if one Brit has spotted a German, all the Brits know the German is there, unless there is an element of Brits far enough way and out of LOS that it wouldn't make sense.
No just the one whose making the shot…I don't know how many times when I went hunting with my "townie" buddies when I'd spot a rabbit, shot and my two friends would be like "what the hell are you shooting at…" (ironically I went goofer shooting at a farm over here on the prairies and it was the reverse…couldn't see the blighters…anyway in my game the bren team on the left hadn't spotted the German… even if they know he's there (gun shoots) lets say they jump out to shoot…if he's kneeing behind a hedge there's those vital milli-seconds of locating that small target (head) in which time the German can react first…so the rule for me is not just a LoS thing but how difficult it might be for someone to 'quickly' spot and target you. Those milli- seconds are the difference between getting off your shot off or being shot I imagine…your thoughts Marine, you're the expert here…Bambi and Thumper were rarely armed :)
Regarding shooting, I almost never take aimed shots. For me it has been very fruitful to take multiple shots at an enemy, so that even if I miss, I putting more stress on him and giving him a better chance of failing morale.
From a mechanical point of view at times it would seem the most effective option, especially from the point of view of increasing stress points.
Well before getting down to the actual mechanics I want to give my interpretation of what the difference between an aimed shot is and a non-aimed one.
I imagine a non Aimed shot is an instinctive blast towards an enemy …imagine the British lead scout carrying his rifle at waist level, he turns a corner of a high wall and there 6 yards away is a German walking slowly towards him in exactly the same manner. Both have been actively scanning their front 180's for enemies so they both see each other immediately.
Without thinking of this situation from a rules point of view…what would be the shooting options for the Brit and the German?
1. As quickly as possible directing their waist held rifles towards the immediate danger and letting off a shot.
Result…action done quickly minimizing the change of target returning fire , potential of more shots (especially if there are multi enemies…moderate chance of hitting target…
2. Aimed shot, raising rifle to shoulder and quickly shooting
3. 2 or more aimed actions…obviously rifle laid into the shoulder and concerted effort to direct a lethal shot (if that's desired I guess…we're not the NYPD)
Running the risk of been shot before you even get your shot off, less shots…better chance of a successful and effective shot.
I personally think a single shot weapon like a BA rifle should be seriously penalized unless there's some form of aiming (possibly more than the official rules state presently)
Now this is where I changed things a little: An aimed shoot meant I could re-roll on the target dice. 2 aims meant I could re-roll twice etc. Of course certain body locations meant damage modifiers. A shot in the foot isn't very likely to cause instant death (unless he's crossing a 40ft high tight rope) compared to a head shot obviously.)
Also remember that Matt changed the modifier to +2 for each action spent aiming (I changed this to +2 for the first…+1 for everyone after…)
Now I think I'd be correct in saying that the main function of small arms fire in WW2 was laying down suppressive fire, and not necessarily to cause maximum physical damage. And in the situation of targets in decent cover I think the emphasis should be on pinning the enemy down. This could be seen where Richie and Hamster were behind the wall with the German rifle firing twice (as much as he could) and the sub-machine gun laying down enough fire so when the grenade flew over only one reacted…
But when the decent shoot presents itself 'Hammer' Barnes (the best shot in the platoon) sees two targets in the open and their facing away from him…he decides to aim and shoot.
But if this is the primary purpose of small arms fire this leads me to the area of the biggest problem. But I may have interpreted the rules wrong here.
It's the question the amount of stress that's allotted by various forms of fire. Am I wrong but does a Heavy MG give the same stress amount as a single rifle shot?
If so I think this is a big problem. Imagine the two chaps fully behind the wall meaning they can't be physically hit and are being shot at intermediately by a bolt action. The rifleman's s/d means he can shoot 3 times. 3 stress. A MG42 fires at the wall 3 times. 3 stress. So in this situation of the target is in full cover then it would be more valuable for the purposes of suppression to have 3 riflemen firing at the wall than 2 MG42's.
If this is the case (which I think it is then this is the rules biggest problem.
The medium MG does give an opportunity to hit several targets in a grouped area but for me this is not enough…it needs to produce more stress.
Also, if a Brit is trying to spot a German, and there are actually two or three Germans relatively close together, I count a successful spotting attempt as spotting all the Germans. How are you playing these two aspects?
OK …I'm playing the spotting with minis were grouped together if in close proximity to each other. But I occasionally judge on an individual basis if there is a huge difference mod for cover… on German standing out for a shot while behind the 2nd is prone behind a hedge
BTW I purposefully had the Brits acting way too Gong-Ho in this first mission (I know they would have likely to have had fighting experience already but just for the purposes of a campaign) but would become far more cautious in the later missions. They were basically sprinting to locations in the open just to get prime shooting spots.
I think it gives you too many KIA. On the table I'm playing the light, serious, and dead as written, but following the game I roll a D20 on a table (that I created) to see what it ultimately means, which is how you keep seeing "Smith is sent to Battalion Aid Station for four days," "Jones is evacuated to China Beach Hospital for 10 ten days," or "Robinson is evacuated to the United States, his tour is over."
Jack I was actually so determined to go by the book (originally I totally intended not to change anything with the rules as it was a play test but that didn't last very long…but
you are absolutely right…I was like 'what another kill' I was going to imply the NuTs 'knocked out of the fight' rule that sounds like yours but in the end with two British dead I let it be as I wanted a sense of loss and the Brits were very reckless…
Great chat though …look forward to more discussion on this. And I want to emphasize that I really think the core of this game is excellent and I haven't enjoyed a game this much in a long long time!
Leave it to you to have a crotch shot…
Yeah I'm sorry I'll try to go easy on you :)
John
bases more of his German artillery tractors.
