Firing a MOL-P at a Shellhole hex

Jacometti

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HI all,

in RB, the MOL-P seems most useful as a Smoke-creator (if there are no German tanks around).

Now that raises two questions:

1) the MOL-P is not allowed Area Fire. Does this mean it is prohibited from firing at an empty hex ?

2) assuming NO to the above, what To Hit DRM for TEM would it apply to fire at a Shellhole hex? Can it fire at the "open ground portion" of that hex ?

Very keen to hear your wise advice on this. We may have been abusing the MOL-P.....
 

Gunner Scott

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The Mol-p can not fire at empty hexes because it can not use area fire. It can fire at concealed units but suffers the extra +2 drm. Basically it was meant to kill tanks and using it for anything else is very difficult usually.
 

klasmalmstrom

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A MOL-P (or a BAZ 45 for that matter) can't use the Area Target Type - but I am not sure that precludes shooting at a hex with not enemy units in it. It usually does not. I am pretty sure a BAZ 45 can shoot a WP round into an empty hex. Of course that would then be the "main" effect of such an attack, the MOL-P only places Smoke as a side effect of a hit.
 

jrv

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You are not required to use the Area Target Type to fire at (apparently) empty hexes. The Infantry Target Type can be used vs "a hex devoid of such" [C3.41].

The MOL-P does not use any of the three general target types, but rather uses its own TH Table. This table can be used against any target [C13.5], and because it is not limited by these rules it may be fired at empty hexes. It is not firing SMOKE ammunition, but rather its ammunition has a side effect of creating Smoke. Because of this it does not get the C4.4 TH modification for SMOKE ammunition, and if fired at a hex containing no Known Targets it must use the Case K concealed target DRM.

JR
 

jrv

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The Mol-p can not fire at empty hexes because it can not use area fire.
If the MOL-P fires at a concealed unit or fires at a Dashing unit or fires from crest out of the protected CA or fires a snap shot (there are more instances too), it will be using (correctly) Area Fire. A MOL-P never uses the Area Target Type; it uses its own TH table for all attacks.

JR
 

jrv

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Thinking about the target type used by LATW raised a question in my mind. If a Location contains vulnerable Infantry and armored vehicular targets when fired on by a LATW, are they all hit? This question was actually raised and answered a while ago. Per C13.1, despite using their own TH table LATW choose a C3 Target Type. This solves the question of whether both Infantry and AFVs are both hit by the same attack: they are not. C13.1 also says that LATW cannot use the ATT. This would be a problem for BAZ firing WP except that per C3.33 LATW do not need to use the ATT when firing SMOKE.

That said I believe that the MOL-P is not using SMOKE ammunition, despite Smoke being placed as a side-effect. This means to me that it must use Case K when firing at a hex which is empty (or contains only unknown units). The C4 TH modification for firing SMOKE does not apply to either it or the BAZ because per C13.42 it uses its own TH table with only the C5 and C6 DRM. The C4.4 modification applies only to weapons using the C3 tables. Because it can use the ITT, the MOL-P can still fire at empty hexes per C3.41.

JR
 
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jrv

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I was not 100% sure whether a MOL-P firing at an empty hex is considered to be firing SMOKE ammunition and so not subject to the case K DRM. Per PerrySez, a MOL-P is subject to case K when firing at an empty hex.

JR
 

Eagle4ty

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I was not 100% sure whether a MOL-P firing at an empty hex is considered to be firing SMOKE ammunition and so not subject to the case K DRM. Per PerrySez, a MOL-P is subject to case K when firing at an empty hex.

JR
Always thought that was the case, nice to have a confirmation.
 
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