If one of a ground unit's inherent air defense assets fires on an

enemy aircraft which is attacking a point target within the ground

unit's combat box, is that air defense asset's GCS subtracted from

the overall unit's GCS if that overall unit takes part in combat

that Ground Cobat Turn?

 

A Special Rule in SAW2, page 58 states; "If a plane overflies a

combat box and there is a hostile unit equipped with shoulder-fired

SAMs, the chance of a plane being attacked by a SAM (being spottedby

a soldier with his launcher ready and being within the launchers

envelope)is equal to the number of SAMs in the combat box on a D10."

 

What about a plane flying overflying a combat box and there is an

Air Defense Artilley piece within that hostile unit's T/O? A ZSU-23

in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Infantry Brigade in Send In

The Marines (HNR2003), ZSU-23-4 and SA-9 Gaskins of the Soviet Naval

Infantry Battalions in Red Beach & The Russians Are Coming (Hide

Tide).

 

Instead of these assets just being at a generic location within a

combat box, would a player have to give a specific, point, location

within the box? I can see an exception being the ZSU-23's due to

their very small size and relatively limited effective range, but

what about the ZSU-23-4 and actual vehicle mounted SAMs?

 

Thanks,

Per Mr. Bond:

 

"there are a lot of abstractions built into the GCS rules, designed to simplify play and keep the players' attention on the big picture, not down in the weeds. That being said, we obviously got a little too global when we said "SAMs," instead of something like "dedicated AA weapons." That better covers AAA and SAMs. Vehicle-mounted MGs and individual weapons do not count. If there are more than 10 AA weapons in the box, I'd give the player one automatic attack and roll D10 for the remainder. For example, of there are 13 weapons, the ground commander gets one shot and rolls for 3 on a D10 for a second shot. Roll randomly to see what type of weapon gets to shoot.

 

Of course, this is a gross oversimplification, but I like gross oversimplification. It assumes that the ground commander has competently sited the weapons for maximum coverage and that the attacking pilot uses optimum tactics to avoid the weapons. Both of these decisions are implemented far below the players' level of command.

 

You can get fancy, if you like. Inexperienced pilots subtract one from the die, novice pilots subtract two. If there's no friendly air search radar coverage of the box, add one. For every plane the attacker dedicated to AA suppression, subtract three. And so on.

 

Their exact position is not important. They're in the box. Part of the D10 roll includes whether or not they're in engagement range.

 

If a player is involved in a ground combat, and has committed his AAA to the ground fight, then they should be considered ground weapons. They will not be properly sited for AA defense, and their crews will be looking for targets on the ground, not the horizon. Even a system like a ZSU-23-4 needs a few moments for the crew to react, and if they're not in position, o, well. They may even be actively engaged when hostile aircraft attack (which is certainly what the opposing player will try to do).

 

At the beginning of a ground combat turn, a player can change the mode of his AAA from air to ground or vice versa. They are in that mode for the entire 30-minute turn."

 

-Pete