Solo Module Example of Play

[banania]

What box do I need to re-play with real counters the Solo Module example of play?
It involves Soviet and German, so I guess it's Heroes of the Motherland, but I would like to be sure.
Thanks

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

Yep, Heros of the Motherland.

Be sure to get this: https://forums.lnlpublishing.com/resources/lnlt-solo-manual-player-aid-card-update.245/

 

[banania]

So I was finally playing again Assault on Vierville (the starter kit scenario) but this time with the Solo Module. I received all Core Sets (except for Heroes of Normandy, will that be reedited soon?) and expansions but I really want to be able to grasp the basics of both playgame (still struggle with some concepts, LOS being one of them) and solo flow (that's actually not to hard) before diving into upscaled scenarios.

I have several questions, some of theme solo-related, some of them generic. Hope they're not too dumb.

Solo-related

1. I had a German stack with a leader and an IFP of 7, three hexes away a lone US sniper in a Light building that is an objective hex. Drew a "Fire" order as a secondary order, being further than 2 hexes away from the nearest objective building. Following the Fire flowchart:
   • Firing a MMC ==> LOS+spotted (PU had a Moved marker) ==> No ordance ==> Hex needed for victory ==> Fire at the hex
   • Does that make sense? How does the flowchart relates to snipers? Because the way I see it, maybe risking OF and entering a melee to eliminated the sniper was a better move? Is this a "Use your brain soldier" corner case? I am not so sure, because counter-actions flowchart do have a way of "dealing" with snipers, especially by firing at them.
2. It seems to me that the solo module never handles the splitting of stacks? For instance on the example above, if I had sent just a half-squad trying to takeout the sniper?

Generic

1. "Buildings only have 1 level" => does this mean there is no floor, or one floor? Is the level-0 a level?
2. When making a spotting attempt, can I attempt with only 1 GO unit? (example: a leader is stacked with two MMCs but I attempt only with the leader):
   • If I succeed: can I then fire with the whole stack?
   • If I fail: can I still move the MMCs stacked with the leader on a later impulse?
3. A stack of 2 MMCs enters a Melee with only 1 sniper (NME) on the other side. They receive a Melee marker and the sniper is immediately eliminated. The stack with the melee marker cannot be spotted and fired out, is that right?
4. What happens to SWs after the carrying sqad has been elimited during a Melee? Does it stay in the hex potentially to be used by the surviving side? (this is how I played it)

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

Solo-related
a) Wondering how you ended up with an IFP of 7? The best you can do is 2 with the infantry units present in this scenario (they all have a IFP of 1 and combining 2 or 3 units would result in a combined IFP of 2). Of course, adding a couple of MGs and a leader could bring the total FP to 7 easily
b) Being two hexes away from an objective building does not mean you have to skip a Priority-2 order. You have to be more than 2 hexes away from a PU to do so, and you would proceed to a Secondary order only if there is no Priority Order-3, or you have to skip this one too.
c) Did you go through the Combined Fire Action Flowchart first, if you were firing a stack (the only way to reach a total FP of 7)?
d) Sniper cannot move so PU could not be spotted by a Moved marker but, for the sake of your question, I will assume it was spotted for some other reason than Moved or Fired (as you mention possible Opp fire)
e) Considering that a lone sniper in a LC building hex has a TM of 6, firing at it with 7 FP is not such a bad idea but yes, depending on the tactical situaiton (other units able to opp fire beside the sniper for example), sending one unit to expend the sniper's opp fire , then, in a subsequent impulse, sending another unit to eliminate the sniper in Melee might be a better solution and it is indeed a situation where you have to use your brain soldier!
f) You are right, I think the Solo system does not "split" his own stacks; it,s the nature of the beast

Generic
1) The default rules is that building only have a lower (ground floor- Level 0) level, unless they are of the Heavy Construction type AND bigger than two hexes. I'm assuming this SSR was put in that scenario so people stop asking if there was a usable steeple in the church building (which would, at least, be a upper level hex)
2) As indicated under 4.1, a unit marked ops complete can fire at a unit it just spotted, and other units in its hex can join (you actually remove the ops complete marker in this situation, replacing it with a Fired marker). If it fails, it stay marked ops complete and thus cannot do anything else beside opp firing later in the turn (and only if the unit is a MMC). Other units in the hex of the spotter could then be activated in this, or a later, impulse. Note that you can spot from one hex and, if successfull, fire at the just spotted hex with a stack from a different hex than the spotter's hex, who would then be marked ops complete.
3) The hex with the Melee marker is automatically spotted (see 10.0) but you can't fire on a Melee hex nor fire from a melee hex
4) The SW is dropped in the hex and will be recoverable by the enemy unit next turn, provided there is no more Melee going on in the hex

 

[banania]

a) Yes I was speaking about the modified FP, not the IFP, sorry.
b) But 7.1.1. reads:
"If no eligible AEO within two hexes of a PU can perform an action, then this order section is skipped"
So why shouldn't I skip it? Can you elaborate, I am not sure I understand so well here.
c) No, I forgot about that chart, thank you for pointing that out
d) Sniper had a "Fired" marker, sorry

Thank you for answers 1-4 also, good to know I had it mostly right (but truthfully, I have yet to use Ordnance-units).

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

b) But 7.1.1. reads:
"If no eligible AEO within two hexes of a PU can perform an action, then this order section is skipped"
So why shouldn't I skip it? Can you elaborate, I am not sure I understand so well here.

I was merely pointing out that the important part of 7.1.1. is "no PU within two hexes" and not " being further than 2 hexes away from the nearest objective building", which is the info you gave in your initial post to justify skipping to Secondary order

d) Sniper had a "Fired" marker, sorry.

Well, then, there was no risk of OF (at least from the sniper; can't tell the overall situaiton from your initial post)) so you should definitively have "used your brain soldier" and run into melee to eliminate that pesky sniper

 

[banania]

Yeah maybe I should have taken a picture to be more specific:
- But there was no PU at less than 2 hexes (closest were indeed 3 hexes away, in an objective building"
- There was another American stack with the possibility for OF

Thank you for your help Stéphane, greatly appreciated (and btw, I'm French, I sometimes lurk on Strategikon but not very much these days).

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

Banania, you can ask your questions in French over Strategikon or by private message, no problem; my first language is French indeed. I do try to stick with English on LNLP forum, LNLP Facebook and BGG

 

[banania]

Oh no problem sticking here and to English. Girlfriend's American, so I'm not exactly bilingual but getting there. Also, it's more convenient to ask questions in Englishsince the game terms are in English.

 

[banania]

Another question:

Let's say I activate a stack of two 1-6-4-5 German units stacked with a Leader, starting double-time movement (so they have 6 movement points). They enter a clear hex and immediately suffer OF from enemies (5 movement points left). As a result, one German squad is Shaken.
I can continue movement movement. No problem for the unshaken units.

But how do I manage the movement of the Shaken squad?

Does its movement factor dynamically reduces meaning the squad has now 2 (inherent) + 1 (Shaken double-time) - 1 (already expended) = 2 movement points remaining?

As I understand, a Shaken unit must move away from enemy units. Does it mean at this point I can split the stack? Unshaken units going somewhere towards the enemy and Shaken unit going somewhere elese?

Never mind, found the answer, from 6.0:
All units that move from the SAME hex, in the SAME impulse, must move together (exception, if some units in the moving stack are Shaken during movement they must stop movement while the other units may continue—see 5.3).

 

[banania]

1. Which hexes qualify as "adjacent" hexes for the "bunker hex"? To throw a Satchel charge in a bunker, do I need to be in the hex outside the bunker, or an adjacent hex to the hex outside the bunker?
2. Do Pétard use the same rules as Satchel charges and attack?

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

1) As per 10.4.1, Units in a hex adjacent to a hex containing a Bunker or Cave ARE considered adjacent to the units BOTH INSIDE and OUTSIDE of the Bunker or Cave. Alos, note that, per 21.1.2, Satchel charges can target the Bunker from any direction

2) Yes, The French Pétard (and the German Gebdalung) are the equivalent of the Satchel Charge

 

[banania]

Bloody Valley is really hard! (as the French)

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

The Flamethrower, the Pétards, the mortar WT and teh Groupe francs are your best tools in this scenario

 

[banania]

A few other questions of standard rules and then solo related:

• It seems in 5.1 (maybe even 5.0) there is no +1 DFT modifier for firing from a higher level hill?
• Can GO unit take a SW from a Shaken unit in the same hex, or do BOTH have to be in GO?

As for solo:

• The "Overrun if Firepower greater than target PU" is a bit strange to me since Overrun doesn't take into account the defender's FP, right? So why would the AEO make any decision based on that?
• To resolve a "Dynamic Move" order, one should first read the "Movement Stance" table, then resolve the "Move" flowchart with whatever movement it is performing?
• Doesn't the AEO enter melee way too easily? In priority-1 orders there are a lot of "enter melee" order. On the "Move" chart, we can find that the AEO would enter melee only if its FP is greater than the PU's. Should the "enter melee" follow that guideline? Even so, I think it is quite aggressive, I haven't played a lot of real-player opponents, but they tend to enter melee after the units are either Shaken or have overwhelming superiority (like at least 4:1). Are players known to enter melees more aggressively than that?
• Sometimes the rigorous application of priorities make it so that the AEO would pass even while having off-map units, shouldn't the rule address that?
• What is a "unit that just acted". Is this the last unit that the player acted with? What if the player passed in the previous impulse?
• "Stealth" is not an Action Marker right? So if there is an order with "unit that just acted with an Action Marker", I ignore all PU with a "Stealth" Marker?
• When the rules mention a "chance of causing damage", does it "chance of shaking a unit" or "chance of inflicting wound/casualty" on a unit? Because even a 0-FP unit firing at a stack of morale-6 units in a Heavy Building can shake those units, by rolling a 6, its adversary a 1, and a 6 on the DC. However, few players would actually do that right?

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

Core Rules:
1) There was never a +1 on the DFT for firing from a hill, only a +1 TM for being fired at on a hill from a lowel level.You will find this on the TEC. It does means it is applied agaisnt both DFT and OFT attacks

2) They both have to be in GO and in the Rally phase. A shaken unit could abandon its SW in the Operation phase by moving out of the hex then the GO unit could pick up the abandonned SW, at a cost of 2 MPs

Solo:
1) Indeed, it is strange

2) Myself, I have always stopped reading after the movement stance table

3) The AEO is, in my opinion, not agressive enough This is particularly true in defense. Yes, new players tend to avoid melee unless htey have an almost guaranteed victory. I do it much more liberally; as soon as I have a better chance than my opponent and I can get into the melee hex without being op fired on, it becomes an real option for me.

4) The rules adress that; "use your brain soldier"

5) Did you find yourself in such a situation? I would probably look at the last unit the PU actviated or I would use my brain, again

6) Stealth Marker should, IMO, be considered a Action marker

7) It means the chance of getting a result different than No Effect on the DCT

 

[banania]

Thanks for your answer, I should probably ask for official clarification about the No Stealth Marker and the weird Overrun condition.