[Stuart Harrison]

The intent is that MRB lists are entirely replaced when the Armies of book is published.  This would include the interim army special rules.

P199, 5th para:

“These provisional Army Lists will be superseded by the relevant Armies of… book when each is published (e.g. the Germany list in this rulebook is replaced by the lists in the Armies of Germany book once released.”

If you don’t have the Armies of… yet, most people have no problem with using the MRB instead for a friendly game.  For an event you would need to check with the event organisers.

[Stuart Harrison]

It is only for the roll on the table, not for rolling the individual results from the table.

[Stuart Harrison]

That’s your arbitrary line between automatic rifle and machine gun.  The Bren is served by two men who can get a significantly higher rate of fire out of it than a BAR, and maintain it.

[Stuart Harrison]

Bolt Action terminology does not align with contemporary 1930s/40s terminology.

In real world terminology, most nations called their rifle calibre sustained fire machine gun on a tripod (often water cooled) a heavy machine gun – ie: Vickers .303, M1917 30 cal, MG34/42 on tripod, Maxim 1910 etc.  In Bolt Action the term ‘heavy machine gun’ is used for weapons of the M2 .50 cal  or similar type, with a calibre between normal battle rifles and light automatic cannon.  All those ‘heavy’ machine guns of rifle calibre are there, just called medium machine guns.

[Stuart Harrison]

I am not saying the answer to his question is ‘yes’.

The crew’s penalties apply to the weapon fired by the crew.  The passenger’s penalty applies to weapons fired by the passenger’s.

The passenger’s only come into it after the single weapon permitted to the crew.  They don’t get to take over all the weapons, just the ones that are ‘more than one weapon’ (and yes, that sentence could be worded better if the second edition discussions had been applied to refine it).

[Stuart Harrison]

” If you purchased a inexperience half-track, it fires as inexperienced regardless of the passengers. Also, page 134 (VEHICLE-MOUNTED WEAPONS) supports this, “FIXED AND TEAM WEAPONS – We assume that vehicles have sufficient crew to employ whatever weapons they carry. “ – This reads to me as you suggesting that the inexperienced vehicles modifier applies to all shots.  That is not what is being said in the rule – the vehicle crew’s modifiers apply to the shots taken by the vehicle crew and the passenger’s modifiers apply to the shots taken by the passengers.  That is why the rule requires you to declare who is firing which weapons.

First edition started out with no special rules for the weapons carried, so always fired all weapons with the vehicle’s modifiers, then that was changed by errata to only being able to fire weapons with passengers, but no mention of using the passenger’s modifiers:

“Weapons mounted on transport vehicles can only be
fired if the vehicle is carrying a unit whose members act
as weapon crew – each weapon being fired needs one
man to operate it. If the vehicle has no passengers, it
cannot fire any of its weapons”

Second edition was pretty much the same as what we now have with third, except for having the proximity rule and weapons rules rolled into one heading, ‘Role of Transports’ – the only difference I could see is third edition also mentions that spotters and medics can’t man guns.

[Stuart Harrison]

@Kar98k – that would be a house rule.

There is a special rule for transport vehicles which over-rides the general rule you cited (specific ‘Transport vehicles have a minimal crew, so each turn they can only fire one weapon’ vs the general ‘We assume that vehicles have sufficient crew to employ whatever weapons they carry’) .  They are limited to firing one weapon, with additional weapons requiring passengers to fire them, and specifically requiring the player to decide which weapon is fired by the crew, and which weapons are fired by the passengers.  Unless a house rule has been agreed beforehand, a player should expect the special rule to be in effect.

[Stuart Harrison]

Yes, another unit can use that unit’s spotter if they don’t need him that turn (firing with their own LOS, moving etc) providing they meet the criteria to use a spotter.

[Stuart Harrison]

… and maybe a few wearing the US style leggings rather than the British style pattern 37 gaiters, as worn by a fair number of Aussies in ’44 and ’45.

[Stuart Harrison]

P131, Vehicles, introduction, second para, last two sentences – “Before looking at the role of vehicles in depth, we will briefly discuss how the various rules already given differ in respect to vehicles.  In all other respects the rules for vehicles and infantry are the same.”

If the vehicle rules don’t specify that something is different/doesn’t apply, it applies the same as it does to infantry.

• This reply was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by Stuart Harrison.

[Stuart Harrison]

No.

The pen modifiers from the vehicle rules (p138-139) only apply to heavy weapons firing against armoured targets.

Roll to Damage vs Armoured Targets, second para introduces them with “When shooting against armoured vehicles with a heavy weapon, …” and the third para reinforces that with “Remember, the additional modifiers below do not apply to small arms hits or to hits against soft skinned vehicles, but only to hits from heavy weapons against armoured targets.”

[Stuart Harrison]

Yes, they can. Rangers Lead the Way is in the ‘Start of Game’ phase of the game, p175.  The last part of that phase is ‘…put all the dice back into the bag.  You are ready to begin Turn 1.”  As turn one hasn’t started yet, turn one rules aren’t in effect yet.

[Stuart Harrison]

That’s why it’s specifically “… in the same way as units disembarking from a vehicle that has been immobilised…” rather than “… in the same way as units disembarking from a vehicle that has been destroyed…”.

 

[Stuart Harrison]

P147, Vehicles, Transport Vehicles, Effects of Damage on Passengers, first para “If a transport vehicle suffers an immobilised or On Fire damage result, any troops on board are forced to dismount (see below), immediately after the damage results are resolved.” and fourth para “Models forced to dismount must be placed within D6″ of their transport, following the rules for regrouping after a close quarters combat, and then go/remain Down.”

[Stuart Harrison]

Can they choose whether to use HE or AP (PEN) rounds?
Yes, they have both a pen value and a HE template size which fits the ‘for instance’ example given (anti tank guns, which also have a pen value and a HE template size) rather than only having ‘HE’ in the pen column. P100, Weapons, Weapon Special Rules, HE (High Explosive), first para.

If fire against infantry, it must be HE, right?
Yes, as stated for all weapons with that ‘choice’. Same para, second to last sentence.

What about against vehicles?
Against vehicles, it’s free choice with the player being required to state which he is using. Same para, last sentence.

What about against infantry inside a building? How do we resolve the whole shooting process? Could somebody provide me with an “in-game example” of it? Let’s say, a Wirbelwind not moving shoots against a veteran 10-man squad in a building. How is it done?
Vs units in buildings, you roll to hit as normal then for each hit you score it becomes D3 hits with +1 Pen (HE chart, 1″ template row).  Regardless how many hits you end up with, it’s still only D2 pins, p100, Weapons, Weapon Special Rules, HE (High Explosive), Multiple HE Hits, last para).

 

Can they choose whether to use HE or AP (PEN) rounds?
Yes, they have both a pen value and a HE template size which fits the ‘for instance’ example given (anti tank guns, which also have a pen value and a HE template size) rather than only having ‘HE’ in the pen column. P100, Weapons, Weapon Special Rules, HE (High Explosive), first para.

If fire against infantry, it must be HE, right?
Yes, as stated for all weapons with that ‘choice’. Same para, second to last sentence.

What about against vehicles?
Against vehicles, it’s free choice with the player being required to state which he is using. Same para, last sentence.

What about against infantry inside a building? How do we resolve the whole shooting process? Could somebody provide me with an “in-game example” of it? Let’s say, a Wirbelwind not moving shoots against a veteran 10-man squad in a building. How is it done?
Vs units in buildings, you roll to hit as normal then for each hit you score it becomes D3 hits with +1 Pen (HE chart, 1″ template row).  Regardless how many hits you end up with, it’s still only D2 pins, p100, Weapons, Weapon Special Rules, HE (High Explosive), Multiple HE Hits, last para).

 

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