Some clarifications

[muddypaw]

I still have a few questions about the Basra book.

1/ Water trucks. What do they do? I might be missing a reference but the special order on page 28 doesn't give game rules while the Water Truck entry in scenario special rules refers back to pg 28.

2/ Still a little confused about Tank Hunter weapon selection. The special order "Anti Tank Weapons" indicates which weapons Support and Specialist units can select whan this special order is selected. The Tank Hunter Hero says he can take one weapon with the Armour Piercing trait.

As an example, for a British hero can this be any weapon such as PIAT, 3.45 inch RCL, Blacker Bombard or must it be the Boyes Rifle? I'd think the former but I dont want to field such a hero until I know I am playing straight.

3/ Can the faction specific vehicle upgrades be taken for only tanks or for any vehicles that faction can field, such as jeeps/armoured cars,etc?

4/ Arab Cavalry comes equipped with a Lance. Where can I find the rules for how these work?

5/ Guardian Mummy essence drain. Does this do normal weapon damage as well as the +1 W from the Drain effect?

6/ The Camel is immune to desert terrain effects. Does this benefit extend to the rider?

7/ Am I crazy for taking a Tetrarch as my choice in a Tank Detatchment? I know they are the crappiest of all the Light Tanks but I cant help but love the little things ;D

[muddypaw]

Oh and something that came up in a recent game.

Infantry assaulting a tank. Is it meant to be the case that only Vet or Elite models can do this ? What I mean is, it costs at least 1AP to move into contact, then 1AP to make the Close Combat roll, then AP to do a shooting attack at the crew inside the tank. This means models with 2AP or less can never initiate an attack against a tank.

Another point. In the same section on assaulting tanks, the shooting attack that happens afterwards I am guessing costs the same AP as a normal shooting attack. So for instance, grenades cost 2AP for 1 attack. So for a tank assault, the model spends 1AP to move into contact, 1 AP for the CC attack, then 2 AP for the grenade shooting attack if the CC attack was successful. So 4AP in total meaning only an elite model can use grenades against a tank in an assault?

Finally on assaulting tanks, can a model make a standard CC attack against the vehicle itself as normal instead of attacking the crew inside, so using it's Strength against the A of the tank? If so can this attack be as part of a Charge or must it be a normal move?I am guessing so as I'd guess thats what Shaped Charges (special order) are for as they have no ranged ability.

I didn't mean that to be so long winded, I just want to be clear I am getting the stages in the assault correct

Next, the Q Field Operative. Can his Field Craft ability be used multiple times on the same model each turn, so could he spend 3AP to heal a tank for 3W in one activation? Also, can his ability be used while riding piggy back on a vehicle?

[muddypaw]

Bump. I'd really appreciate some answers as they are bugging me ;D

[TrueRonin]

The Watertruck rule on page 28 is the last paragraph on the page. It basically allows you to place a water truck on the playing field in the deployment phase and goes on to say that you can use it through out the scenario, my guess is you want to know what exactly you can use the water for? However, I think a refecence to page 27 is what is missing... My guess is, it allows you to cancel the effects of the Dehydration rules on page 27.

[skorzeny]

There seems to be an extra AP in the tank assault instance you mention. The intent was that you'd be able to move into contact and make the CC roll (which includes your shooting - you can't miss a friggin' tank you are right next to, I don't care how lousy a shot you are). That does include grenades. It still means Green troops can't assault a tank, but anybody else can. Tanks were exceptionally vulnerable to these sorts of attacks, so it's really something most troops should be able to do and a reason why you don't run the tank around without proper infantry support to keep these kinds of attacks from happening.

Shaped Charges are used in CC against the tank itself, deployed against its armour.

The Q Field Operative would certainly be able to use his ability while riding on the back of the tank. However, I don't know that he should be able to fix three wounds on the same model in the same turn. That just doesn't feel right to me. I'm surprised that question never came up in playtesting.

[muddypaw]

Oh excellent, so the single CC roll includes the subsequent shooting attack all in a nice 1Ap bundle? Thats good to know and makes infantry excellent tank killers.

The Q Operative healing an almost wrecked tank in a single activation does seem a little wrong. Maybe limit to one W per model as used by Medics and med packs in Bounty.

The water truck references loop upon themselves like an Escher drawing, never really explaining what it actually does in game terms ;D

Tank Hunters, I assume can take any AP weapon allowed from their national armoury. After all, with the cumbersome and reload restrictions on most of these weapons along with a 2:1 ROF, they are not going to be pumping out more than two shots per activation, and they are certainly no worse than One Man Army.

I cant for the life of me find Lance rules in any OTW or in the other AEWWII books. For now I will ignore them.

The other points are not game breakingly urgent

Thanks for the replies chaps.

[skorzeny]

I'll have a look in my notes for the lance. They may just have been locked away in the Indian Army materials and never made the hop over when assembling the book.

Tank Hunters will indeed be somewhat limited because of the qualities of the weapons they employ, however they should get a full choice as to what weapon they want to use.

As for infantry vs tanks, as the Eastern Front showed, having infantry ballsy or crazy enough to climb onto a tank was a rather reliable way of knocking them out - if a bit tough on the infantry doing the attack.

I'd say stick with the medic rules as far as the Q operative's ability to fix tanks. Give him a few turns and he should be able to fix the machine completely, but one turn should mean only 1 wound.

[muddypaw]

Thanks for looking through your notes. Bet there's some interesting stuff in there besides the Lance rules

I'm loving the Basra book more and more as I delve into it. I ordered a bunch of WWI Artizan Arabs and am currently building a pure horse/camel force (plus LRDG officer in jeep). It should be a fun force to play.

I'm looking forward to playing against tank detatchments as a pure infantry force. An Armour Piercing Grenade toting hero with Marksman should be a fun tank killer too. Grenades bowled Cricket style into tank hatches, BOOM! Also testing out my crappy Tetrarch and not so crappy Cromwell. We Brits might make rubbish tanks but we certainly outdid ourselves on naming them ;D