A Sick Trick

The semi-regular discussion of "Slick and Sick Tricks" has always been one of TEM's most popular features. This issue marks the debut of this item as a regular part of "Rules Court". Henceforth, we will lead this column off with some of our favorite tricks. This time out we look at a sick trick submitted by Walter Hard:

"In my current Scorched Earth game I had a fellow Soviet commander point out a tactic that hadn't occurred to me before, though, for all I know, it might be standard in most games. Since the Soviet ski brigades yield one more RP when disbanded than it takes to rebuild them (if using Optional Rule 39D11), they can be used as "breeder reactors". That is, keep them in the rear and disband them every turn. The following turn the 2 RPs resulting are available for use. One goes to rebuild the ski brigade, but the other point goes into the MD's "kitty". Because of the winterization rules, you cannot do this in the first winter, but it sure is a great use for them all summer!"

Walter, your fellow commander is a very slimy individual indeed! First of all, ski brigades may only be disbanded starting with the Apr 1 43 turn, and so your remarks about the first winter and following summer lead me to believe your friend jumped the gun on his disbandment binge.

Secondly, units that are disbanded may not be replaced! The replacement rule (34B) reads, "Players receive replacement points (RPs), which are used to replace eliminated units and to rebuild cadres to full strength." Note that disbanded units are not eliminated, and therefore are not placed in the replacement pool. Units that are not in the replacement pool (i.e., which were not eliminated), may not be replaced.

[Note: There are two exceptions where units that have not been eliminated are placed in the replacement pool: (a) those units specified to be placed in the replacement pool by the orders of battle, and (b) certain units that have been converted to Soviet Guards per Rule 34F5.1

For clarity, add this paragraph to the end of Rule 34F1: "Units removed from play through disbanding may not be replaced."

Considering that there are a whopping 37 such Soviet units in the countermix, be sure not to let Uncle Joe hotdog in this fashion.

General Europa

I am interested in the overall treatment of landing at a zerocapacity airbase. How has this rule evolved, and how will it eventually be treated in the final system rules set? (Rule 17A)

This rule has undergone several changes over the years.

In the very early games through Fall of France, airbases could not be damaged, and so never reached zero capacity.

With the introduction of Their Finest Hour, airbase damage was allowed. An air unit was allowed to land at a 0-capacity airbase, but not to initiate a mission from such a base.

In FitE/SE, air units were prohibited from landing at 0-capacity airbases. This meant a double- or extended-range transport mission could not be undertaken to a 0- capacity airbase, but a regular range transport mission could be, as explained below. This created a contradiction, and may help explain why this prohibition did not reappear in other titles.

As mentioned, FitEISE allowed a transport to fly a regular range transport mission to a 0-capacity airbase and return to another airbase. The rule stated that in this case, only the capacity of the airbase where the mission was initiated was used, not the capacity of the target airbase. This indeed worked the way John Astell intended-for instance, in SE the Germans can supply Stalingrad by air even if the capacity of the airbase there is zero. This allows any number of transports to fly supplies to one airbase, simulating a massive supply airlift such as that initiated by the Luftwaffe to supply the Demyansk pocket.

In the desert games, a transport (or any other air unit) could land at a 0- capacity airbase. Landing strips could be improvised in many areas of the desert simply by clearing off a stretch of the hard surface. Maintaining the aircraft and getting them airborne again was more problematical, however. Thus an air unit may not initiate an air mission from a 0-capacity airbase in any game.

Balkan Front (the latest word in core system rules) resolved the issue by letting air units land at 0-capacity airbases. This represents the current standard Europa treatment and I do not anticipate that it will be changed in Second Front or beyond.

If an air unit stages in order to reach its ultimate target hex, can it stage during the air return step and end its move back at its original airbase? (Rule 20D2)

Staging is a unique mission, covered by Rule 20D2. After first staging, an air unit may initiate a SECOND (separate) air mission. The distance it may move when returning to base is governed by its movement rating and the distance it flew to its target hex while executing this second, non-transfer mission. This might or might not allow it to return to the base it occupied at the start of the air phase, depending on the distances involved.

Here is a specific example from Scorched Earth. A German Ju87B stages from Smolensk to Roslavl, and then initiates a regular-range ground support mission against Gomel. The Ju8713 would only be able to return to a friendly owned airbase within nine hexes of Gomel, which would exclude Smolensk from consideration.

Under no circumstances may an air unit stage while returning to base during its air return step.

So what is the answer to the question you pose in the Rules Court ad on page two of each issue? If you patrol attack a fighter on a bombing mission, can it jettison its bombs? (Rules 19 and 21)

No. A fighter may only jettison its bombs during air combat preparation, which occurs after all air units have moved. Since patrol attacks are made against enemy air units during their air movement step, any patrol attacks against a fighter flying a bombing mission would occur before the fighter has the opportunity to jettison its bombs.

Fire in the East/Scorched Earth Since an air unit can not land a; a 0-capacity airbase, then is it allowed to place a newly activated air unit at such an airbase? (Rule 17A)

Rule 27E reads, "An activated air unit is placed at any unisolated friendly- owned airbase." This would include a 0- capacity airbase. However, this does create a contradiction: a late-returning air unit (such as an air unit returning from a harassment mission) can not land at the same 0-capacity airbase, so how do the new aircraft get there? It's a little shaky, but since we're dealing with two week turns, and since the latest rules allow landing at 0- capacity airbases, I'll answer the question, "Yes".

First to Fight

I have a few questions concerning the rules for First to Fight. Please bear with me as I am a novice with this system (Europa, that is). Thanks for the help.

Europa is a big undertaking and a lot for any novice to swallow all at once. Don't hesitate to ask any questions that arise.

Harassment (Rule 20F2d): Is it the units in the hex that are being harassed or is it the hex itself? In other words, do only the units starting in the hex pay extra MPs when they leave the hex, or do any units traveling through the hex pay extra MPs?

A harassment hit affects every enemy ground unit leaving the hex. This would include those that start in the hex, as well as those that move through the hex from other hexes.

ZOC Movement Costs (Rule 6A): To enter an enemy ZOC it costs +5 MPs for c/m and +3 MPs for all other units. Does this mean that it costs 5 MPs for a c/m unit to enter an enemy ZOC, or that it costs 5 MPs to enter the ZOC of an enemy c/m unit?

In general, Europa makes no distinction between the ZOCs of c/m units and the ZOCs of other types of units. The ZOC MP costs listed in the ZOC Movement Costs Table are the MPs paid by the moving unit. Therefore, a phasing c/m unit would pay +5 MPs to enter any enemy ZOC, and all other units would pay +3 MPs.

Army Group South Reserves are to set up at least 3 hexes from the Polish border. Does this mean a unit can set up in hex 37:2934? In other words, is this distance inclusive or exclusive of the hex the unit is placed in?

The 4th paragraph of Rule 29 on page 22 gives an example of this procedure. Based strictly on setting up "at least 3 hexes from the Polish border", your placement in hex 37:2934 would be legal. BUT... there are other considerations! The AG South Reserves may only be placed in the Sth, 10th, and 14th Army areas, and the easternmost hexrow of these Armies is hexrow 37:2233-1835. Since hex 37:2934 lies outside this area, units of the AG South

Reserves may not deploy there. In actual play, the easternmost hex available for deployment of AG South Reserves is 37:2034. Note that only the mountain divisions of the AG South Reserves may deploy there, since the hex is in Slovakia (see the deployment instructions on page 5 of the OB booklet).

TEM #25 Defense in Depth Errata Courtesy of Jason Long

In going over the Polish mobilization schedule in TEM #25 for adaptation to Peace in Our Time, I have noticed a few problems. On turn one of secret mobilization, delete the 3 L, 5, 11, and 24 Inf XXs, as they mobilize on turn 2. The 2-6* Inf Cadre 36 in X Corps District on turn one should be in VI Corps District instead. On turn 2 of secret mobilization, the 24th Inf XX is a 5-6-6 Inf XX (not a 6-6), and the 39, 44, 45 Inf XXs are 4-5-6 Inf XXs (not 5-6-6 as indicated next to the cadre listing). The 2-8 Cav X Wolk shown in VI Corps District on turn 2 should be in III Corps District instead.