Sand bags

If you look at the two German units Machine Gun Team and  Sandbagged-Machine Gun Team the difference bewteen them is a +1/+1 defense.  Why not keep it consistant with existing uses of sandbags?  Just a thought…

Mot

Since we’ve gone that route, I think that either side should be able to switch from a sandbagged MG team to a non-sandbagged MG team, and vice versa.  'Cuz if the Allies don’t have the ability to sandbag their MGs, then the Germans could have an MG team with 6/6 defense!  (Factoring in the same aforementioned rule, of course)

Well, your elite infantry (Rangers and SS-Panzagrenadier for example) can also be 6/6 as long as they stay in the hex.  Them’s the breaks, I don’t see a problem with it.

If you think it’s too powerful then here are some additional ideas:

1.  The Sandbagged MG Team also has the SA of “Dug in: Cannot Move”.  Just exempt dug-in units from gaining the effects of the Sandbags fortification.

2.  Like the Pillbox fortification, the defensive bonus only applies to one unit.

3.  Have the defense bonus only apply to Attacks from Range 1 or more.  Makes sense, if you are attcking a sand-bagged unit you are going to flank around the sand bags or otherwise hit it from an advantages vantage point.

Mot

It’s not a double-bonus, the German Sandbagged MG Team just has a defense of 5/5.  It’s not a SA or anything like that.

@losttribe04:

Yeah, I don’t like the idea of a double sand bag bonus. I would have to say you max out at the +1.

-LT04

I know, I’m just saying I don’t see how you can exclude one type of 5/5 unit while allowing another, all based on the name of a unit.  That’s why I had suggested the “No benefiit is granted to units with the Dug In special ability”.  I though it sounded more professional than “No benefiit is granted to units with the word Sandbag in their name”.  Just semantics really.

What I wonder is what is a +1/+1 on defense worth in points?

I just think Sandbagged MGs should not get the bonus because they are already sandbagged.  I don’t know if you can enhance something’s defense that much just by stacking more rows of sandbags in front of it.

Elite units, however, are not already sandbagged, so it’s OK if they get the bonus.  And I also think that the “Dug-in” SA shouldn’t be the deciding factor, because depot units should benefit from it too.

There is only one real unit with the “Dug In” ability…though support “units” (if can call them units) like Ammoo Dump are also Dug In because they cannot move.

There are a couple of units with “Enthrenched” which is the same defensive bonus until they move.  The Canadian Entrenched Antitank Gun is such a unit and it’s a sweet looking mini and has the sandbags stacked in front of it.  The other one I know of is the Fortress Defender, a weak 2pt German soldier unit.

Mot

Even if depot units DO get the bonus, in the case of the Fuel Depot and the Ammo Dump, there is a chance it will get destroyed, regardless of its defense.

But for the sake of the HQ, how awesome would it be to have it sitting in a pillbox, completely surrounded by sandbags…
+1/+1 defense, AND +1 on cover rolls!  :-)

Well the pillbox gives the +1 to cover rolls.  The question is, can you use two fortifications in the same hex.  I think the answer is no, but I’d have to look it up to be sure.

Mot

Realistically, I don’t think the HQ should receive both bonuses, because the pillbox is simply NOT that big in real life, that the HQ would actually benefit from both.