Defensive first fire options vs Boats

[Phil_Draper]

Q1. Can defensive first fire be conducted at boats solely due to the act of unbeaching?

Boats may be freely unbeached during the MPh or APh. I assume, as this does not require a MP it is not a trigger for Defensive Fire?


Q2. Can a boat that declares beaching as it enters a hex be the target of Defensive First Fire in its unbeached state as it enters that hex? If so can the defender opt to wait until beaching is complete before conducting Defensive First Fire?

E5.23 States, Beaching can occur freely during the boat’s MPh/APh if it is declared as it enters any land/water hex containing any non-cliff shore hexside/pontoon (B6.41-.45) bridge, and is symbolized by placing the boat counter so that it straddles the water-land hexside on which it is Beached.

If not I can see situations where the defender has no defensive fire opportunities against the attacker when he is not beached, which seems bizarre at best.

 

[Doug Leslie]

If beaching is declared as the boat enters the hex where it occurs, defensive first fire attacks it in its beached state.

 

[Carln0130]

Q1. Can defensive first fire be conducted at boats solely due to the act of unbeaching?

Boats may be freely unbeached during the MPh or APh. I assume, as this does not require a MP it is not a trigger for Defensive Fire?


Q2. Can a boat that declares beaching as it enters a hex be the target of Defensive First Fire in its unbeached state as it enters that hex? If so can the defender opt to wait until beaching is complete before conducting Defensive First Fire?

E5.23 States, Beaching can occur freely during the boat’s MPh/APh if it is declared as it enters any land/water hex containing any non-cliff shore hexside/pontoon (B6.41-.45) bridge, and is symbolized by placing the boat counter so that it straddles the water-land hexside on which it is Beached.

If not I can see situations where the defender has no defensive fire opportunities against the attacker when he is not beached, which seems bizarre at best.

In the Chapter E Boat rules, no, Unbeaching would not give you a Defensive First Fire shot. It does however in Dinant, as it costs one MP to Unbeach.

 

[Phil_Draper]

In the Chapter E Boat rules, no, Unbeaching would not give you a Defensive First Fire shot. It does however in Dinant, as it costs one MP to Unbeach.

Thanks Carl, I was aware that you had made that change in Dinant, and that the justification was at least in part historical (and due to the specific conditions of the terrain of the Meuse banks). I think the Chapter E rules as written cause some serious issues when representing river crossings across narrow (1 or 2 hex wide) water obstacles. I was wondering if the fact that the original early river geo boards had wider rivers meant that the ability of boats to teleport across a 2 hex barrier with no defensive fire options available to the defender was never examined, at least until narrower rivers like the ones in the Dinant CG and Operation Neptune appeared.

 

[Carln0130]

Hi Phil. You have hit upon the real problem faced and for the correct reasons. If you think about it, when is the slowest you are moving in a boat? When you first get under way. Therefore, the 1 MP to get started always makes sense IMHO.

The fact the old river boards meant you were in the drink for a while compensated for that. However, I truly wonder how many river crossing scenarios had the actual scale fudged liberally to accommodate the old geo boards? I know of at least one that was way off. That is often the case however. The time and ground scale in ASL is so fluid it makes water blush.

 

[Phil_Draper]

Hi Phil. You have hit upon the real problem faced and for the correct reasons. If you think about it, when is the slowest you are moving in a boat? When you first get under way. Therefore, the 1 MP to get started always makes sense IMHO.

The fact the old river boards meant you were in the drink for a while compensated for that. However, I truly wonder how many river crossing scenarios had the actual scale fudged liberally to accommodate the old geo boards? I know of at least one that was way off. That is often the case however. The time and ground scale in ASL is so fluid it makes water blush.

Thanks for the reply, and for all your efforts to support ASL. I am a big fan of your article in DftB. Cheers l.

 

[Carln0130]

Thanks for the reply, and for all your efforts to support ASL. I am a big fan of your article in DftB. Cheers l.

Thank you sir.

 

[Actionjick]

The time and ground scale in ASL is so fluid it makes water blush.

" so fluid it makes water blush "

I never heard that one before!! I will probably be awake all night thinking how to ASLifie it. Very nice.