Multiple rule questions

[Driel310]

So we finally received our copy through Amazon in the Netherlands and we have multiple rule questions we can’t figure out using the rulebook. So if Matt Hyra or Kevin Chapman could clarify it would be well appreciated :).

1. How many sea mines can one country buy on one turn and how many can be placed of those in the same sea zone during deployment?
2. Can UK buy ships in her 3x 12 RP convoy zones before round 1 or only ground combat troops?
3. The US can requisition 1 free French unit of each type (so either 1 infantry or 1 tank) if they control Oran. Do the US have to pay the french RP value for this infantry or tank from their own income? If so what is the advantage for the US to do so since the french attack/def tank values are worse than the own US troops.
4. When do you have to declare the target of German anti-tank guns combined with German stuka’s in 1 attack. They both have the targeted attack capability. Can you declare the stuka target AFTER rolling the anti-tank gun or do you have to declare both targets before any dice are rolled?

That is it so far. We probably encounter more as we play along…

[Witt]

@Driel310 have you worked out the answers , now you have seen the rules ?

Can buy as many Sea Mines as you like , but only one can be placed per nation in each SZ . (Unlike Land Mines , they don’t have a facing , but protect the whole SZ.)

America pays for the two (maximum) FF units from its own “income”.
The advantage being that they can move and attack the same turn, as they are placed in Phase 2 of America’s go, before : Combat Movement.

Britain’s player can, indeed, buy Sea units for its 3 x 12 IPC spends.

With regards to Germany’s choice of targets , It looks like you choose your target after you hit . (Found at the end of the rules , with the unit descriptions). You must remember, however, to roll the AT and Stukas separately.
As different units roll with different numbers , you would not lose out .

I suspect it makes most sense to use AT guns first , as they can only target Tanks .
A Stuka could target Art (if Tanks had been killed ).

[Matt Hyra]

All correct!
Thanks,
Matt Hyra

[Witt]

@Matt-Hyra thank you for that.
I didn’t want to tread on any toes (the poster asked for you or Krieg), but knew I could help a tiny bit, having received my copy here in England .
Lovely game , by the way. Thsnk you for your efforts to bring this to us .
We here all look forward to the next new game .

[Matt Hyra]

@Witt All good. Thanks for jumping in with excellent rules knowledge, as it took me a couple of days to see the question. And thanks for the kind words!

[JohnBarbarossa]

I think that the OP @Driel310 meant to ask what the limit was of the number of simultaneous sea mines in a seazone but his wording was a bit unclear.
For landmines the rulebook is clear. You can build as many as you want in one territory. But for sea mines this is rather unclear.
I am sorry to say this but the rulebook is really poorly written.
Anyway I saw in this video today that there were multiple mines placed in one seazone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACc_AwEvqVg&t=2793s
At around 6:05
Can someone confirm if that is correct?

[Witt]

@JohnBarbarossa good morning.
Page 14 says : there is no limit on the number of mines in a space. Then further down: you may only place one mine in each SZ per Turn.

Has that helped?
Enjoy your games .

[Witt]

With land mines, too, it is just one per territory per Turn and you would have to decide its facing . You can , like sea mines , have as many as you have counters remaining , but only placing one per Turn.

[JohnBarbarossa]

@Witt

Yes, this is very clear now thank you for answering.

The problem is that when you look things up you look at the section sea mines on that page and expect the information to be there. It is easy to miss that one sentence at the top.

So I assume that it is also possible that both axis and allies can have seamines in the same sea zone at the same time?

John

[Witt]

@JohnBarbarossa hi.
Both sides can have sea mines in some SZs .

Not all SZs, however , as some SZs can’t be mined by the other side. See page 14 again: SZ deployment zones are out of bounds for the enemy , as is SZ31 for the Axis and those 3 safe Allied Convoy zones off East Africa. (The Allies don’t need to mine those anyway.)

[JohnBarbarossa]

@Witt

Clear, thanks!

[Driel310]

Thanks @Witt and @Matt-Hyra for all replies, it’s clear now.

New question that pops up in our game:
What if Cairo is attacked by 1-2 axis units, has 13 units to defend, but has no supply … When you don’t have supply you can’t fire back as defender, and you need to retreat. But you can’t retreat from Cairo? So what happens in this case? The defender stays and needs to be killed by the 1-2 axis units (who will need multiple supplies since it will take a while to kill them all), or are all defender units considered to have surrendered after 1 round of attack?

[Witt]

@Driel310 what a great question.
I don’t know .
But Air units and Scout Cars don’t need Supply to defend , so they would remain behind and defend Cairo , by rolling dice.
I have understood that the retreating (have no supply , so must retreat) ground units can be taken as casualties . This would leave the Scout Cars and any Air to shoot back and possibly eliminate the Axis attackers .
Cairo could still be held , therefore .

Not sure if the other Allied combat units that were not Round 1 casualties would be automatically eliminated though .
You would imagine so, if there is no legitimate retreat available (as you have rightly pointed out ).

I am looking forward to the answer .

[Witt]

Lesson of the story: keep Cairo supplied!

[Driel310]

@Witt Yeah definitely!

In this scenario I don’t believe there are any scout cars or planes in Cairo, so that could mean 1 German infantry will take Cairo as the defenders can’t shoot back or retreat and therefore surrender…

[Matt Hyra]

@Driel310 If defenders can’t fire and can’t retreat, then they are all destroyed at the end of the current round of combat. If some defending units are self-sufficient, they can stand and fight while the others are destroyed. And those soon-to-be-dead units can be used as casualties in that round of combat only, as they will all be dead when it’s time to retreat and they cannot.
Page 22: “Each <retreating> unit may move to a different territory, but if no eligible territory is available to retreat to, it is destroyed.”

So those Self-Sufficient units can stay alive into another round of combat if there are enough casualties among the retreaters. The Axis might need only 2 rounds of supply to win in this example. But if there are a couple of Scout Cars and Air Units, Cairo might survive only 1-2 attackers.

[Driel310]

@Matt-Hyra Understood, thanks for the clarification, looks like our UK player made some serious error by losing his supply to the Axis and having Cairo unsupplied!

[Axtivate]

Many thanks for the clarification.

[Axtivate]

Cool, glad you got some clarity on the rules!

[Jonny5tyle]

Can air units attack scout cars in the Sahara Desert?!bolded text