This is NOT a Test

The fancier the footwork a trickster attempts, the more likely he is to trip over a rule. This fact was driven home once again by astute reader Alan Tibbetts:

I'm probably the 100th person to tell you this, but in issue #19 you pulled a very sick trick. You said the tactical bombing strength of the I-16s attacking Pskov and Dno were raised from 0 to 1 because they were 'flying an airbase bombing mission.' In fact, the only time fighters have their bombing strength increased under FitE/SE rules is when flying an air unit bombing mission. In the case cited, the I-16s do not satisfy the requirement of 'attacking the hex' because their bombing strength is still zero, thereby making them ineligible to fly an airbase bombing mission. Under Balkan Front rules the trick is legal. If the Axis has air units at the bases the trick is legal. This is yet another example of why we need one set of rules, but that is another box of soap on which to stand.

A harassment attack would also satisfy the letter of Rule 2013: 'A fighter may not scramble to an airbase that is the target hex of any enemy air units.' Personally, I believe the word 'hex' should be dropped from the quoted sentence. It will not matter to the scrambling fighter if someone is bombing rail lines or ships - only airfields."

This Issue's Trick

From Fred Helfferich

This really is good, sound tactics rather than a slick trick, but is something the novice may not realize. You are the Axis player in Scorched Earth. A Panzer corps of yours must clear a vital rail line through poor terrain, but a Soviet rear guard blocks a key position on the line, a forest hex that you can attack from only one adjacent rail hex.

You can bring to bear: a 12-10 Pz XX, a 6-10 Mot XX, a 5-3-8 mot Art III, a 2-10 rn hv AA 111, a 1-10 m hv AA 11, and an assured 5 TBF air support, for an effective attack strength of 20.5 CF (the mechanized units except artillery being halved). The Reds have a 2-3-8 AT X and a 2-6 Art X, for 5 CF. This would give you 4:1 odds, but a -6 die roll modifier (-2 for forest and -4 for full ATEC because you are half or more AECA-capable).

Your attack would have only one chance in six to take the hex, with an EX, and five in six to result in a humiliating AR. What do you do?

The solution is simple: break down your Panzer division into its regiments. Doing this you lose 1 CF printed strength, but still have 20 effective CFs for 4:1 odds, and you are now less than half AECA and so avoid the ATEC. With the remaining -2 modifier for forest, your chances of taking the hex now are four in six (with EX, HX, and two DR results) instead of one in six. You can do so because even after breakdown you have no more than six units plus the artillery in the hex from which you attack. The lesson is: Always consider breaking down Panzer divisions if this avoids enemy ATEC in terrain that negates your AECA.

Is this just a clever manipulation of the rules? Not really.

Think of it this way: In the real situation the competent corps commander will not lead with his Panzers and Panzergrenadiere on their halftracks to have them ambushed by AT. He will feel his way carefully and at the first sign of resistance will push forward with dismounted infantry backed by the tanks firing in support from a safer distance. Learn from him that the breakdown of a Panzer division can serve not only to spread it out over a wider area, but also to enable you to use it in a different tactical role.