H on SW (Support Weapons)

[Itineranthobbyist]

Confirming - the “H” on the Piat means that the Piat can affect troops in the open with a FP of 2? (3 on the back of the counter - 1=2)

If not, please enlighten me on the rules regarding SW ordinance and infantry.

 

[Rydo]

Confirming - the “H” on the Piat means that the Piat can affect troops in the open with a FP of 2? (3 on the back of the counter - 1=2)

If not, please enlighten me on the rules regarding SW ordinance and infantry.

Usually an attack with H weapons against infantry in the open is resolved like this:

1 - Activate unit with the H SW and decide to fire at an enemy infantry;
2 - The H sw attacks are resolved after or before any other attack from the same unit possessing the H SW but never at the same time ( in other words the PIAT fires as if its another unit and you don't sum your HE with the unit firepower firing it ).
A British 1-6-4 with a PIAT can fire his 1 FP and THEN the PIAT as two separate attacks.
3 - Flip the PIAT counter and see the range you want to fire on.
4 - After you found your range ( that must be equal or lower to the printed number on the top of the table ) go down one square and look at the second number, that is the TO HIT number.
5 - Roll 2 Dice ( D6 ). Add one to your die roll for each degrading hex in LoS your shot pass trought, add the target Terrain Modifier and any other modifier the Ordnance Fire Table tells you ( OFT ).
6 - If the result, after all modifiers applied above is less or equal of the TO HIT number printed on your PIAT counter then the raget is hit and you use the HE equivalent printed on the front of the PIAT counter as the damage.
7 - The attacker now roll a D6.
8 - Add that D6 result with the HE equivalent printed on the front of the PIAT counter MINUS ONE if the target is NOT in a building, huts, bunker or cave. For example the PIAT is HE 2 it becomes HE 1.
9 - The target roll 1 D6 and nothing more.
10 - Substract the Defender's total of point 9 from the attacker's total of point 8.
11 - Check the corresponding table to see if the unit survived or not. You know the drill, if attacker's total-defender's total >0 add that plus roll 1 D6, sum them and check the table to see if its shaken, reduced, etc.
12 - Repeat from point 9 if there are multiple infantry units in the hex.
13 - If the units survives place a -1 acquisition marker on the units and an acquiring of the firing unit with the PIAT. ( not 100% sure about this point ).
14 - PIAT sucks.

 

[Rydo]

Easy way:

British open fire with the PIAT.

Flip the PIAT counter.


Roll 2D6. Since the target is two hexes distant you'll need a 4 or less.



PIAT becomes a 1 HE on the front.

Resolve as stated in the above message.



The end result.

A wasted shot.

A horrible gun.

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

Ah but a PIAT will add 2 to your close assault on a vehicle

The H means Heat ammunition. it does not means this ammunition is restricted to leg units in the open; it's just less effective in those circumstances

 

[Itineranthobbyist]

I followed all of that except for the “Piat becomes a 1 HE on the front.” I don’t see a 1 anywhere.

And here’s the rule that says subtract 1 from the HE-equivelant (what is that?). This is why I took a damage roll with a “2”+d6. I saw the “3” for the MPV and subtracted 1 from it.

 

[Barthheart]

HE-equivalent = high explosive equivalent attack value. It tells what value to use on the DFT when attacking non-vehicle units.

On the front of the PIAT counter there is a small grey square with a "2" in it. That's the PIAT's HE-equivalent value. So firing at infantry not in buildings it's FP value on the DFT is 2-1=1.

The reason for this is HEAT ammo is more like a shaped charge and doesn't have a large blast effect. So troops not in buildings are less likely to be hurt by them. Being in a building, while giving more basic defense , the HEAT ammo can cause spawlling of the inner walls resulting in more damaging shrapnel.

 

[Itineranthobbyist]

Man, I completely missed the explanation that 2 was the HE equivalent. Going to the rules.

 

[Itineranthobbyist]

Ok. I’m not finding it. On other SW that number is the range. And the HE equivelant number on other ordinance was a typically on the top and middle of the counter.

I believe you, i’m Just not finding it In the rules. If it’s not there, it should be.

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

He-Equivalent is located at different places on the counters, based on the type

For SW using Ordnance (ex: Bazooka), the HE equivalent is located in a box on the front lower right corner. If there is no box at all (ex: Russian 14.5 PTR) or a * in the box (ex: French Boys .55) , it means this Ordnance SW can't fire at non-vehicle target.

For WT, Vehicle, Helicopter and Aircraft able to use ordnance, the HE-Equivalent is located at the front of the coutner, to the left of the blue morale box, in a equally blue circle. Again, if there is a * in the blue circle, the WT or Vehicle can't fire at non-vehicle target.

The HE-equivalent of the turret counter used in AA2 or HOTNx to denote that a LVPT5 equipped with a 106mm gun is in a red square at the back of the counter, at the top right corner. This is an exception the ot previous paragraph

It is a bit more complicated for WT and Vehicle firing ATGM. They always have a HE-Equivalent located at the front of the coutner, to the left of the blue morale box, in a equally blue circle.. Some will also have a ATGM HE-Equivalent in a red square at the back of the counter, in the top right corner. Then some will have one and others will have two To-Hit table on their back. Here is how to interpret these numbers:

1) ATGM-using unit having only one To-Hit table and only the front HE-Equivalent (in a blue circle) use this HE-Equivalent as their ATGM HE-Equivalent. Ex: American M47 WT in HATRS
2) ATGM-using unit having only one To-Hit table and both the front HE-Equivalent (in a blue circle) and the rear ATGM HE Equivalent (in a red square) use eithers (they are the same ). Ex. Russian BRDM AT in HATRS
3) ATGM-using unit having two To-Hit tables and both the front HE-Equivalent (in a blue circle) and the rear ATGM HE Equivalent (in a red square) use the front one when firing their regular ordnance (utilizing to the top numbers of the To-Hit tables) and the rear one when firing their ATGM (utilizing the lower numbers of the To-Hit tables), as explained under 14.4 in HATRS. Ex: Russian BMP1 in HATRS

Any number in a blue circle at the top right corner of the rear of a counter is shaken morale.

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

And yes, the rules should tell you where to find the HE-Equivalent on SW