Broken unit in raft question

[=FC=Gorgon]

Hi Folks,

Got a sticky one and of course it is related to Chapter E. Here is the situation:

A small raft with 2 half squads Beached. One half squad Advanced out during his turn. On my opponents turn, he overran the hex. E5.23 says that the unit in the raft can be attacked by the OVR

"Nevertheless, if attacked, a Beached boat must be attacked in the
water hex by tracing a LOS to that Water Obstacle’s hex center dot [EXC:
OVR]."

The OVR does not affect the raft itself but the same IFT roll causes an MC and of course the unit IN the raft breaks. As far as I can tell he his broken and not killed since he's Beached. The raft did not 'sink' so he should still be IN the raft. The overrunning AFV stayed in the hex in Motion.

The question is what are the broken unit's options? Can he route back into the water and get away? E5.54 just says that broken units may not ENTER a boat. It doesn't say they cannot use it.

I think he can go back into the river and high tail it out of there. Nothing says he cannot from what I am reading. But I would like the community's opinion.

Thanks!!
MikeS

 

[=FC=Gorgon]

Got a good answer from jrv on Discord:

E5.54 says, "A boat Passenger never takes a MC/TC for any reason." So they can't break while already on the boat. It also says already broken units can't enter a boat. Since they can't break while on the boat and they can't break beforehand then enter the boat, my conclusion is that there can't be a broken unit on a boat.

Thanks jrv, Zovs66 and 'Rout Better' for the discussion!

 

[Doug Leslie]

In the situation that you describe, E5.53 comes into play.

5.53 SINKING: Whenever a boat counter is sunk (not just Reduced), all of its Passengers are also eliminated—unless the boat is Beached or in shallow water (defined as fordable; B21.122) in which case they undergo IFT attack normally using the same DR that sank the boat modified by the Hazardous Movement DRM. All SW/Guns of a sunk boat are lost even if Beached or in fordable water.

So the OVR attack has no effect on the passengers unless the boat counter sinks. In that event, they are no longer passengers and are attacked normally by the same DR with a -2 modifier. If they break, they rout normally per the relevant Chapter A rules.

 

[=FC=Gorgon]

Ah but E5.51 says:
and the same IFT Effects DR as would be
used for any unarmored target in that Location (see 5.53).

Would the Passenger not be an "unarmored target in that Location?". If not then I agree and the unit IN the boat would be very happy they survived.

 

[Doug Leslie]

Ah but E5.51 says:
and the same IFT Effects DR as would be
used for any unarmored target in that Location (see 5.53).

Would the Passenger not be an "unarmored target in that Location?". If not then I agree and the unit IN the boat would be very happy they survived.

Passengers can't be attacked separately from the boat per E5.5. They can only be attacked separately in the event that the boat sinks while beached or in shallow water, in which event they are placed in the water hex and attacked using the hazardous movement modifier.

 

[Vinnie]

Say this attack was by OBA. Is the same roll that destroyed the raft used against the ex-passenges or a new one made?

 

[Doug Leslie]

Say this attack was by OBA. Is the same roll that destroyed the raft used against the ex-passenges or a new one made?

It would be the same DR per E5.53.