The Commander Series Forum

AFV smoke, can you use it if you are pulling back without it being done under opportunity fire?

Terrain movement summary.
O = Obstacle ( count as linear terrain )
D = Dense terrain, what is Dense terrain i cant find anything that shows what it is?

thanks mark

Mark,
(I think) terrain is 'dense' to the troops listed with a 'D' in the summary chart and the -1 command penalty applies (Command phase p.12).

eg High area terrain is an obstacle for troops on foot but dense terrain for afvs.

The terrain chart IS the definition.
Guy

Hi Mark,

see page 140, table shows what terrain is dense to which type of troops.

eg: High area terrain is not dense to troops on foot but is to AFVs etc.

As said dense has an effect on command and control.

Tony

thanks Guy. what i wanted to find out was if tanks could move in any type of woodland. or was there differant types of woodland, im thinking of the ardennes and i was told it was only passable on roads it was to thick for tanks to move through, not sure if this is right?

If you want to make areas of terrain impassable to vehicles you could certainly just houserule it as such.

I don't know about the Ardennes, but from what I understand the Hürtgen was very difficult to move vehicles through. Remember you can use the rules for impenetrable area terrain to make it easier to hide antitank teams in the dense forests.


Fletch

and this one.
AFV smoke, can you use it if you are pulling back without it being done under opportunity fire?

as above

Mark,
Sorry, missed that bit!
'AFV Smoke' seems only to be in your opponent's turn in response to fire (representing smoke projectors)... so 'no' to your basic question...

BUT if your AFV has an AP attack of 3 or more you can use 'defensive smoke' in response to movement or fire in opportunity for the same effect. (but it has to be in response to the usual triggers of enemy fire or movement)
All p134.

Guy

thanks guy.
i would have thought if you was trying to get away from something you could use it even if you was not being shot at?

I know what you mean.

I guess it mixes together a few things -
you had very limited smoke so you probably saved it for desperate circumstances, if you hadn't been shot at yet maybe not that desperate?

Also would it attract more attention than just trying to get away?

Also the level the rules are aimed at probably affects the rationale - I know you can play one model = one vehicle, but it always feels one level up to me, and that makes me rationalise things slightly differently. I'm not thinking of a single vehicle most of the time.

I guess in the end if you were playing one model = one vehicle and you wanted to give the commander the option, you could house rule it as an opportunity reaction for any trigger, and say only allow its use once in a game, to reflect the limited amount available. It would involve record keeping, which loses a significant attraction for me, but if that was all you were recording it isn't much of a problem. Depends whether you can persuade the people you play against I suppose.

As for what Pete intended when he wrote it - only he can tell you.

Cheers
Guy

Pete.

any reason why AFV smoke cant be used at anytime insted of just when you are being shot at in opportunity fire.

i dont no how easy it is for a AFV to create smoke but im going by the part in band of brothers when the german tanks see the shermans coming out of the trees and the germans started to retreat useing smoke from the tanks.
just thought it was something they could use when they wanted to.

Where are the smoke dischargers on German tanks? In this scene the smoke starts behind the tank and it disappears in it while driving backwards. Couldn't the smoke coming from a soldier's grenade?

The rear of the tank held an engine room flanked by two floodable rear .... Smoke discharge canisters and some tanks had 3 on each side of the turret as well.