I've already posted this on the smoke thread:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/172614

But because this is significant, I'll be posting it here as a new thread and on FFG's forum to spread the word so more can be informed.

This will shock everyone...

For years I have always had a gut feeling that the Tide of Iron rules were meant to imply something different than what is actually written in the rule book, but I would always get overruled by other players who simply say, "Let’s just play the game as written."

The rules clearly state on page 47 that, "Smoke markers are removed during the next Status Phase." Which means that smoke is removed during the same Game Round it is placed! Because the "next" Status Phase comes after the Command Phase which is performed after the Action Phase during the same Game Round. Being the case, the sentence could have simply just said, "Smoke markers are removed during the Status Phase." No need for the extra word "next".

However, the word "next" has always made me wonder if it was supposed to say something like, "Smoke markers are removed during the Status Phase of the next Game Round."

Well, not long ago I was chatting with Bill Jaffe about this over email and I had asked him,

"How long is smoke suppose to last? That is, if you lay smoke on Game Round 3, is it removed on Game Round 3 or 4? If you go by what is written in the rule book, its removed during the same Game Round. That is, you lay smoke during the Action Phase of Game Round 3, it is removed during the Status Phase of Game Round 3. But that really limits smoke quite a bit and I have always had a gut feeling that the rules were meant to be a little different than that; if you lay smoke during the Action Phase of Game Round 3, it is not removed until the Status Phase of Game Round 4. This would make smoke more useful for sure.

As it is, if you lay smoke towards the end of your Action Phase, its pretty much useless since its only going to get removed during the status phase. So, if you are going to lay smoke at all, it should be done at the very beginning of your action turn because if you lay smoke at the very end, say your last action - its completely useless as it will be removed during the Status Phase of the same Game Round... which had always seemed very odd to me."

His response was, "Hmm... I've always played that if you lay smoke in round 3 it gets removed in round 4. I don't know if that's what they meant; I just presumed from the word 'next' it would last one full round." Which of course started a series of replies, but to make a long story short, we decided to see what the designer had intended it to be. Bill emaild FFG and here was the response he got:

"As per the core game designer, smoke is meant to last for at least one full turn. If this poses a memory issue, when smoke is placed, place two markers instead of one and remove one smoke per stack per Status Phase."

I’m told that Rob or someone at FFG will update the official FAQ to include this significant information as to how long smoke is supposed to last in Tide of Iron, but to be honest, I’m not sure how long that will take. However, I will certainly be updating the RCD file to reflect this startling new clarification because currently the RCD is wrong since it refers to what is written in the rules and not what was intended!

I will be looking forward to the official errata then! It will indeed make smoke more usefull, though perhaps not enough. But the rules still states that it only lasts one round.

Hefsgaard said:

Rob mentioned that it will get updated, but experience tells me that could take some time. Maybe when add the FotB errata?

Note that this is an official clarification. If you want to wait until the FAQ on FFG's website gets updated, well, you might just be left with no smoke :-)

RayGuns said:

That is indeed quite a "change". An example in the core rules would have been a good idea. I like it, though. It does make smoke more useful.

I've nevern played a scenario with the lay smoke option, but yes, this makes quit a difference.

But an updated errata, thats great!

Why would you lay smoke at the end of an Action Phase though? That would be as daft as suppressing an enemy Op Fire MG at the end of the Action Phase. Surely you use it near the START of an Action Phase in order to cover some subsequent action you have planned. Since smoke is Blocking Terrain, wouldn't it become too powerful if it was allowed to hang around for two Action Phases, especially with the Furry Bear optional ammo rules?

Just playing the Devil's Advocate......

beresford said:

Good point.

I do think it would be fine to have smoke linger an extra turn...perhaps subject to drift on the second turn?

The REAL reason that smoke isn't used much is the method of delivery. It requires getting Engineer squads out front into what is usually poor defensive territory. If they get there and a single figure survives the Op Fire unpinned then you can pop smoke.

If you could fire smoke using artillery, instead of those useless suppressive barrages, then people would be using smoke all the time regardless of the one Action Phase duration. Smoke is also an attractive use for the Furry Bear optional ammo rules. If I buy a smoke round and fire it in front of your only anti-tank gun, do you really want that gun to be masked for two Action Phases (possibly a quarter of the game)?

beresford said:

The REAL REAL reason smoke isn't used much, is because not a lot of designers include the option in their scenario's. It's a bit hard to use something if it's not allowed by the rules.

havent really had a problem with how smoke works myself, i use it to mask movement at the start of my turn normally.

The questions is, how long is an action phase? (how long is a length of string..)

I have served in the army and used smoke, it dosnt really hang around that long. Its good at concealing movemt for a few minutes but not much use after that, and if there is a bit of wind about you need to use it so that the wind moves it into the area you need it and it dosnt hang around for long.

Aussie_Digger said:

From comparison of ranges, movement rates and map illustrations, I would say an Action Phase (and therefore a round) is roughly as long as one turn in ASL, meaning several minutes (that is why I think vehicle facing is important, turret facing is not).