Spotter

[Steeljackal]

Some question on spotter.

1) From rulebook “…Note however that a spotter that does not have an order die next to it always counts as Down (as it would indeed lie flat on the ground for most of the time except when moving)…”
So when spotter has fire order die next him to direct weapon fire, don’t counts as down? (don’t counts as down not only when moving, but also when “firing” and rallyng)

2) Pins are shared betwen weapon team and spotter? If spotter is pinned and weapon team can see itself a target, can weapon team activate without an order test (fire order die place near weapon team, not near spotter)? If spotter take pins, the same pins is taken by weapon team?

• This topic was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by Steeljackal.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by Steeljackal.

[Nat]

1) By and large spotters are unarmed so the only time you will give them the order instead of the gun /mortar they are sighting for will be to move them. OR they have 5+ pins on them and you really need them to stay around (personally if you are shooting at my spotter that much they have enough PINs they are going to brake I’d let them die and just move the gun)… I mean they only give up the order die when the gun dies!

That being said yes If you put an order die on the spoter then the rules for that will take over from the spotters default stance of ‘down’

2) They are a seperate unit that shares an order die & LoS with their gun, thats it. They keep their own PINs etc.

[Steeljackal]

A thing is not clear to me.
When I give a fire order to indirect fire, the fire dice order is always placed near the weapon even if it is the observer who is directing the fire? In other words, spotter is in “down” even when he is directing the fire? He is not in down only when moving and rallyng?

[Nat]

Yes, that right.

To expand, he is in game terms just providing a line of sight point, the order is being done by the gun. Due to the spotter not spending an order they are counted as ‘down’ for being targeted.

[Stuart Harrison]

First point – you do not give the spotter an order for the unit he spots for to fire, you give the order to the shooting unit. He is only a point they can draw LOS from when they fire.

You are confusing the spotter rules with the rules for the observer HQ units, in which case you give the observer a fire order to call in fire/an air strike. They are similar in real life but totally different in Bolt Action game mechanics.

The spotter will only be given an order if you want to move him or rally him. Fire and ambush are useless orders for a spotter and he already counts as down so you wouldn’t waste the dice giving him that order.

Second, they are separate units in all aspects not specifically discussed in the rules. Pins are not discussed, so you treat them as separate units. When the weapon receives an order, they test purely on the basis of any pins they may have – pins on the spotter are irrelevant even if they choose to use his LOS.

This is no different from a unit using an officer’s morale bonus – it doesn’t matter if the officer is pinned near to death, the testing unit only considers it’s own pins and no test is required by the officer for the officer to help them, it’s a passive ability.

[Steeljackal]

Ok. All clear now. Thanks to all

[Author]

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