Im new to the game. I have a few questions that I cant find answers to.

1.) Do units have to be adjacent to each other or have an officer present to use a combined fire attack?

2.) If your designated reinforcement hexes are full of friendly units, do you get reinforcements later or can you just eliminate some to make room for the new ones? How does that work?

3.) This is along the same lines as 2 but can a unit self kill? (maybe to free up a hex for another unit that isnt damaged) ie..I had 2 vehicles that were heavily damaged in the same hex and it tied up my reinforcment hex the entire game! My opponent didnt finish them off because he knew it was tied up. I wanted to self destruct at least one of them. Is that legal? If not it SHOULD be. That really sucked.

4.) Can mortars enter fortifications? If so, can they fire from them? Can mortars fire from woods?

5.) I read that AT guns are considered vehicles and may not use fortifications. Does that mean I can use a status card that states I can make smoke in a hex occupied by one of my vehicles, in the AT hex? I guess I thought that AT guns should be considered equipment and not vehicles and could use fortifications. Because if we are talking about digging a pit and banking up the dirt and/or adding sandbags, AT guns and tanks for that matter, did this all the time. aka "dug in"

6.) Do Flamethrowers add thier +2 after all other calculations or does it get halved after adding? ie. A squad with 4 reg infantry combines fire with a squad of 4 with a flamethrower. Is it 4 + (4/2) + 2FT = 8? Or 4 + (4+2FT)/2 = 7?

7.) Can ANY heavy weapons engage in assaults, either on defense or offense?

Enough for now....Thanks in advance!!!!

gdyarke said:

8.) If a moving vehicle is heavily damaged, does it immediately become fatigued? How about a non moving vehicle?

9.) In a four player game, can players from the same nation both call for artillery in the same round from one card? (ie one fails to make radio contact)

10.) on the "sweat it out" card it says to fatigue 2 of your units and 2 of the opposing players. Can I choose 2 that are already fatigued? If not, does this mean I cannot play this card unless I have 2 unfatigued units?

gdyarke said:

1. No just be within range and line of sight

2. No in the scenario book under reinforcements it states " A reinforcement unit may not be placed in a reinforement hex containing ememy units or if the reinforements would exceed the stacking limit of the hex" so it is important to protect your reinforement locations and make sure they are not congested with your own units.

3. there is nothing talking about self killing , not part of the rules. I see this as being a great move by your opponent I play that this would tie up your reinforements. there is something writen about this in the FAQ in the support page, dosnt make sence to me though.

4. only restriction is they can not fire from a pillbox or building hex (they can move into these but not fire from them) so entrenchments are ok aswell as woods.

5. AT guns gain +1 cover if in a hex with an entrenchment (FAQ in support) not too sure about the smoke but it states that AT guns are vehicles in the FAQ so I guess so.

6. All additions and subtractions are done before any divisions or multiplcations

7. If by heavy weapons you mean MG teams and mortar they can not be actived with an assult activation or support an assult . MG teams can defend themselves though (remember mortar can not fire at an adjasent hex or fire at assulting units)

8. Once a heavy vehicle is heavily damaged by op fire it is fatigued. Otherwise if it has not been activated yet it can be later on but the heavy damage limitations take effect.

9. from what i read in the rules i would say yes as all the cards are shared

10. if the units are fatigued they can not be fatigued again so they must be unfatigued, also remember that this card should read action phase not command phase as per the FAQ

I read in another post that MG groups cannot defend themselves in assaults (being as it is close combat hand to hand). hmmmm. Guess Ill have to decide.

So basically if I have only 1 unfatigued unit, (or maybe only 1 unit left in the game) i cannot use the "sweat it out card"? Must have exactly 2? I think it should readUP to 2 so you can fatigue 1 OR 2 units.

Thanks for your help Aussie!!

Good questions.

I disagree regarding point 2 and 3. Not about the actuall rules, but that it was a 'great move' by your opponent. I think it was a stupid, cheesy move which just exploited the rules. Why would a damaged tank be more in the way than an destroyed one? I mean, normaly you might move through hexes which are full. You simply cannot end in an crouded hex. Why cannot reinforcements move through the hex in the same way? I think you should be able to bring in reinforcements regardless of number of 'damaged tanks' in the hex.

well some scenarios have reinforements being ordered onto the board so you could move through the hex as long as the hex u finish on isnt full. The problem is when you have to place reinforcements at the command phase or status phase. Maybe a houles rule could be reinforcement have to be ordered onto the board during you action phase. So during the command phase (using a reinforcement deck) or status phase (scenario reinforcements) these untits could be placed in a staging area where they are then able to be ordered onto the board with a movement or fire and movement action during your next action phase. Just a thought anyway.

page 9 rules "stacking limits never prevent a unit from moving through a hex.."

no problem gdyarke,

I know MG cant do op fire on an assult but i thought they could still defend themselves

also the rules state that a squad containing a heavy inf weapon cant be activated with an assult action, but if you are defending you are not using an assult action

Agree with Aussie_Digger regarding bringing reinforcements to the table.

Q 11) Does an assaulting unit have to have enough movement points remaining to be able to enter the hex they've succesfully attacked? I think the rules simply state that any units that are fresh that assisted in the assult (up to 2) can advance. I've seen where this can end up giving the attacking unit more 'movement' than if they'd moved to the same hex in the assult. Seems a bit strange and can also create a loophole that can be gamed, allowing a unit to move 'more' than would have been possible. Yes they get -1 movement, but, if they're assulting, say a stream, woods, building, etc, they can end up moving into a hex that they wouldn't have had the movement to occupy normally.

3) While there aren't any rules about self destructing a vehicle in TOI, I wouldn't think it to be any big stretch. Maybe something like an action to destroy a vehicle to set charges in just the right spot, etc. It was done to keep enemies from capturing valuable tech during war, and even during battles (losing side ;-), so I don't think it would be a big deal.

2) I kind of like the optional rule about having reinforcements enter during action phase, but do you allow them to be targeted either by direct or area attacks, as they would if they were 'on the board'? I could see where you could 'game' that system by keeping units off board and safe from attacks longer. you could say, keep 3 units on reinforcement hex during turn, and then next turn, you would be able to activate staged units at any point in the round, possibly limiting their exposure to battlefield damage (artillery, etc). To counter that, would you have to allow them to be targets of op fire, on starting hex, which they wouldn't be when placed during status phase? Do you consider them 'in' the reinforcement hex anyway while they are staged?

yes the assulting unit can move into the hex gained. I see an assult as being an all out rush forward hence why no cover is given to the attacker. V's a normal movment or fire &move, if that unit is caught by op fire they then receive cover dice if they are on cover terrain. So i see the assult as being able to advance a little further (if they are successful) due to the pace of the attack while other movements are a bit more cautious hence they receive cover.

An assult is a bolder move and if you pull it off you should reap the rewards

as for Q3 im still thinking about it without it running in to the original issue.

Good questions - most of them have already got really good answers, here is my thoughts on the unresolved ones:

3. The rules don't currently permit self-destruction whilst they do specifically permit voluntary fatiguing so I am not keen. I agree with the earlier posting that this is poor play by your opponent, manipulating the rules to create a perverse result.

For me a good resolution is, as suggested, to treat placed units as "moving" (i.e. stacking limits do not apply) and check for stacking limits at the end of the first action turn in the action phase. The rule on placement of reinforcements is very clear and this requires a change. Change it too much and good play pinning enemy units in a re-inforcement hex will also lose its value.

5. AT guns as vehicles. The vehicle analogy breaks down and I would not permit them to place smoke - no engine, no random kit like smoke grenades are likely to be around so it doesn't make sense.

9. In a four-player game I would not allow both commanders to use the same card in a turn. For this to be ok would imply the card would need to specify that each division can roll separately in a two-player game.

11. Assault advance: this move happens after the assault combat and does not require movement points

All good questions. Can we please make this the thread where we put all our rules clarification questions?