Designers notes.
As a rule writer I have been against publishing these as they would be larger than the rules themselves and be of interest to only VERY dedicated rule writers.
As a case in point these are some notes made for recent discussions on how the rules should treat modern vehicles that require missiles to be loaded/reloaded externally i.e at least requiring a hatch to be opened and some manual intervention being required while the missile is reloaded externaly.
This is a VERY small part of the rules but the underlying principals take far longer to explain than the final result.QED
Here are the relevant notes, only folk with a passion for vehicles need read on.
Designers notes are not a practical thing to publish.
AFV's with ATGW requiring to be loaded externally.
Designers notes.
Some vehicles currently have been identified as essentially being reloadable from Under Armour but requiring a hatch to be opened as some manual intervention are as follows. BMP2, Bradley, Marder. The BMP1 with saggeer is perhaps an extreme example requiring more exposure but has been lumped in with this set.
This memorandum effectively covers vehicles that are reloaded in more than about 12 seconds (see reload definition)
The current rules assume that it takes a phase to reload (half a bound in more typical wargames terminology). Our rules say that the system cannot be re-loaded when suppressed. This may not be a sufficiently well-defined set of rules to reflect reality sufficiently well for the purposes of the game in the author's opinion so thought is needed as to what is appropriate.
So using the following benchmark rules are provided as guidance for timescales for this event.
• A vehicle can move along a per-determined route a distance of 320m including a 180 degree turn in a single Phase (Half a move). This involves the vehicle unbuttoning in the process. (Slow Transit in Maneouvre Group rules)
• An impromptu move from stop to stop is 50m taking 1 Phase.
• A vehicle may fire a high caliber gun 3 times in a Phase when reactions are included before a high penalty for additional firing is applied if further reactions are required. This is accepted as assuming approximately 7 to 12 seconds reloading time so overall about 30 to 40 seconds including sighting and firing the gun.
• Buttoning up or unbuttoning can be included as an addition to a Change Speed command (note error in rules omitted the asterisk from the Change speed command in Local Commands but it is already present in Global Commands. It is implicit in a Transit command.
The current Reload command stating a unit cannot reload while suppressed is not entirely all encompassing. The small arms fire on an element is assumed essentially instant so a vehicle hit by small arms fire is considered to be in the final state at the end of its Phase, so if a reload has taken place in its last phase it would be buttoned up again, by the end of it's Phase so the enemy phase of fire would be by definition ineffective.
The loading vehicle could be subject to reactive fire on the basis of spotting new enemy, as the state of the vehicle changes from buttoned up to at least partially unbuttoned. However if the enemy is not in Gaze mode the reaction fire would again be ineffective as the target would go from Buttoned up to unbuttoned and back to buttoned up.
It could be defined for the vehicle that it was unbuttoned for say ½ to ¾ of a phase but the into and out of sight penalty and the cover benefit of the re-loading vehicle make this an unattractive technique. Total negative of -10 to -14, at the level where fire is to be discouraged as it wastes valuable speed of play, with minimal return, so is not to be encouraged, so a definition would not be supplied by the authors so the rules as written could not be used to this end.
The application of continuous suppressive fire on the vehicle is by definition in our rules not effective against bunkers, pillboxes and unbuttoned AFV's so this is also not a solution.
So the key is that the vehicle should be vulnerable to small arms while reloading if it's visible or preferably the vehicle should withdraw to a safe place to reload.
Final Definition of the solution
The vehicle must be un-buttoned before it reloads. That means that the vehicle needs to use a Phase to un-button. However if the rules are amended/corrected (it was an error in publication) by adding an asterisk to the speed change in Local commands, it's there in the Global command to allow buttoning up/unbuttoning as part of a Local Command speed change, this allows the vehicle to withdraw in Halt Mode (back 50m), effectively out of sight in most cases, and unbutton and then in the next phase reload. The vehicle will be given a special drill allowing the reload to include returning the vehicle to buttoned-up status as part of the Reload Local command
This is consistent with Slow Transit and Transit, rules that allow/require unbuttoning as part of the action
Current rules set definitions
Suppressive fire
This represents speculative fire directed at likely buildings, hedgerows, hill crests etc. to keep the enemy infantry's head down, should he be present.
It is directed at a strip of terrain likely to hold enemy, 60m long by 20m deep by one contour high. Note: it is ineffective against Bunkers and Pillboxes or unbuttoned vehicles; these must always be attacked by direct fire.
Local Command.
Reload – This covers reloading of missiles, or other large projectile weapons that have significantly longer reload times than about 12 seconds.
Vehicles must be stationary and un-suppressed to reload manually. This also applies to any crew external to the vehicles that are conducting the reloading.
paints up some Israeli mortar vehicles.
