Dear Mr. Novak,
I have the following questions on Command Decision:
1. In the rules about built-up areas, I don't understand if the stands must be physically on the table (town) or if they must be marked in another. What are the capacity numbers?
Unspotted stands do not have to be placed on the board. The best way to handle this is to make a map of their locations and then place them on the board when they are spotted.
The capacity rule---i.e., 6 points for a stone/concrete block and 9 points for wood block-is designed to limit the number of stands that can be packed into a town.
A 9-point wood block could hold a command stand ('12 point), 3 infantry stands (I point each for a total of 3 points), 1 47mm AT gun and crew (I point each for a total of 2 points), and a light truck (3 points) for a total of 8 112 points. All of these stands would receive cover and concealment. If the town block was of stone/concrete, then only a maximum of 6 points could take cover, so that not all of the stands listed above could take shelter in such a structure.
2. Can stands in a town block always see stands outside of the town, or must they be on the edge or within I " of the edge?
To spot outside of a town block, a stand must be either on the edge, or within 1" of the edge of the block.
3. Can vehicles enter in a town block?
Yes, they can enter a town block at a double cost in movement.
4. In CD, under the destruction rules, weapons with a fire value of 4 cannot inflict damage on structures. Why is this?
The weapons with an HE value of 4 or less are light artillery weapons, which do not have the ability to do serious damage to structures in an indirect fire role. If you look at the history of artillery throughout the 20th century, there is an ongoing attempt to upgrade the state of what serves as the basic artillery. In WWI, 75mm was considered adequate; by WWII, the standard changed to the 105mm; and today, the 155 is considered as standard.
5. About small arms fire. Can stands of an infantry company fire at different targets or all of the stands of the company fire only at one target?
Small arms fire is carried out by firing at a target stand to determine the hit number needed. Hits are rolled for, and distributed among all enemy stands within 4" in range with the same cover modifiers. This can lead to cases where fire may be directed at a single stand in a group as its hit number is better then the rest.
Example: You have a company of three infantry stands moving forward. Two of the stands make it into a forest and end their turn on the forest edge, while the third infantry stand ends up next to, but not in the forest due to a lack of movement.
In the General Fire phase, the stands in the woods would have a I for being in cover. The stand outside the woods would not have any modifier as it was moving. The firing player could either elect to take a 1 on all fire, and shoot at the stands in cover. Any hits would be distributed among all three stands. Or the firing player could elect to fire just at the stand in the open, which, as it is the only stand of the target type within 4", would have all hits inflicted upon it.
6. If the weapons stand in an infantry company is at effective range, and the other stands of the company are at extreme range, which range do you use?
The range used is the actual range from each stand to the target stand. If the weapons stand is in effective range, then it will roll using the hit number for effective range. It will be possible to have a situation where stands of the same type and unit will be firing at different ranges at the same target stand. If the effective range of an infantry stand is 8", and two stands are firing at an enemy stand, with one stand 9" away from the target and one stand 7" away, one stand would roll at extreme range, while the other would roll at effective range.
Important Point.-- When firing at these ranges where stands are using different range bands, remember, when distributing hits, that hits at effective range cannot be placed on stands at extreme range, even though they are within 4" of the target stand. A stand which is out of extreme range cannot be hit by fire directed at a stand within 4" of it.
7. When direct fire HE occurs against stands in weapons pits, entrenchments, etc., is the chance to hit halved due to cover?
Direct fire is considered a form of AT fire, and so the chance of hitting a target in cover, such as a weapons pit or entrenchment, is halved. If there is a direct hit, cover is not used. If their is no direct hit, any roll for damage gets to use the entrenchment cover.
8. For spotting purposes, are stands in trenches and weapons pits in cover?
All entrenchments give cover for purposes of spotting.
Dear Greg,
It was a pleasure to have heard from you the other day concerning my letter to you about the M1A1. In fact, that is why I am writing again. I read something very interesting the other day, and I thought that you might like to include it as a postscript to my original letter.
I was glancing through my back issues of the Marine Corps Gazette, the USMC's professional journal, and I found an article in the February 1993 issue which gave a general description for all of the USMC's current ground force weapons. In the article, I spotted the descriptive picture and paragraph for the M1A1. According to the description, the "M1A1 has a 75% chance of hitting a moving or stationary target at 4000 meters." I believe this description (written two years after the Gulf War) gives added strength to my contention that the 120mm main gun has an underrated hit probability in the CD charts. I hope the above information is useful to someone out there.
I'd be interested to know what the 75% figure is based on, as I don't see how it can come from statistically valid combat results. The Marine Corps' own report, Armor/Antiarmor Operations in Southwest Asia, admitted that it was not based on sufficient data to support statistically valid average engagement ranges, but reported that Marine MIA] engagements were typically "somewhat beyond 2000 meters." The DoD's own "Title V" report to Congress does claim statistical validity, reporting that the median detection range for M1 engagements was 2600 meters. Neither promises fertile soil for ruminations about accuracy at 4000 meters under actual combat conditions. So it is hard to credit the 75% at 4000 meter figure, particularly if it were arrived at under some kind of test range conditions.
By the same token, taking the figures at face value and giving the Rheinmetall 120 a hit number of between 6 and 8 at 80" would radically change the complexion of the game, and require innumerable other systems to be re-rated to give them similar benefits (for example, the British LI IA5 would have to be re-rated to allow it to kill T-55s at 102 " based on its 100% success rate at that single data point). Since CD is not intended to simulate long-range single-tank sniping, but rather unit level effects, we currently prefer to remain a little more cautious.
--Dave Nilsen
P.S. Dudley: Frank says "Hi."
Dear Mr. Novak,
Enclosed you will find an article for possible use for the Command Post Quarterly. I have become a "fan" of CD and all of its derivatives, and I enjoy Command Post Quarterly rather much, and I thought that maybe I could contribute to its S-2 section with an article on point values for CD. Your response to the article, whether positive or negative, would be most welcome.
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© Copyright 1994 by Greg Novak.
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