[Kar98k]

Not really sure why you would want a spotter for your Hummel, but more about that soon enough.

Most probably already know this, but did you know that in the core rule book both the German heavy and medium field howitzer can have spotters, but in the Armies of Germany book only the heavy field howitzer can have a spotter?

That being said, how useful would having a spotter with a SdKfz.165 Hummel or even a heavy field howitzer be? With a minimum range of 42 inches, how often would it be used for indirect fire?

Regardless, the SdKfz.165 Hummel can’t have a spotter (no option for it), but the SdKfz.250/7 and the SdKfz.251/12 may have a spotter for +10pts, and with a minimum range of 12 inches, this is more practical.

 

[Kar98k]

“…an infiltrating squad and an army rule that allows you to start in ambush. This appears to have the effect of giving you control of objectives before the game starts.”

@Hoff – Yep, they can be sneaky that way.

“A recce unit can move as a result of it’s reaction, and ends with an Advance or Run order – do they not count as ‘an activation’ because it was a reaction?”

@Stuart – again, I would consider this a reaction and not an activation, but since these situations are so rare, I never loose sleep over it, and others shouldn’t either. Also, there are no clear-cut rules for this in the 3E book, so clubs might have different interpretations. I have never played or seen a game of BA3E where a Recce unit has used its “‘Escape’ Reaction” (p.150) to capture an objective. Has anymore?

Oh, and yes, if a unit receives Down as an activation and not as a result of a reaction, then sure, why not capture at the end of its activation. Should a unit reacting to being shot at be able to capture, well, that all depends on your gaming group’s interpretation. That being said, the group I play BA3E with has voted on this, but with things so unclear, sometimes these votes change easily. That being said, I will quote the rule book, “If the nominated target has not yet taken an action that turn the player can, if they wish, immediately order it Down. If the player decides to do so, pick an order die of the appropriate colour from the dice bag and place it next to the unit, showing it has gone Down.” (p.82, TARGET REACTS) The clause “immediately order it Down” sounds like an activation to me. Steve, are you reading this (wink).

[Kar98k]

@Hoff – good questions, but nothing to loose sleep over.

Typically, most if not all the situations you described would be rare, if at all. Because to take an objective, a unit has to be within 3″, and to do that it must move. Therefore, after its Advance or Run order, it claims the objective at the end of its activation. Provided there are no enemies about.

That being said, lets look at the situations you mentioned above. “If I give an Ambush order, does that count?” For an Ambush order, I would say it counts. However, doesn’t that mean it was already close enough to the objective in the first place? So wouldn’t it already have claimed it from the previous turn? But someone might say, “What if it was captured by the enemy?” Well, that couldn’t happen because to claim an objective no enemy can be near. However, if there was an enemy, but not anymore, then yes, it counts. Now this links to “If giving an Ambush order counts…does starting the game in Ambush count?” I would say, “Yes” because as mentioned earlier, Ambush is an activation. The unit didn’t move, sure, but it ended its activation within 3″.

Now what about “If I go Down for being shot at, does that count?” For this situation I would say “No” because going down is a reaction and not an activation. Basically, this just seems like common sense and reasonable thinking as there are no actual rules for this in the book.

[Kar98k]

Keep in mind, the “replacement” platoon officer’s only purpose is to issue “Snap To” orders, it does not confer morale bonuses. Play it both ways and tell me what you think.

If it gives something back that was lost (especially since inexperience officer teams are easier to eliminate), it just encourages people to keep utilizing that silly exploit, and hence, we see lots and lots of inexperienced officer teams running about commanding platoons in many events and tournaments.

[Kar98k]

Mike, I like your idea and will try it. I’ll let you how it works out.

However, I would remove the, “If a platoon officer (not company) is lost…” part. This only further encourages players to select inexperienced officer teams for their platoon commanders. This is just a bad loophole/technicality in the rules for army building that people heavily exploit, and this only further encourages this bad behavior. Unless I am missing something and the majority were inexperience officer teams in WW2 armies.

Each player has one order die per unit, but only 10 order dice can be put in the “order” dice bag. So, if you have 15 units, you have 15 order dice with 10 going into the bag at the start of the turn. Other order dice can be used as provided in the rules, just not drawn from the bag. So, in the example above, the player would have 5 additional order dice not in the bag. If a unit is fired upon and the player opts to go “down”, the player can use one of the 5 dice not in the bag to do that. If a player issues a “snap to” order to 2 units in addition to the one drawn, the player can draw 2 dice from his 5 dice not in the bag. If a unit remains in “ambush” at the end of the turn, the player can still put 10 dice in the bag if they are available and the “ambush” die reduces his reserve pool. The point is only 10 dice per side max can go into the “order” dice bag, but players can use all their dice if they can do so without pulling them from the bag. At the end of a turn, any dice remaining can by used to put a unit in “ambush” or down status and carried over to the next turn.

• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 5 days ago by Kar98k.

[Kar98k]

The Army Special Rules on the three-page Hungarian Army List are not exactly clear because of a few missing details.

However, the official “The Hungarian Army – Bolt Action: Third Edition” web-link does say, “Roving Patrols is an incredibly powerful ability that prevents your opponent from using special deployment rules or outflanking – essentially locking the board down and meaning you always know where attacks will be coming from!” And from this, I would say, yes. That is, it shuts down all infiltrators as well as preventing outflanking. See the link below:

The Hungarian Army – Bolt Action: Third Edition

[Kar98k]

Inspired by Jim, I recently picked up the new plastic British 6-pounder anti-tank gun (plastic) kit produced by Warlord Games. Now, I already have two metal ones I picked up ages ago, and even have assembled one of those, but after assembling this new plastic 6-pounder kit… WOW. There is no other way to say this, but compared to the POS metal 6-pounder, the new plastic 6-pounder is a fantastic kit. I’m going to have to get another one to replace my other POS metal model. Sure, I guess keep the crews, but those metal 6-pounder guns have to go (recycle). Also, the 6-pounder AT gun sprue is unique because you get barrel and gun shield options for the American 57mm M1 AT gun and the later British version with muzzle brake as well as having the option to make an airborne version (British or American). Nice job Warlord Games.

That’s good and all, but what about the 28mm figures? Well, again the Warlord figures are definitely overly heroic scaled. Its the new trend that will not die. That being said, Warlord was forced to do this so these crew figs would blend in with their later plastic infantry set, and that they do. However, these newer figures more heroic scaled figs are not compatible with the original British Infantry plastic box set.

[Kar98k]

Why is the FG42, the automatic rifle of the Fallschirmjaeger considered an assault rifle?

Rise up and take control…

The FG42 in Bolt Action, and how easy it is to fix the error.

[Kar98k]

Here is another idea for dealing with “Meeting Engagement” (page 170) and using “Orders Phase – Random Ending”. In the unlikely event units in the first wave do not enter the game on turn 1, they automatically go into reserves with no choice to outflank.

[Kar98k]

Following Steiner’s (@spartan18a) lead, I was curious what ChatGPT (AI) had to say, so for fun, I asked it this Question:

If I were to write a WW2 skirmish rule set for tabletop miniature gaming were one figure is equal to one soldier and one vehicle model is one half-track, should the SdKfz 251/9 Stummel be given a transport ability to carry soldiers into battle? And if so, how many can it transport?

Here’s the response I got:

Historically, the Stummel was built on the Sd.Kfz. 251 chassis and retained the basic fighting compartment, but the 7.5 cm gun and its ammunition consumed substantial internal space. Its crew was generally 3–4 men, depending on variant/source. The ordinary 251 was designed to carry a Panzergrenadier squad, whereas the 251/9 was primarily an infantry-support weapon rather than a troop carrier.

My recommendation:

For a one-figure-per-soldier skirmish game, I’d stat it as:

Sd.Kfz. 251/9 Stummel

Crew: 3–4
Transport: 6 infantry
Armament: 7.5 cm L/24 + MGs
Role: Infantry support / assault transport

Why 6?

A standard 251/1 could carry roughly a full infantry squad, but the Stummel’s gun installation, ammunition racks, and crew take up room that would otherwise be occupied by infantry. Six passengers gives you a meaningful transport capability without turning the Stummel into a normal APC.

Interestingly, Bolt Action actually gives the 251/9 a capacity of 8 men, despite acknowledging that it was primarily an infantry-support vehicle. That is a useful precedent, but I’d regard 8 as the game-friendly upper limit rather than necessarily the best historical abstraction.

There is also some evidence of disagreement over exactly how much usable passenger space remained: discussion around the Bolt Action model notes that the vehicle could physically accommodate several passengers, while other versions/configurations have little practical room once the crew and gun equipment are accounted for.

An even better solution for your rules

If you’re aiming for historical flavor without excessive restrictions, I’d use:

Vehicle Transport capacity
Sd.Kfz. 251/1 10–12
Sd.Kfz. 251/9 Stummel 6
Sd.Kfz. 251/10 8
Sd.Kfz. 251/22 0–4
Sd.Kfz. 251/21 0–4

The important distinction is that “transport capacity” doesn’t necessarily mean the vehicle’s intended tactical role was transporting those troops. A Stummel could carry a handful of accompanying Panzergrenadiers, ammunition bearers, assault troops, etc., while its primary job remained providing direct-fire support.

For a skirmish game, 6 is probably the sweet spot: enough to make the Stummel useful as an infantry-support vehicle that can bring a small assault element forward, but not enough to replace the 251/1.

If you want to be particularly faithful to the historical vehicle while still keeping the game playable, I’d actually consider 6 passengers + 1 dedicated ammunition bearer/loader who can count as crew as a special rule. That would make the Stummel feel distinctly different from a normal Hanomag.

(End of ChatGPT)

Interesting response that is clearly scraped from net (reason for a lot of AI slop), but there’s a point to be taken here. Should tabletop miniature games be designed to be 100% historical/restrictive, or should be a bit more relaxed for entertainment purposes? I found it interesting it listed the Sdkfz 251/22 (transport of 0-4), but no 251 Stuka Zu Fuss, so I followed up with this question, What about the sdkfz 251 Stuka Zu Fuss? and here is the response:

The Sd.Kfz. 251 with Wurfrahmen 40 (“Stuka zu Fuß”) is actually a much easier case than the Stummel.

The important point is that the Wurfrahmen was essentially an add-on rocket system mounted to a normal Sd.Kfz. 251/1. The standard 251/1 could carry up to 10 infantrymen, and the Wurfrahmen installation consisted of six rocket boxes—three per side—rather than replacing the vehicle’s entire fighting compartment.

So for your 1 miniature = 1 soldier rules, I’d recommend:

Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Wurfrahmen 40

Transport: 10 infantry

I wouldn’t reduce its transport capacity merely because it has the rockets.

The distinction I’d make is:

251/1: 10 passengers
251/1 Wurfrahmen 40: 10 passengers
251/9 Stummel: ~6 passengers
Other heavily modified 251 variants: capacity reduced according to how much internal space their equipment occupies.

The Wurfrahmen rockets were carried externally in six wooden/metal launch boxes, so they don’t consume the same sort of internal space that the Stummel’s 7.5 cm gun installation and ammunition do. The vehicle could therefore still function fundamentally as a Panzergrenadier carrier with a rocket-support capability.

But there’s an interesting rules opportunity

I’d give the Stuka zu Fuß a rule such as:

Wurfrahmen 40: The vehicle must halt and its crew dismount/operate the launchers to fire. It cannot fire its rockets while moving.

That’s much more historically meaningful than reducing its passenger capacity. Contemporary/model documentation describes the Wurfrahmen as a system where the vehicle was aimed at the target and the rockets were fired from the external launch frames; the crew could remain protected in the fighting compartment until preparing to fire.

For a skirmish game, I’d therefore make the Stuka zu Fuß essentially a normal 251/1 with 10-man transport capacity plus a powerful but limited rocket-artillery weapon.

If you’re building a complete vehicle roster, I’d be inclined to establish a standardized transport-capacity system for all the Sd.Kfz. 251 variants, because there are some fascinating cases where the historical crew/equipment arrangements make the obvious numbers surprisingly different.

(End of ChatGPT)

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by Kar98k.

[Kar98k]

Note that snipers and spotters have the Infiltrator special rule.

New players sometimes forget the additional +1 to cover saves. Provided it is not advancing or running (from an order die).

[Kar98k]

I built mine with the bench seats to emphasize its role as a transport vehicle in my army list (which I’ve since removed, since they nerfed it in the errata), but the vehicle can be built with space for them.

@Kepler: Please elaborate. Why you think they nerfed it in the errata? For the newest errata, it only says to change this:

PAGE 74. Sd.kfz 250/8 Stummel & 251/9 Stummelhalf-track
REPLACE the second option (adding a pintle-mounted forwardfacing MMG) with the following:
– May add a co-axial MMG to the howitzer for +5pts.

Which of course makes sense since it wasn’t a pintle-mount in the first place.

[Kar98k]

“It does come with bench seats, and I was able to assemble it with the four passenger models it came with plus the loader standing in the aisle.” “…the model could fit 8 passengers just as well as the stock Hanomags would be able to carry 12.”

Interesting, and I have to ask. What model do you have? My model (see pic below) can just fit the crew, and there are no bench seats for passengers. Anyway, using the above reasoning, I guess the SD.KFZ 251 STUKA ZU FUSS (AoG3E, page 76) needs to have the “Transport: Up to 12 men” added to its stats.

That tubular steel framework, which held the six launching troughs, was designed to be easily fitted and removed from a standard 251 half-track. Even with the framework fitted, the bench seats remain with room to “Transport: Up to 12 men” just like a normal 251/1. I’m just saying, if the 251/9 can carry up to 8, why can’t the 251 Stuka carry up to 12?

But Kepler is correct, without that transport tag, the 251/9 and the 250/8 (Stummels) are both the same thing in Bolt Action, so could have been grouped together as one listing – two different vehicles with the same stats. After all, both vehicles were used for the same purpose.

• This reply was modified 2 months, 1 week ago by Kar98k.

[Kar98k]

But the simple fact remains. The SdKfz 251/9 Stummel was only used for close support and not designed to carry passengers.

[Kar98k]

I was never fond of prone figures, but I think this was because of a bad childhood experience. When I was a kid, I bought multiple boxes of Airfix American Civil War figures. In fact, I bought all the boxes the hobby store had at the time, which were, if I can remember correctly, two boxes of Union infantry, three boxes Confederate infantry, and two boxes of Artillery – yes, even as a kid I was a figure fanatic. (see pics below for those that don’t know or would like a blast from the past)

Anyway, the first box I opened was the Artillery (of course), but then the Union and Confederate infantry. I noticed that only the Union infantry came with prone figures. In fact, ten out of forty-eight are prone, so about 20% of the box has prone figures. Now, this didn’t mean much at first, but later I found Airfix Guide #24: American Civil War Wargaming, and what a fantastic and useful book! However, that’s when I realized I needed more boxes of Airfix figures. Lots more, but unfortunately, because of all those darn prone figures, even more boxes of Union infantry. In the end, I had a big bag of prone Union infantry figures which had little use. Yes, I did try to make casualties.

Because of that, I think that is why I’m not keen about prone figures for tabletop miniature gaming. That being said, your figures look very good. In fact, I like what you did to make your prone Bren Gun team. I’m actually very tempted to do the same thing. That’s what I already did with some of the prone figures we get with the plastic US Airborne and Soviet Infantry box sets – the first sets that were released because you don’t get prone figures in the newer sets (Hmm, I wonder why?). The prone figures were used to make LMG teams, and for the Soviets, AT-Rifle teams, but you only need so many, so I try to find other uses for prone figures like snipers, forward observers, and what not.

  

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