waiting for a more juicy target. If none comes along, the Puma can still final fire on the T-70 in the DFPh, when the case J2 DRM won't be applicable (J2 is only applicable to First Fire).
Since we went into such detail about Motion attempts, it's good to note here that the Puma in K3 has seen a new enemy unit enter its LOS for 2 MP, so the Puma can now make a Motion attempt. It would have to make a dr of 2 or less to kick into Motion; if successful, it would acquire a Motion counter and could change its VCA to whatever it wished. It'll hold off here, though.
3. You can do this one yourself:
ESB comes with a price, however. You must make an ESB DR < 12 in order to gain the number of extra MP's you desire. A Final DR > 11 means you become Immobilized in the hex you are in, which is a very bad thing indeed, considering that you really wanted to be just a hex or two further on. And Immobilization, unlike Bog, is permanent, and usually deadly.
Figuring he'll be lucky, the T-70 will plan on risking ESB.
TH # = 10, TH DRM = +2 (case J) +1 (case P, small target) +1 (case Q, hedge) +2 (case R, 2 hexes grain hindrance) total DRM = +6; TH DR = 5,4 miss, -1 acquisition placed on tank in 4Q2.
I'm not going to go into Gun acquisition here. It's not one of my favorite subjects and I'd rather spend the time elsewhere.
2. Figuring the northern bridge to be a bust due to the strong Russian defense covering the 22O2 road, the Puma in 22j9 will exercise C3.22 and rotate his entire vehicle (turning as a Non- Turreted type vehicle) so that his Covered Arc is now 4i1. No Motion attempt is required; this has nothing to do with Motion. This is just rotating your vehicle's covered arc during your fire phase when the Gun is still eligible to fire without Intensive or Sustained Fire. It's a great way to get a free VCA change and get a head start on next turn's movement.
TH # = 10 TH DRM = +4 (case C, ST-type turret Bounding Firing) +1 (case i, BU firer) +2 (case R, 2 hexes grain hindrance) total DRM = +7 TH DR = 3,2 miss, -1 acquisition placed on Puma in 4K3
2. T-70 in 22Q4 Area Acquires 22O2.
TH DR = 2,1, -1 acquisition (I always seem to roll great on worthless shots).
3. T-70 in 22S2 Area Acquires 22O2
TH DR = 3,4 -1 acquisition
Whoops, no he doesn't! He's a CE 1-man turret, so can't fire his Gun! D'ohhh! Remove this acquisition counter.
4. Taking his clue from the Puma in 22J9, the T-70 in 22S7 will rotate his entire tank's CA to 22R8 in preparation for crossing the bridge and reinforcing the defenses on that side. He can do this even though he's in Motion; there's nothing preventing it.
Southern section of the map at the end of Russian turn 2:
Well hey, it was worth a shot. Now let's try regular ol' Armor Piercing. Same shot, same To Hit numbers.
TH DR = 2,3 turret hit, ROF, -2 acquisition
C3.9 covers location of vehicle hits; red die < white die is a turret hit. It pays to mind your VCA and TCA facings and keep your best armor facing the biggest threat if you can.
Basic To Kill # = 13 for 50L guns, from the C7.31 To Kill Table. Now we look at the C7.2 Basic To Kill # modifications to see if any apply. None do; we aren't close enough for the range modifications found below the C7.31 table to apply.
Final To Kill # = 13 - 6 (frontal armor) = 7 TK DR = 4,3 Shock. Get this result from the C7.7 AFV Destruction Table, a very handy table to know. The T-70 is in trouble; place a Shock counter on it and remove the -1 acquisition it had on the Puma.
Following the age-old tradition of kicking 'em while they're down, the Puma will fire again, using its Rate of Fire. The To Hit numbers are as before, with a -2 acquisition this time.
TH DR = 4,4 hull hit, no more ROF, still -2 acquisition; Final TK # = 7, as before. TK DR = 3,3 kill. Flip T-70 over to white wreck side.
A moment of silence, please.
Note that vehicles are inherently different than most infantry. When infantry breaks, it can usually rally and bounce back. Vehicles don't break, they die. Sure, sometimes you'll have an Immobilized or Shocked/Stunned vehicle that seems to have a second life or that can be useful in a less-than- 100% condition, but generally when you lose a tank, you're gonna have a hole in your line somewhere. Get used to the idea and plan ahead.
Now we roll for Crew Survival since the AFV didn't burn (D5.6). Since we don't want any inconvenient vehicle tank crews cluttering up our nice clean example, the Crew Survival DR will be 5,6, which is greater than the CS # printed on the back of the T-70, so the crew is gone.
To Hit # = 10, TH DRM = +1 (BU firer) +4 (case J2) -1 (converting Area acquisition to 1/2" acquisition by C6.52) = +4 TH DR = 4,3 no APCR, no shot.
Try again with AP. TH DR = 4,2 hull hit, -2 acq
To Kill # = 10 - 4(armor) = 6 To Kill DR = 4,5 no effect
But wait, there's more! You actually get to use those Collateral Attack rules from A.14! Oh Happy Day!
Deep breath. You can handle this.
This was an attack that tried To Kill the vehicle but failed, so now we apply the To Kill DR above as a Specific Collateral Attack vs the CE crew, using the HE Equivalency of 45mm AP ammunition (C8.31). The CE crew suffers a 2 FP attack on the IFT, with a +2 DRM for being CE; the final DR of 9 has no effect.
Usually Collateral Attacks have no effect on the CE crew; if you rolled well enough to have an effect on the IFT, you usually rolled well enough in the first place to kill the tank. However, Riders don't get the CE DRM, so they can be hurt by Collateral Attacks. And for Guns that only have HE ammunition, the Collateral attack is sometimes their only hope of hurting a well-armored tank because the HE To Kill numbers are so low (C7.34 HE To Kill Table). [Don't discount the utility of Collateral Attacks, even if they're in the worst place in the ASLRB. I've won scenarios using it! - jds]
Taking this shot reminds the T-70 commander that he has a cmg too, so he'll fire that at the CE crew. 2(+2) DR = 5,1 no effect
The T-70 doesn't lose its -2 acquisition on the Puma since the cmg fired at the same target as the tank (C6.5).
To Kill # = 12 (45L APCR) +2 (45mm APCR firing at 2 hex range) -4 (armor) total = 10, To Kill DR = 5,6, aaarrrgggghhh! Still, it's a Possible Shock (C7.41). The Puma takes an NTC to see if it's Shocked. Shock NTC DR = 3,1 OK. Sigh.
Again, the Puma's CE crew suffers a Specific Collateral Attack, but the To Kill DR above was too high to have any effect on the 2(+2) collateral attack.
Tank in S2 fires its cmg vs the Puma's crew 2(+2) DR = 2,2 PTC Can tank crews Pin? You betcha, see A7.82. PTC DR = 4,1 OK.
It's always hard to know when to Intensive Fire and when to hold off. The temptation is so strong, and yet the penalty is pretty harsh. In this case, the chances of getting a turret hit (remember hull hits are useless against hull down targets) were just 2/36, while the chances of malf'ing or breaking the Gun were 6/36, so taking this shot was ill-advised. Note that case J1 applied because the Puma went out of the T-70's LOS; when it came back into LOS, the number of MPs spent in LOS started counting over from zero.
To Kill # = 10, +1 (45mm AP firing at 2 hex range) - 4 (armor) = 7 To Kill DR = 5,2 Immobilization
The Puma's crew must pass a TC to keep from scrambling out of their tank (D5.5). TC DR = 4,5 The Russian player smiles, thinking he's finally nailed that damn Puma crew which has survived so much. Then the smile turns to agony as the German player announces that his 9-1 armor leader is in that Puma, and the crew passes the TC. Ho ho ho. Fiendish laughter. What a cruel game.
The To Kill DR is used as the DR for the Specific Collateral attack as above, and a DR of 7 on a 2(+2) IFT shot has no effect.
Just because he can, the Puma will now fire at the T-70 in S2.
To Hit # = 10, To Hit DRM = +4 (case C) -1 (case L, 2 hex range) +1(small target) -1 (armor
leader) = +3; TH DR = 5,2 hull hit, no acquisition allowed during Bounding Fire (C6.55)
To Kill # = 13 +1 (50mm AP firing at 2 hex range) - 6 (armor) = 8; To Kill DR = 6,4 no effect
Let's take a minute to look at the -1 armor leader here. Although this shot didn't kill the target, note how his -1 DRM brought the final To Hit DRM down from +4 to +3. The chances of a hit went from 42% to 58%; an improvement of 16% absolute or 38% relative. This is big. Armor Leaders are tremendously valuable because their To Hit modifiers often swing the bell curve of probability over to your favor. A -2 armor leader is worth at least one tank all by himself, and he should be treated as one of your biggest assets (or targets, if the enemy's got one). Heck, even a - 1 armor leader is valuable. Note that you don't have to reveal the presence of an armor leader until you want to use his Leadership Modifier (generally to turn a miss into a hit on a To Hit roll). In this case, the German has already revealed the armor leader in passing the TC above, so he's free to announce the AL's -1 DRM on any shot, regardless of whether the DRM would turn a miss into a hit.
Note that the Immobilized Puma is no longer Non-Stopped, so his shot at the T-70 qualified for case L. Note too that although he is Immobilized, he can still spend MPs for "non-movement" purposes like changing TCA, (un)loading PRC, firing Smoke Dispensers, etc (D8.5). Since he doubts his chances of surviving through the upcoming Russian PFPh, the Puma will take an Intensive Fire shot at the T-70 in S2. However, you have to spend at least 1 MP between shots (D3.3 and C5.3), so he'll spend a Delay MP (D2.17) before taking the shot.
Notice that even with a great To Hit DR, this was a miss because of the gnarly penalties for being in Motion. Motion firers (whether using Bounding Fire or Defensive First/Final Fire) generally aren't going to hit much. The doubling of the lower dr usually kills you; you pretty much need to roll a 1 or a 2 on that lower dr in order to have a chance to hit, because there are usually other positive To Hit DRMs that will add to the Case C4 penalty and make you miss.
Now, the picture isn't entirely bleak; Motion fire does have its times and places. Motion Fire can stand a reasonable chance with a good armor leader, or when you have a relatively clear shot at a stationary target (i.e., without the BU/case J/hindrance DRMs like what the T-70 had above), or when firing at a large/very large target, or when you have a Gyroscope. And it's especially good to spring it on an opponent who's not expecting it; the psychological value of taking out an enemy tank during your MPh is terrific. I just wanted to warn armor novices that Motion vehicles don't aim very well, a fact which has definite implications for their own self-protection, as we shall see.
The same T-70 fires its cmg at the CE Puma crew. CMG FP is halved because the firer is in Motion (D2.42). 1(+2); DR = 4,4 no
Southern section of the map at the end of German turn 2:
What this Puma did and what the T-70 did when it moved to 4Q2 on turn 2 are examples of what I call the "basic mode" of AFV tactics, or the "start-move- stop-fire" mode. In both cases, the attacker's AFV started its turn out of LOS of the enemy, moved up to LOS of the enemy, stopped, and figured it could start beating up on enemy tanks. This mode is what most novices do with AFV's, and it does have its place in the game, but notice how the game really favors the defender when the attacker goes this way. The attacker moves up into LOS and stops. If the defender has a worthwhile chance of killing the attacking AFV, he'll fire on it using First or Final Fire, usually gaining -1 acquisition. At short ranges where the To Hit # is 10, and without other To Hit modifiers, a BU defender final firing at a moving attacker will suffer only a +3 To Hit DRM, which still gives him a very respectable To Hit probability of 58%. If the defender's DFPh shot didn't kill the attacker outright, the attacker's AFPh shot is penalized by the case C Bounding Fire DRM, which is usually at least 2 DRM's worse than the case J DRM which the defender used when firing on the moving attacker. The attacker's return AFPh shot is usually not as good as the defender's DFPh shot, so the defender will probably still be alive when his next PFPh rolls around. The upcoming PFPh shot has a high probability to hit since nobody's moving and the ex-defender has -1 acquisition on the ex-attacker. So it's no wonder that there's a T-70 wreck in 4Q2 and a Puma wreck in 22Q2. You can't just waltz up to the enemy and give him the first two good shots. Not when the To Kill numbers are as high as they are in this scenario.
Note that as clarified in a Q&A, armor leaders are worth CVP just like infantry leaders. That 9-1 was worth 2 CVP in addition to the 2 CVP for losing the vehicle crew! yow.
2. Motion T-70 in 22S7 moves. This guy's pretty hosed; he's acquired by the Puma in Q9 and his VCA is such that he has to stay in the Puma's LOS no matter what he does with his first MP, which means the Puma's gonna get a First Fire shot off no matter what. This would be a great time for the T-70 to try to use a vehicular smoke discharger to at least hinder the Puma's shot by +2, but alas, the T-70 has no smoke discharger. He does have one last trick up his sleeve, however. One of the early rules in chapter F (the desert rules found in West of Alamein) allows CE vehicle crews to attempt to place 1/2" smoke counters just like infantry do. Although he's currently BU because he wanted to be able to fire his Main Armament from his 1-Man turret, he figures that throwing vehicle crew smoke is his best bet. [Note that if you don't have Chapter F, or you're not playing at that level, then the crew wouldn't be able to make the attempt. -jds]
However, the successful smoke attempt cost the T-70 1 MP (an unsuccessful attempt would not have cost any MP, and going CE doesn't cost any MP), which makes the tank vulnerable to defensive fire from the Puma in Q9. It will fire: To Hit = 10, TH DRM = +2 (case J) +1 (bridge TEM if the LOS crosses the bridge) -1 (acquisition) +1 (small target) +2 (smoke hindrance) = +5 To Hit DR = 2,3 turret hit, ROF To Kill # = 13 - 6 (armor) = 7; To Kill DR= 3,3 eliminates T-70 Crew survival DR = 5,5 nope
Well, the smoke was a good idea, at least...
Patrik Manlig noted that this T-70 should have made a Motion attempt during the German Turn 2 MPh when the Puma rolled into Q9. He could have foreseen how the Puma would have acquired him and could have easily made a Motion roll to turn his VCA in a favorable direction. There's nothing he could have done to get out of the Puma's LOS from Q9, but changing his VCA to 22R5 would at least have enabled him to enter 22S6 with his first MP, which would have given him an extra +1 To Hit hindrance from the orchard in 22R6. A small advantage, yes, but ASL, like football, is a game of inches.
3. T-70 in 4Y2 moves
Basically, you run up close to an enemy vehicle from out of his covered arc and threaten to kill him with a close-range Bounding Fire shot. I noted above how chancy Bounding Fire is, but if you stop adjacent to your target, you qualify for the -2 DRM for Point Blank Fire, which greatly helps you. For example, at this point the T-70 above has a To Hit # of 10 with To Hit DRMs of +4 (case C) +1 (BU firer) -2 (point blank fire). The Final To Hit DRM of +3 yields a 58% chance of a hit, and the Puma's weak side armor won't do much to stop that 45mm shell.
Once you move up close and stop, the enemy tank will have to respond to your threat. As noted above, the Puma could greatly help himself by popping sD smoke or throwing vehicle crew smoke or even kicking into Motion (which would be automatic since the T-70 came into LOS and spent 6 MP), all of which would add a +2 DRM to the T-70's To Hit DR. And the successful Motion attempt would make the -2 Point Blank Fire DRM Not Applicable as well. HOWEVER, the Puma has already fired (and lost ROF), so it can't pop smoke or kick into Motion. Bummer.
This kind of AFV attack mode works best when the opposing enemy tank is already encumbered by a First Fire counter or a restricted covered arc of some kind. If it's not, it retains a lot of options when you make a rush at it. This is why it generally takes at least 3 Shermans to swarm a Panther - the first few Shermans will fail or die, but they soak up the Panther's defensive fire options in the process, making it more vulnerable to the 3rd, 4th, or 5th Shermans to come along.
OK. Returning to our example. With no Smoke or Motion possibilities, the Puma in Q9 will try to Intensive Fire his Gun at the T-70 in Q10, rotating just his turret in the process so that its covered arc points toward 22R10. However, the T-70 can declare a Gun Duel (C2.2401) and try to beat the Puma's shot. Basically this means the two AFVs compare Firer-Based and Acquisition To Hit DRMs and whoever has the lower DRM gets to shoot first. If the two DRMs are equal, both AFVs fire and the lower To Hit DR is assumed to happen first.
Note that the T-70 would not have even thought of making this move if he wasn't sure he'd win the Gun Duel; what's the point of letting the other guy shoot first? So before he did his move, he counted up the Firer-Based and Acquisition DRM's and made SURE he'd get the first shot off. In fact, once the T-70's intentions became clear, the Puma commander also could figure out who would win the Gun Duel, which would have affected his decision on whether to fire or pop smoke or kick into Motion if he had any other options left besides firing.
OK, so the T-70 pulls up and pauses, waiting for defensive fire to be declared. The Puma commander sighs and declares his Intensive Fire shot, rotating his TCA to 22R10 (rotating the entire vehicle as a NT-type vehicle so that the VCA and TCA both point to 22R10 would present the best armor to the Russian, but would increase the German's case A DRM to +4 (+3 NT 1st spine, +1 for second spine of turn) something he doesn't feel like doing). The T-70 commander declares a Gun Duel and they add up the Firer- Based and Acquisition DRM's (only):
Puma: +3 (case A, ST turret turning 2 hexspines) +2 (Intensive Fire) = +5
T-70: +4 (case C) +1 (BU firer) -2 (armor leader) = +3
Oh yes baby, that Russian 10-2 armor leader sure came in handy this time. Imagine the look on the German player's face when the Russian announced the presence of his armor leader. A priceless moment! The T-70 wins the Gun Duel and gets to shoot first.
To Hit = 10, To Hit DRM = +4 (case C) +1 (BU firer) -2 (armor leader) -2 (point blank) = +1; To Hit DR = 1,4 turret hit To Kill # = 10 +1 (range) - 1 (armor) = 10. Note that the Puma's side armor factor is used since it lost the Gun Duel and its TCA won't be rotated until after the T-70 gets off its shot. To Kill DR = 5,3 kill; Crew Survival DR = 5,6 no
And that's the power and beauty of the "start-move-stop-bounding fire-start- move-stop" mode. You get to nail somebody during your MPh and if you have any MP left, you can start up and move away to a safer location. It's glorious. I highly recommend it to you and all your friends. It doesn't always work, of course, and sometimes you're better off just standing back and plunking away using the basic mode of operation, but it's definitely something you need to be aware of. Maybe you won't be doing this advanced mode stuff right away, but eventually you'll feel comfortable enough with Bounding Fire and the To Hit DRM tables that you'll want to give this a try. Quite likely, your interest will be driven by the fact that somebody used it on YOU and you want to know how to get even. Such is the ASL Way.
Southern portion of the map at the end of Russian turn 3:
Put it in gear, boys, and let it roll!