This is my last "Rules Court" before handing over the rules maven baton to Rick. Rick knows Europa well, and he should make an outstanding judge. There have already been times when / asked Rick for his opinion of a rule, and thought his interpretations were very insightful, so the court is being left in capable hands.

The Urals

Rule 25.F - Clarification

Axis airborne units that perform airdrops in either the June II surprise turn or June II regular turn do not gain ownership of hexes they drop in or enter for enemy supply tracing purposes until (1) in the Soviet June II initial phase if they can trace a supply line to a regular supply source, or (2) in the Axis July I initial phase (regardless of supply). (RG)

FITE / Scorched Earth

Several people have asked whether the new railroad engineer rules given in "Rails through the Russias" (appearing in TEN #7) are official or optional. In this case, even though new units are required, the revised rules are OFFICIAL and should be used. (RG)

Does Rule 39G1 mean that bombers used as transports can be used to conduct air drop missions (e.g., can paratroops be air dropped by Hel 111's)?

Yes.

If so, can gliders be used in conjunction with bombers flying as transports to execute a glider-borne assault?

Yes, but such bombers cannot tow gliders while executing a bombing mission.

Can bombers operating as transports air drop supply points?

Yes.

Are bombers halved against ships in mud/snow weather?

Yes.

If so, why? True, sorties may be down, but I thought the major factor in mud and snow was the muffling effect on the bombs.

No, the major factor is stormy weather. Overcast skies made it difficult to locate a target even if sorties could be flown.

Does it cost RPs to convert Guards units to bigger Guards units (e.g., a 5-6 Guards Rifle XX to a 12-8 Guards Mechanized XXX)?

No. Per Rule 34F5, only "regular, winter-capable, or naval ground units" require (or yield) RPs when converting to Guards status. For conversion of Guards XXs to Guards Mech XXXs, follow Rule 34D1: no RPs are needed, but the "units removed from play through conversion may not be replaced." (Note the difference here from 34F5 where "most units removed from play due to conversion to Guards status are placed in the replacement pool and may subsequently be replaced.")

Rule 14B1, Siege Artillery, states that siege artillery is doubled against fortresses and major cities. Shouldn't it also be doubled against forts?

No.

Sevastopol (in the Crimea) is a fleet base and fortress, but per the rules it is not counted for victory and can only base one air unifl? Isn't it in reality a large city, if not a major one? Shouldn't it be a dot city with a fort counter in the hex, similar to the way Kiev is handled? That would increase its airbase capacity and make it a victory point city.

Rule 37B lists Sevastopol along with eight other non-major cities as worth 1 victory point each. See also Rick Gayler's "SE: Victory Determination Chart" in ETO #39. Note that dot cities are not victory point cities of and by themselves. The 1939 Collier's World Atlas gives the population of Sevastopol as 78,000; for Simferopol (the neighboring dot city, worth no victory points), 99,000. You can build either a temporary or permanent airfield at Sevastopol to improve its airbase capacity.

Rule 25A, Airborne Unit Disruption, lists modifiers of -1 for dropping into a non-clear terrain hex and -1 for "dropping into a major city hex. (This is in addition to the nonclear terrain modifier)" The parenthetical note to the major city modifier implies that any feature in a clear terrain hex (such as coastline, road, rail, reference city, dot city, etc.) disqualifies that hex as a clear terrain hex. As an example, a road through a clear terrain hex would make the hex a "non-clear terrain hex" for purposes of air drop. Is this correct?

No. Per the Terrain Effects Chart, partial and full hex (major) cities are their own terrain types, different from clear, coastlines are "hexsides"; and reference cities, dot cities, fortresses, and transportation lines are "features". Features and hexsides do not after the terrain type of a hex. Also see the Europa map legend included in Scorched Earth.

Rule 28E, River Flotillas, states that flotillas have characteristics of both ships and ground units. Does the flotilla have a ZOC?

No.

Does the flotilla gain ownership of hexes through which it travels?

No.

Can a flotilla overrun a 0strength enemy unit by itself?

Rule 28E states that for all overrun purposes a river flotilla is treated as a one RE Soviet field artillery unit with a combat strength of two. A flotilla by itself would still retain an attack strength of 1 per Rule 14B and as such could indeed overrun a 0-strength unit.

Can a flotilla occupy an ungarrisoned enemy airbase causing the aircraft to attempt escape?

No.

Can a flotilla destroy rail lines, airfields, ports, and bridges?

No.

Can a flotilla move to an unoccupied (or overrun a 0-strength unit) enemy owned hex, convert it to a friendly owned hex, and then discharge cargo, therefore avoiding plotting of an amphibious landing?

No.

How can a flotilla "not enter an enemy occupied hex," yet still participate in an overrun?

The same way a ground unit may not enter a hex occupied by an enemy unit" (Rule 6, paragraph four), yet still overrun: paragraph two of Rule 13, Overruns, specifies that the overrunning units do not advance into the hex until after the enemy units are removed from play.

Do flotillas count against stacking?

No.

May flotillas use administrative movement?

No.

Does a flotilla have a cargo capacity of 20 REs of supply?

Yes.

Can an engineer unit that has built a temporary airfield use its attack strength in the combat phase?

Yes.

When are replaced Rumanian units released from reserve status? Per

Rule 32A2, paragraph two, "All units in reserve are released from reserve if there are 10 or more REs of Soviet units anywhere in Rumania at the start of a German initial phase." Reserves are also released per the Axis OB; for example, May 143: Rumanian: "Release from Reserve: 6 REs."

Can the Soviets land troops at ports in Bulgaria?

Not while Axis owned. See next to last paragraph of Rule 28C2.

When the rules use the word "city," are they referring to reference and dot cities as well as major cities?

Yes.

According to Rule 34D1 the requirements for a cadre to be rebuilt are as follows: "it must be in a city or fortress, be able to trace a supply line to a friendly-owned source of replacements, and may not be in an enemy ZOC." Does that mean that at an isolated replacement city that is in the ZOC of an enemy unit the phasing player can or cannot receive reinforcements?

Can. See Rule 34A, paragraph one.

Can or cannot replace an eliminated unit?

Can. Replaced units appear the same as reinforcements.

Can or cannot rebuild a cadre?

Cannot See Rule 34B, paragraph four.

Can or cannot convert a unit?

Cannot. See Rule 34D 1.

Can or cannot upgrade or reorganize a unit?

Cannot. Per Rule 34D2, "an upgrade is the same as a conversion." and per Rule 34D31. "a reorganization is the same as a conversion."

NKVD and mountain units are winterized. What is the intent of Rule 34132, cases 2, 5, and 6?

An example may help: If the Soviets replace a 1 RE mountain brigade during January of the first winter (case 5), this would also count as 1 RE of winterized units (case 6) for January.

May a unit with zero MPs be moved by a movement method that does not consume MPs such as strategic rail movement or air transport?

No. Rule 6 states: "A unit with a movement rating of 0 may not move from the hex it occupies for any reason."

I read Rule 22B as providing that position AA may fire against DAS only if the position AA is included in the related ground attack; I read Rule 22A3 as providing that position AA is not permitted to retreat in any circumstances (whether as attacker or defender); and hence I conclude that if an attacker wishes to fire position AA at DAS and then suffers an AR in the attack, the position AA is eliminated (even though defenders may not advance after combat, and hence, the hex containing the position AA will not be enemy occupied). Is this correct under the rules as written?

Yes. It is the player's decision whether to risk his position AA in an attack or not. Also note that position AA may not move and fire in the same player-turn (Rule 22A3).

Under Rule 34F4, the Soviets are allowed to "convert up to four 3-6 rifle divisions per turn to their 4-6 strengths," starting Aug 141. If the Soviets do not use all four allowed conversions in a turn, may they use the unused conversions in a later turn (and hence convert more than four in such later turn), as seems to be allowed by the first sentence of Rule 34D1, Conversions?

No. The key words in Rule 34F4 are "up to. " (If John had simply written "convert four," then you might have a case, but as it is, no.)

May a German unit operating under the Finnish game limitations (Rule 32131) attack out of the Finnish stop line if it puts itself out of supply? Or consider this: if there are German units south of the Svir stop line, aandd the Axis player transports supply to them by air, would it be possible for them to attack outside the front line?

No to both questions. Think of it this way: if the German unit was Finnish, it would not be allowed to attack; therefore, the German unit may not attack.

If the Axis crosses the Finnish stop line, is the new area they take considered to be part of the Finnish theater so that the limitations for German units apply there as well?

Yes.

There appears to be a way for the Axis player to bypass the limitations of the Finnish theater and launch an offensive on Arkhangelsk. If he can take control of the Murmansk railroad and complete the railroad connecting the railnet in northern Finland with the Murmansk railroad, then he can trace supply along this railroad south to hex 6A:3918 (which lies on the weather line and thus is considered to be in the Arctic. This hex also penetrates the Finnish theater stop line, and once beyond that the German Army could operate normally. Is this correct?

Yes.

War in the Desert (WitD)

In the Torch scenario the Allied Initial Forces OB lists several HQs to be placed in Breakdown Boxes. Since I believe I have to have them on map to combine them with brigades to form divisions, why are they placed in the Breakdown Box?

Because those divisions start the scenario broken down into supported components. Thus the HQs are left in the box.

Rule 28A3, Italian Disarray: Is an overrun considered "combat" for purposes of this rule? (On the Dec I 40 turn, the British can usually overrun the Italian forces at hex 19:0526 which are out of general supply after the surprise attack turn. Are they permanently eliminated?)

Yes. (Yes.)

Rule 32D2 & 3, Divisional Engineers: In the initial phase of Jan II 41, Inf XX HO 70 begins building a fort; in the initial phase of Feb II 41 (two turns later), the fort is finished. May Inf XX HQ 9 (Aus) start building another fort, or have the UK forces used up their divisional engineer ability for Feb II 41 by the completion of Inf XX HQ 70's fort?

If HQ 70 used the ability on Jan II and Feb I, the fort would be functional Feb II so HO 9A could start building another fort that same turn.

May the Allied player ship units in his Western Desert replacement pool to the Near East replacement pool using naval transport (and vice versa)?

(This is to enable the Allied player to use the garrison rule of 32G. In reality the British shipped some burnt out units from Egypt to Iraq/Iran to reform. No. [John Astell says it is okay to use this as a house rule. RG]

May he so ship RPs? (I think the answer as to RPs is "yes": see sixth paragraph of Rule 29B.)

Yes. RPs may be transported (per that paragraph), but only from one supply terminal to another (or to Malta if advanced rule 32J is used).

In The Near East the rules for Egypt call for the conversion of two British light antiaircraft counters to two Egyptian light antiaircraft counters, but that is not in the WitD rules in Torch. Can you tell me why?

These two AA counters are accounted for in the last paragraph of Advanced Rule 32G which requires the Allied player to garrison Cairo and Alexandria with one AA point each. You may convert the counters to Egyptian once the NE conditions are met.

"Spanish Torch" (Kit 5)

Which cities count for victory points?

Spanish cities are worth the following victory points: 1 point for each dot city; 2 points for each partial city hex; 3 points for each full city hex. (See errata on last page of TEN #2.)

The victory rule currently reads that both the Axis and Allies win a marginal victory if the Allies control 15 points of Spanish cities. What should it be?

The Allies win a marginal victory at 15; the Axis win a marginal victory at 14.

How is rail cap lost? WitD is too generous and based on the limited African rail systems.

Use WHD Rule 7A4, paragraph four, for rail capacity gains and losses. "Spanish Torch" gives Spain a rail capacity of 30 REs. It also says Spanish "reference cities which are major ports are not rail depots." Thus Spain has five major city hexes, five dot city major ports, and five other dot cities (ignore the dot cities Granada and Santander since they are not on rail lines) for a total of 25 REs of rail depots. This 5 RE difference will not cause any problems in play.

Marita-Merkur

There is a Well-1 C counter provided, but it is not mentioned in the order of battle.

It is not used in the game.

Europa

Can I use TFH aircraft counters for the older games?

Yes, The more recent the game, the more accurate the ratings of the air units.