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Incoming! - Vehicles

11.1 Vehicular actions

An armoured vehicle will have one action per initiative, however once it has carried out this action the controlling player may attempt another action with the same armoured vehicle. To continue with another action the player throws 1D6. A score of 4 or more allows the vehicle to carry out another action. The controlling player may continue to throw for further actions until:

• He fails to score a 4 or more
• He loses the initiative by failing to suppress the enemy with fire
• The armoured vehicle is destroyed by enemy reactive fire

In each of the cases above the initiative then passes to the enemy.

11.1.1 Vehicle Group Moves

The following rules have been devised to allow for vehicle group movement and firing, and for firing on the move.

• US/ARVN and Australian Vehicles: These may make group moves in the same way as their infantry counterparts, providing that they comply with the LOS rules etc. If the command vehicle for the units is destroyed the next senior vehicle will take over command but without any of the bonuses.
• NVA Armour: NVA armour was limited in its capabilities by poor communications, inexperience and "Soviet" style training which was more suited to central Europe. NVA armoured units may make group moves in the same way as the infantry counterparts but they must start and end the move within LOS of their command vehicle. In addition, the vehicles wishing to group move must be within 1 base width of at least one other vehicle in the group.
• Vehicles which make a group move may not attempt further actions (as detailed in section 11.1), as the co-ordination of the group move takes time and prevents individual action being taken.

11.1.2 Vehicle Group Fire and Firing on the Move

US, ARVN and Australian armoured vehicles may form Firegroups and Crossfires as detailed in the original Crossfire rules. This represents the high level of command and control available in the form of radios etc. NVA armour may also form Firegroups and Crossfires providing that the vehicles are within one base width of each other.

Many of the armoured vehicles (and modified trucks etc) used were designed to lay down large amounts of suppressive small arms fire with the aim of either killing the enemy or at least keeping his head down. To simulate this any vehicle equipped with machine guns or cannon, or which has a Fire Team stand being carried as passengers, may put down suppressive fire whilst moving. However, accurate small arms fire fire from moving vehicles is extremely difficult, if not almost impossible, to achieve so the following rules are used.

• The direction of the movement and the intended target are announced before any movement or firing is carried out. The target must be visible to the firing vehicle at the start of its movement.
• Vehicles firing on the move are treated as if firing Recon By Fire, but must have an identified target (otherwise the fire is considered to be RBF).
• Only scores of 6 will count, representing the chance of a lucky hit or rounds striking close to the target.
• A single hit will Pin the target group.
• Two hits will Suppress the target group.
• Moving/Firing vehicles may be attacked by reactive fire as per the Reactive Fire rules.

A failure to suppress the target in the usual way will lose the initiative on completion of the movement.

APC passenger capacity

An M113 APC may carry a maximum of two fire team stands.

11.1.3 Helicopters

On table Helicopters allocated to players as part of the scenario may be used as follows depending on their type and role.

Helicopter Initiative and Actions

Helicopters are treated differently from normal vehicles due to their flight capabilities. Helicopters may move, pivot and fire exactly as if they were an infantry squad with the following exceptions:

• Landing: A helicopter which lands may not do anything else during that initiative. This activity also includes unloading troops or supplies.
• Take off: A helicopter that takes off may not do anything else during that initiative.

A helicopter may also enter or leave the playing area, but it may not do both in the same initiative.

Troops dismounting from a helicopter may make one action only - this must be a move action. Boarding a helicopter takes one action, as does loading casualties or unloading supplies.

Anti-Helicopter Fire

Direct or Reactive fire may be used to engage helicopters providing that:

• The firing stand is not suppressed.
• Infantry stands may only fire on moving helicopters they have LOS and the target aircraft is in the open or within the same terrain feature as its target.
• HMG/AAA stands may fire on moving helicopters if the target is in the open or no more than two LOS blocking terrain features away AND is within the weapon’s arc of fire.
• RPGs/RCLs may engage helicopters within the LOS if the helicopter is either stationary on the ground, landing or taking off.

Firing at Moving helicopters

• Small Arms Fire: Roll two D6, a score of 12 (double 6) indicates that the helicopter is shot down.
• HMG/AAA/RPG/RCL Fire: Roll two D6, a score of 10+ (any combination of 5’s and 6’s) indicates that the helicopter is shot down.

Firing at Stationary helicopters

Helicopters which are stationary on the ground are treated as unarmoured targets and may be fired on as normal, with the following results:

• Pinned results are ignored.
• Suppressed results mean that the helicopter is taking hits and takes off immediately to clear the area. The helicopter is removed from play and the firing player retains the initiative. The helicopter may re-enter play on the owning player’s next initiative.
• Killed results mean that the helicopter is destroyed in its current location. Passengers and crew stands are deemed to be Pinned Down and are placed on the table top adjacent to the destroyed helicopter.

Helicopter Data

Note that an FO, medic, Dog team or similar stand takes half the space of a fire team or command stand when calculating passenger loads. A heavy weapon stand is the equivalent of two fire team or command stands.

11.2.1 Anti- Vehicle Fire

If a vehicle is destroyed there is a risk it will burn. Throw 1D6:

Burning vehicles will produce a 1 stand smoke screen in a randomly determined direction, the smoke stand being placed adjacent to the vehicle itself. The usual effects of smoke on LOS apply.

Effects of Anti-Tank fire on AFV crews and passengers

Under the original Crossfire rules APC passengers received kills equal to the EFF of the gun while the poor old tank crews are not even considered. This does not realistically reflect the use of such armoured vehicles in Vietnam nor the effects of enemy fire on AFVs. In many instances the nature of a firefight could change as the Free World Forces struggled to recover damaged vehicles and injured crews. The following rules are therefore used to replace the original Crossfire rules:

Tank Crews

Tanks are specifically designed to withstand enemy fire, however even if the armour is not penetrated the crews are still vulnerable to secondary effects of a hit such as spalling. During the fighting for Hue in 1968 several USMC M-48 tanks were hit repeatedly by RPG/RCL fire, with many casualties amongst the crews although the tanks themselves were still capable of fighting.

• Any tank, which is penetrated by anti-tank fire or mines, is considered to have been either destroyed to have suffered casualties amongst the crew. The controlling player must dice (1D6). On a score of 4, 5 or 6 the tank is destroyed and may no longer function. A casualty marker is placed next to the vehicle to indicate casualties. On any other result the crew is deemed to have suffered casualties and are unable to continue in action. The crew are considered Suppressed but remain inside the vehicle until they have rallied. The vehicle is marked with a casualty marker and, once the crew have rallied, it may move but not fire. Obviously it is then up to the controlling player to recover his vehicle before it is destroyed.
• Crew casualties may not be replaced within the time limits of a normal game unless this has been specified in the scenario.

APC Crews and Passengers

APCS, being more lightly armoured than a tank and the occupants more vulnerable to the effects of anti-tank fire, stand a greater chance of suffering casualties if hit.

• If their vehicle is destroyed, passengers and crew in APCs or halftracks (or riding on other armoured vehicles) receive a number of attacks equal to the EFF of the firing weapon (LAW and RPG are deemed to have 1 attack). Throw 1D6 for each attack, a score of 5 or 6 indicates that one passenger or crew stand, chosen randomly, is killed (and replaced with a casualty marker). For example, an LVTP APC carrying 5 Fire Team stands is knocked out by a 57mm RCL. The RCL has an EFF of 1. The attacker throws 1D6 and scores a 5. One of the passenger stands is therefore killed and removed from play, being replaced by a casualty marker.
• Once the attack is resolved any casualty markers and surviving passenger stands are deemed to be Suppressed and are placed outside the destroyed vehicle. They must be in base-to-base contact with the vehicle but may be placed so as to obtain maximum cover from fire.

Small arms fire against exposed crew and passengers

This section covers all personnel who need to stand up and physically expose themselves to enemy fire in order to fire their own weapons. Fire Teams firing from moving vehicles, and APC crews firing externally mounted machine guns, may be engaged by small arms as normal, being counted as if in cover. The effects of the fire are:

• Pinned: No effect
• Suppressed: The target stand may no longer fire as it is assumed that the enemy fire has forced the target under cover and the vehicle is now closed down. The passengers and crew may no longer fire until they rally, although the vehicle may still move normally.
• Killed: If the target is a fire team then it is killed and removed from play as normal. If the target is a vehicle crew (an ACAV crew for example), then the crew has suffered too many casualties to continue in action. The vehicle receives a casualty marker. The vehicle may no longer fire although it may continue to move normally.

Note that it will usually be advisable for vehicles with suppressed or killed crews to withdraw! This is left to the player's discretion, rather than allowing the vehicle to be removed from play, as it may well change the course of a game as the Free World player endeavours to recover a damaged or suppressed vehicle before the VC or NVA finish it off.

11.6 Soft Skinned Vehicles (SSV) and Transport

SSVs and transport models may be used with the following rules:

• All SSVs ignore Pinned Results when fired at, but are destroyed by a Suppressed or Killed result.
• Unless stated elsewhere any transport model may carry up to 6 Fire Teams/Command Groups or 4 heavy infantry weapons (mortars, HMGs, man-portable anti-tank weapons etc), or may tow 1 heavier weapon (carrying the crew and FOO).
• Jeeps may carry a single command group (usually a company commander and his staff), or may be equipped with a HMG or RCL and crew.
• Platoon commanders are assumed to travel with their platoons and count as a fire teams for transportation purposes.

The vulnerability of passengers to enemy fire is covered in Anti-Vehicle Fire 11.2.1

Vehicle and Heavy Weapon Data

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