Two questions (mortars DRM and LOS through walls)

[MCabido]

1. it is stated in 18.1: "A Leader's LM does not affect the Mortar's FP when firing indirectly nor does degrading terrain reduce it, but other DFT modifiers - except the TM for Walls and Hills - (including the TM of the target hex) apply."
What about the negation of Moving DRM for units moving behind a hedge?

2. It is stated in 10.3.2: "LOS that crosses (is not traced along) a Wall or Hedge hexside FROM THE SAME LEVEL TO THE SAME LEVEL is blocked if neither the firing unit nor the target unit is in a hex containing the Wall or Hedge hexside [...]".
That makes me infer that any blocking hexside will only block LOS when in the same level. No shadow involved in any situation? A unit on a higher level will always have LOS to another on a lower level when LOS crosses a wall. Is that so?

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

1. No negation of Moving DRM. Thw wall does not protect you from a projectile that is lobed on your head
2. Exactly, because the wall/hedge is not even a level-1 obstacle so it is not high enough to have any effect on LOS in such situation. Note that the a target adjacent to the wall (and not on the same side as the shooter) would still get the Wall TM and the hedge would still negate the Moving DRM in the same situation

 

[MCabido]

Thanks Stéphane.

Still about mortars, 18.1 states: “A Leader’s LM does NOT affect the Mortar’s FP when firing indirectly [...]”

1. What about direct fire with a leader in the same hex? Will the Leader LM apply if we choose to use it together with the WT?

In 1.6.5, we have the following about Mortar SW: “A Leader’s Leadership Modifier does NOT affect the Mortar’s FP when firing indirectly, nor does degrading terrain reduce it. This is true for Mortar fired alone (not combining FP with other units) directly as well."

2. I suppose that here, if we have a leader in the same hex, we can choose to use its LM by firing with the squad. Is it so?

3. What about directing fire? For the mortar SW the rule talks about adjacent Leader, Scout, Squad etc. For mortar WT it only demand a Leader that has LOS to a spotted target. I suppose we can’t use those methods interchangeably. It must be a Leader (anywhere) for the WT and an adjacent unit for the SW.

The rules for mortars can get confusing because they refer to the same kind of weapon but with different dynamics for SW and WT, so I keep asking myself if what is stated for one can be applied to the other when nothing is said. Sometimes, it is clear, like WT leaving FFE and attacking the whole hex (all levels and units) as opposed to the SW, but other times we keep asking if something was just unintentionally omitted. Perhaps, it would be a good idea to add a paragraph listing the differences between mortars SW and WT. Just a suggestion.

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

We tried, in v5.1, to make them (SW vs. WT) as distinctive as possible. Thus, 1.6.5 only applies to SW and 18.1 only applies to WT. With this in mind:

1. Yes it will apply with a WT since it is not strictly forbidden. Note that the sentence you quote under 1.6.5 is poorly written. It gives you the impression that the leader LM would not apply but the sentence is really there to say that degrading terrain will not affect a mortar fired directly and alone. Thus, the LM would apply also to a mortar SW fired directly, alone or not.

2. Yes. If you combine the mortar SW and the IFP of a squad for example), you add the LM. but then degrading terrain comes into play. if you don't combine with a squad, you still add the LM but degrading terrain does not comes into play

3. Exactly. The rules under 1.6.5 apply to SW, and the ones under 18.1 apply to WT; they are not interchangeable.

 

[MCabido]

Thanks again Stéphane.

 

[Stéphane Tanguay]

You're welcome!