May LVTs and the units they carry treat narrow straits hexsides as river hexsides, as per Rule 14J2? [This comes up in "Infatuate," where such a crossing was part of the historical battle of Walcheren Island.]

JMA Reply: The rules as written don't grant any special ability to LVTs for narrow straits hexsides. This was done for simplicity. Unlike LVTs' ability on lake and major river hexsides, in the case of narrow straits hexsides, sea conditions come into play.

You can use the following option for LVTs: Under calm and rough sea conditions, an LVT may treat narrow straits hexsides as river hexsides. Under stormy sea conditions, it cannot do so.

Rule 440 states that a heavy AA unit does not have its attack strength halved when attacking a fortification if afield artillery unit would not be halved allacking the same fortification (per the fortifications effects chart). Since heavy AA is not halved attacking a swamp hex, it is therefore twice as effective as field artillery when attacking a fortification in a swamp (or partially-flooded) hex -- is this as intended?

JMA Reply: That's how it works. Both field artillery and heavy AA are not halved against certain types of fortifications, due to the blast and/or penetrative effects their fire can have on the fortifications.

For non-fortification terrain, however, field artillery and heavy AA work differently and thus can have different effects. Field artillery is (mainly) an indirect fire weapon, with its effectiveness coming from catching the enemy in its blast. In soggy ground conditions, such as in flooded canal intensive hexes, the blast effects are reduced and thus the artillery is less effective. Heavy AA is (mainly) a direct fire weapon, even when firing HE against unarmored targets. Direct fire usually can hit its target more precisely and with quicker response to changing conditions; hence it is not as affected by soggy ground conditions as is indirect fire. Thus, for an attack on a port fortification in a partially flooded canal intensive hex, the field artillery is effective against the part of the enemy in the fortifications but is less effective against enemy troops holding positions elsewhere in the hex, while heavy AA is effective against both.

Examples: In an attack on a partially flooded canal intensive hex that has a port fortification, such as in the historical battle of Walcheren Island, various attacking units would be affected as follows:

• An attacking armor unit would be halved twice: once for the flooded canal intensive hex and once for the port fortification.
• An attacking infantry unit would be halved once: for the port fortification but not for the flooded canal intensive hex.
• An attacking engineer unit would not be halved: neither for the port fortification nor for the flooded canal intensive hex.
• An attacking field artillery unit would be halved once: for the flooded canal intensive hex but not for the port fortification.
• An attacking heavy AA unit would not be halved: neither for the port fortification nor for the flooded canal intensive hex.

Operation Infatuate The Battle of Walcheren Island: November 1-8, 1944

Introduction and Rules
Allied Order of Battle
Axis Order of Battle
Pronounciation
Europa as History
First Walcheren Campaign 1809
The Real Battle
Rules Questions