This armor rules update includes slight changes and new

explanations. With the Release of Tankers Challenge, 47

different armored vehicles have been covered with detailed
Hit Location charts. In addition, the type of vehicles covered
has expanded. Now Hit Location Charts are available for SP
guns, Assault Guns, and Armored Cars. This should make it
much easier for gamers to use armor in their games. Not only
will the many new charts be useful, it will be possible to eas-
ily extrapolate any vehicle from the sheets currently in print.
Most vehicles not yet printed will have a close counter-part
already in print. Almost all conceivable special rules have
now been covered. More sheets will be made available in
future expansions and to our web site.
Side and Rear Armor
Several player responses prompted us to reexamine our rear
armor values. We found that in most cases rear armor was as
strong, or nearly as strong, as side armor. As a result of this
evaluation we have changed the armor value and Stat Strip
that describes each tank. The new descriptions are listed
below. All the tanks in Tankers Challenge include this
change. This change can be applied to all the tanks listed in
the Battleground World War II rules by reading Hull or Turret
Side as Hull or Turret Side AND Rear. Read Hull or Turret
Rear as Hull or Turret Top.
HF Hull Front
TF Turret Front
HS/R Hull Side or Rear
TS/R Turret Side or Rear
HT Hull Top
TT Turret Top
Armor Facing
To Help make more clear which Armor facing to use vs. each
firer, we measure from the Front Left to the Rear Right fend-
er and the Rear Left to the Front Right fender. The resulting
X shape is used to determine which facing any one firer is
shooting at.
Moving Front
The To Hit modifier for firing at the Front or Rear of a mov-
ing vehicle has been changed from +2 to +1. The +2 modifi-
er was to steep, when compared to the modifier for firing at
the side of a vehicle. Please be aware that the Moving Front
modifier only applies if the target vehicle is moving directly
toward or away from the firing weapon. There will be many
cases where the firer is shooting at the front hit location of a
Target vehicle, but because the target is moving at an oblique
angle, the Moving Side modifier is used.
Pinning Fire and Vehicle machine guns
Armored Vehicle machine guns are not allowed to use
Pinning Fire for two reasons. One is that such fire is not
stressed in training. Armored crews are not trained to use
Pinning fire, and it is not generally part of their psyche. The
other reason is the physical limits of the vehicle. First, the
structure of the vehicles does not allow a loader access to the
machine gun. A loader is key part of proper pinning fire.
Second, the structure of the vehicle limits the gun mounting
and arcs of fire. The only exception to this rule is an open top
vehicle, with a gunner and a loader exposed, which may use
pinning fire if the vehicle is not in motion.
battleground world war II
Tankers challenge
Armor Rules Update
Vehicle Crew actions.
Page 4 of Armored Combat is unclear. It states that each crew
member receives two actions each turn and that each vehicle
receives two actions each turn. The former is correct. Each
crewmember receives two actions each turn. However, the
actions of one crewmember can ruin the action of another.
For example, the gunner firing will disallow the loader load-
ing in the same action (in most cases.) The driver moving the
vehicle will disrupt the aim of the gunner.
It is possible, as one gamer suggested, for the driver to move
in reverse, while the assistant driver fires the hull machine
gun, the gunner fires the main gun, and the loader fires vehi-
cle smoke. The commander will spend his action directing
the fire of the main gun, OR using the AAMG. The hull MG,
and main gun will suffer the Firing on the Move penalty, but
the smoke will not affect the shots.
It is not possible to fire the coax MG and the main gun in the
same action.
Add on Armor
Tank crews used a variety of materials to increase survivabil-
ity in the field. Skirts and sand bags have been covered in the
main rules. Storage lockers installed on the hull of a tank can
deflect an unlucky shot. Other equipment can be applied to
provide that extra measure of safety.
Storage Lockers Any hit to a location indicating a storage
locker, for example side location 19 on the Mk IV H, will
have no effect. Hitting a storage locker is exactly like hitting
a piece of terrain. Even though the round can penetrate the
locker easily, it will become mishaped, be diverted in flight,
or prematurely detonate. A storage locker can only take one
hit before it is totally destroyed. Subsequent hits on the same
locker will do normal damage upon penetration.
Loose gear Extra gear strapped on by a tank crew and not
carried in a factory installed stowage locker will offer no pro-
tection versus enemy rounds.
Spare track Many tank crews attached spare track links to
the armor face to offer extra protection. Any model with spare
track included on the model is assumed to have the spare
track protection on all covered locations. Spare tracks
increase the armor value for a location by two ( 2 ) points.
Spare tracks protect equally versus chemical ( HEAT ) and
kinetic ( AP or HVAP ) rounds. Spare tracks have do not
affect Non Penetrating or Penetrating Effects in any way.
Spare tracks will continue to protect versus subsequent hits
on the same location.
Road Wheels Some tank crews carried spare road wheels
over vital locations to offer extra protection. A model with
spare road wheels included is assumed to have a spare road
wheel protecting the location covered. Each spare road wheel
will only protect one location. The road wheel will totally
negate the first hit on the location it covers, just as if the loca-
tion was covered by terrain. The road wheel will be destroyed
or knocked loose by the round and subsequent hits to the
same location will have normal Non-Penetrating and
Penetrating Effects.
Reasonable Use Any person wishing to use a model with
more then two road wheels and four locations of spare track
must provide proof of reasonable use. This proof can be as
simple as gamemaster approval. A real photo of a vehicle
with the same or very similar protection is also acceptable.
Turret Rotation and To Hit
The Gun to Hit chart includes a tank turret and modifiers for
turrets of Normal and Slow speed. Player feed-back has
shown us that this chart is superfluous and confusing. This
chart should be ignored. There is no modifier To Hit for
rotating a turret and firing in the same action. Turret speed
rules remain in effect; Normal turrets may rotate 90 in one
action, Slow turrets may rotate 45 in one action.
Engine Hits and Smoke
Any Non Penetrating or Penetrating hit that indicates Smoke
will result in a cloud of smoke rising from the engine deck.
This smoke will remain for the rest of the game, unless the
GM determines that the crew can spend actions to affect
repairs. Smoke rising from the engine deck will not drift.
Firing at a Smoking Tank Pieces that wish to fire at vehi-
cle that is smoking DO NOT receive the Half Chance to Hit.
Instead a To Hit modifier of +3 applies. This is because the
smoking engine deck will not fully obscure the target vehicle,
unlike smoke generated by a vehicle smoke launcher. The +3
To Hit modifier only applies if the firing piece is attacking the
target on the facing with the engine deck. In most vehicles
this will be the rear, but on some it will be the front.
Firing from a Smoking Tank Vehicles which are smoking
from the engine deck will suffer Half To Hit if firing across
the engine deck. Asmoking engine deck will hamper the crew
of the smoking vehicle much more then the smoke obscures
the vehicle. This can be a serious problem for vehicles with
the engine mounted in front.
Sighting from a Smoking Tank Crews making a Sighting
Check across a smoking engine deck suffer a +7 penalty.
Tankers Challenge
Battleground World War II
HE templates:
Players may find their HE templates much easier to use if
they have them photo copied on to a piece of clear acetate.
This can be done very inexpensively at any copy center.
Permission is granted to players to copy the HE templates for
personal use only.
HE template size:
Various engineering devices and infantry AT weapons that
have an HE affect are listed below. The template size is list-
ed along with any modifiers to the effect die roll. Modifiers
are applied to the Effect roll just as the caliber modifier for an
HE shell or for terrain cover.
HEAT rounds as HE:
HEAT rounds can be fired at soft targets and do generate a
useful amount of shock and shrapnel. Although not as effec-
tive as a straight HE shell, a HEAT round offers an excellent
option for the gunner who is not sure what type of target is
about to come around the corner. These rules also clarify the
use of infantry carried AT rockets versus infantry and soft tar-
gets.
Template Size As stated in Armored Combat pg 16, a HEAT
round will use the same size template and caliber modifier as
an HE round of the same size, but one ring smaller. This
means that figures in the outer most ring of the template,
regardless of template size, will not be effected by a HEAT
round. Thus a 75mm HEAT round will use the Medium HE
template with no caliber modifier but any figures in the G
ring will be unaffected by the round.
Deviation HEAT rounds will not deviate in the manner HE
rounds do. Any HEAT round that has missed will be ignored.
This rule is to take into account the fact that the HEAT round
is a much more focused explosion and must be accurately
placed to produce sufficient shock and shrapnel.
Infantry HEAT weapons Any infantry AT rocket may be
used vs Soft Targets. The Template size and special rules are
listed on the HE Template Size chart. Infantry AT rockets fol-
low all rules for HEAT rounds as HE.
HE in the Close Assault
To clarify the rules for infantry close assault vs armored vehi-
cles: it is not possible to harm an armored vehicle by throw-
ing a grenade or any other explosive device at the vehicle. In
order to be effective most weapons must be physically placed
on the vehicle in a Close Assault. Exceptions are listed below.
Most weapons, especially grenades, will simply bounce off
an armored vehicle and explode harmlessly nearby if thrown.
Open Top vehicle: Any explosive device thrown into the
open top of a vehicle will count all passengers and crew in the
A ring when it explodes. If the weapon is a satchel charge or
larger device, roll on the Penetration Effects Chart for the tar-
get vehicle. Infantry in a vehicle may attempt to throw out
any device with a delayed fuse using the rules for throwing
back on Infantry pg 16. Items that have a delayed fuse are
Satchel Charges, Demo packs, and non-magnetic AT mines.
Satchel Charges and Gammon Bombs Rules for throwing
Satchel Charges are included on pg 20 of the Infantry chap-
ter. Rules for throwing Gammon bombs are included in Red
Devils in the Night, in the Weapons chapter, on pg 5.
Non-Magnetic AT mines: The German Teller mine is a non-
magnetic anti-tank mine. It could be placed with a pressure
fuse like any other AT mine or set with a timed fuse, exactly
like the fuse for a satchel charge. When using a timed fuse
infantry may use the Teller mine in a close assault exactly like
a satchel charge (Infantry pg 20.) Asuccessfully placed Teller
mine will detonate two action after being set, timed to the
placers actions. ATeller mine explodes with a penetration of
25.
Throwing a Teller Mine German propaganda and training
manuals indicate that the Teller mine could be thrown like a
Frisbee to land on the top of an enemy tank. This is allowable
in the rules. Athrown Teller mine works exactly like a thrown
satchel charge (infantry pg 20.) A thrown Teller mine always
suffers a +3 To Hit, in addition to other modifiers. A thrown
Teller mine only suffers a +2 modifier (instead of the usual
+5) for being thrown when rolling to see if it will catch.
Once a Teller mine actually hits its chance of staying on the
target vehicle is relatively good. A Teller mine can only be
thrown 2. A successfully thrown Teller mine will detonate
two action after being set, timed to the throwers actions. A
Teller mine explodes with a penetration of 25.
Easy eights Battleground World War II
HE update
1
Knocking out a Gun
Whenever any artillery piece is covered by an HE Effect tem-
plate there is a chance the gun will be destroyed. Roll for
effect vs the gun, taking all modifiers for cover into account,
and using whatever ring the breach of the gun lays under. The
gun may only claim Gun Shield bonus if the gun shield is
between the breach of the gun and the impact of the round. A
gun may only claim dug-in or gun shield, never both. If a
KIAor GD is rolled then the gun is destroyed. Otherwise the
gun is unaffected.
Enclosed Space
Any HE shell that explodes within an enclosed area will treat
everyone in the enclosed as being in the Aring. In most cases
this is self explanatory. In the case of a trench, which is nar-
row but long, special rules apply. Lay the template down as
normal. Every one under the template will be counted as in
the A ring. Those outside the template will be safe. Any
emplacement that is small enough to warrant the penalty To
Hit for Foxhole, Vehicle top, or Bunker Slit will also count as
an enclosed space. Any area so large as not to cause a To Hit
penalty is too large to count as an enclosed space.
HE update
Easy eights Battleground World War II
2
Device
HE Template Size
Template Modifier Note
Satchel Charge
Demo Pack
Small
Medium
+0
-3
Pole Charge
Line Charge
Small
Small x2
-3
+1 two templates 2" apart
Bangalore Torpedo
Cluster Grenade
Small x2
Small
+0
+0
two templates 2" apart
Bazooka
PIAT
Small
Small
+0
+0
HEAT rnd, No E ring
HEAT rnd, No E ring
Panzerfaust Klein
Panzerfaust 30
Small
Small
+0
-2
HEAT rnd, No E ring
HEAT rnd, No E ring
Panzerfaust 60-150
Panzerschreck
Medium
Medium
-2
+0
HEAT rnd, No G ring
HEAT rnd, No G ring
Ramming did happen in combat as the picture below indi-
cates. It was most common with the Germans on the Eastern
front when they met the vaunted T34 early in the war.
Ramming was often the last result when the main guns of the
common German vehicles of the times would not penetrate
the armor plate of the Soviets. However is was never
employed as a planned tactic. Armored vehicles where never
wasted in ramming techniques when it could be avoided. It
was always a last ditch maneuver. Be careful when you game
that ramming doesnt come into play very often. It is tempt-
ing, but not very historic to ram larger more capable vehicles
with small insignificant ones.
When a vehicle rams another vehicle in combat there is a
chance that damage could be done to the target vehicle. In
order for a crew of a vehicle to ram the crew must pass a half
Gut Check. This Gut check is not required if the target vehi-
cle is unarmored or two sizes smaller. Unarmored vehicles
can never ram armored vehicles and are required to pass a
half Gut Check versus any size of Unarmored vehicle. You
must begin at least half of your movement rate away from the
target in order to generate enough momentum to damage the
target. Determine the size of your vehicle then determine
your targets size. Index the Ramming Chart to determine the
number you must roll to damage the target vehicle. The play-
er of the target vehicle then also indexes the chart as if he was
ramming in return. He would roll as well to determine if the
ramming tank takes damage. After determining who receives
damage roll on the Ramming Damage Chart and apply the
results.
Mai n Gun Damage
If by chance the ramming occurs such that the main gun bar-
rel of the ramming vehicle or the target vehicle physically
collides during the ram roll a D20 for effect to the main
weapon. On a result of a 12 or lower the gun is destroyed in
the collision.
Locked vehi cl es
When ever a damaged wheel or track is indicated on either
result the vehicles could become locked together. After all
damage has been determined roll a D20 to see if the two vehi-
cles are locked together. On a roll of a 10 or less the vehicles
will be considered locked together.
Unlocking Any vehicle that is tangled up with another and
did not sustain track damage can spend actions to become un
stuck. It requires one action for each attempt to become
unstuck. On a roll of a 7 or less the vehicle will become
unstuck. For each figure that is assisting with unsticking the
vehicle (figures that are in base to base contact with the col-
lided vehicles) may add a +1 to the die roll.
Easy ei ght s Bat t l egr ound Wor l d War I I
vehi cl e r ammi ng
Rammi ng
Rammi ng
Easy ei ght s Bat t l egr ound Wor l d War I I
We have received some e-mail and phone questions regarding
who can shoot who, and how many figures may be effected
by automatic weapons such as LMGs, assault rifles,and
SMGs. The rules below spell out in some detail how to deter-
mine who has been hit by small arms fire. The rules for auto-
matic weapons are relatively cut and dried, however the rules
governing riflemen can begin to bog play if players on either
side choose to quibble which figure is in which group of pos-
sible targets. The intent of these rules is to ease play and more
realistically depict battlefield conditions, not to inspire the
authors of legal briefs.
Rifle fire When riflemen fire any non-automatic weapon at
the enemy they must declare a specific group of enemy fig-
ures or at a general area. This grouping could be a squad
crossing a field, a group of enemy in tree line, a gun crew, a
trench. The illustration below gives an example of some tar-
geted groups. Any one figure within the targeted group can be
hit multiple times, even while the figure next to him is unaf-
fected if that is what the rolls indicate. If all figures in the tar-
geted group have the same cover modifier, roll for effect
before randomizing who was hit, this prevents wasted time
caused by randomizing a hit that caused no effect. If the fig-
ures within the area of effect have different cover modifiers
(some are prone and some standing for example) randomize
hits first, then roll for effect for each hit using that figures
specific cover modifier.
Specific Targeting No figure, except a sniper firing from
ambush or using an aimed shot, may ever select a specific tar-
get such as a squad leader or LMG gunner. This rule applies
even to non-sniper figures using an aimed shot and to snipers
firing without Ambush status or using an aimed shot. The
specific targeting rule does not prevent riflemen from firing
at lone figures, lone figures are a separate targeting group and
may be fired at normally. The rule simply prevents riflemen
from picking individuals out of the crowd.
Automatic Weapons For purposes of this rule an automatic
weapon is any weapon with a rate of fire of 3 or more dice per
action. When any automatic weapon fires, any hits should be
randomized among all figures in that weapons arc of fire. The
arc of fire for each type of automatic weapon is described
below.
Arcs of fire All automatic weapons have an arc of fire, that is
determined by the type of gun and distance to target. This arc
of fire is found by imagining a line running from the firing
weapon through the group of figures targeted. Where the line
hits the target group imagine another line perpendicular to the
first. This second line will be 3-6 long, depending on the
type of weapon firing. Finally, draw an imaginary line
between each end of the perpendicular line back to the firing
weapon. This is the arc of fire, randomize hits among all fig-
ures within this arc.
Note: The degree of the cone that comprises the arc of fire is
variable. This is because, although the base of the cone is a
constant dimension, the distance between the base and the
weapon is variable. Obviously bullets continue traveling
Easy ei ght s Bat t l egr ound Wor l d War I I
smal l ar ms updat e
1
Whos hi t
The shooters in this case have 3 separate target
groups to choose from. All three may fire at one group,
one at each group, or two at one group and the third
at another group.
beyond the arc of fire, extending outward from the cone until
stopped by terrain or until their energy is spent. But for game
purposes there is not enough volume of fire to effect figure s
out side the cone. This allows machine gunners to effect a
wider area over a shorter range, or a narrow area over a long
range. Use this same method to determine the area affected
by Raking or Spraying fire.
A machine gun may not set raking fire (or spraying fire)
through terrain that blocks line of sight. However, if line of
sight is obscured by smoke, the raking fire may be placed
through the smoke with no penalty. See the smoke rules
update for more information.
smal l ar ms updat e
Easy ei ght s Bat t l egr ound Wor l d War I I
2
r aki ng f i r e and l os
The Terrain chapter (page 13) covers smoke clouds in a gen-
eral way, briefly describing the placement, dissipation, and
effect of a smoke cloud. Below are more specific rules and
uses for smoke in Battleground games.
Si ze of a Smoke Cl oud
Shell A smoke cloud that is created by a shell or grenade is
the size of the HE template for that shell or grenade (Armor
pg 7/8). Smoke created by a grenade is one level high (as
compared to a building or hill). Smoke created by a Small HE
template is two levels high. Smoke created by a Medium or
Large HE template is three levels high.
Discharger A smoke cloud created by a vehicle smoke dis-
charger will cover the front face of the vehicle (Armor pg 15),
and wrap slightly around each side. Because most vehicles
carried their smoke dischargers on the turret the smoke will
be laid out parallel with the front turret mantlet, covering an
area slightly wider then the front face. A vehicle whose tur-
ret is rotated 90 to either side will produce enough smoke
with a discharger to cover the entire side. Asmoke cloud cre-
ated by a vehicle smoke discharger will be one level high.
Shoot i ng t hr ough Smoke
Terrain page 13 indicates that smoke blocks all Line of Sight
and that pieces may shoot through with the No Target Penalty.
The No Target penalty (Infantry pg 9, Armor pg 10) applies
to any shot where the firing figure is shooting into an area
where they suspect a target but have not actually sighted one
yet. This penalty will apply to any shot taken through a
smoke cloud. However, in some circumstances, smoke will
prevent there being any chance at all of a hit. Players should
not be allowed to fire through smoke at pieces they have no
knowledge of and still receive a half chance To Hit.
Vehicle Smoke It will always be apparent that a vehicle that
fires its vehicle mounted smoke is directly behind the cloud.
It is always allowable to fire into the cloud, with half chance
To Hit any vehicle masked behind the cloud.
Smoke in an enclosed area Smoke used to cover an
enclosed area, such as across a street gives a good indication
that enemy pieces will soon be crossing through the cloud.
Any fire into such a cloud will receive the No Target To Hit
penalty.
Smoke at Close range Any piece that uses a smoke grenade
or shell in a similar fashion to vehicle smoke discharger may
be fired upon in the same manner as a vehicle behind dis-
charged smoke.
Smoke in the open Pieces advancing behind a large smoke
cloud will be relatively safe because it will be hard for the
enemy to know where in the smoke to shoot. Most shots
taken into a large smoke cloud in the open should be given no
chance To Hit.
Fired Smoked If the piece wishing to fire has a smoke cloud
directly in front of it or is enveloped by a cloud those pieces
will have no chance of hitting anything with their fire. This is
because they will not have a clear idea even which area to
shoot into.
Pinning fire Pinning fire may always be employed through
a smoke cloud. In addition, because pinning fire is not depen-
dent on hitting specific targets, no To Hit penalties apply to
pinning fire directed through smoke. If a player wishes to
direct pinning fire through a smoke cloud that is considerably
larger then the area covered by the fire the exact location of
the cone of fire should be randomly decided. It would be
unfair and unrealistic to allow a player to lay the fire down on
figures as if they could be seen normally.
Easy ei ght s Bat t l egr ound Wor l d War I I
smoke
smoke
Example of vehicle launched smoke placement.
The placement pattern is determined by the loca-
tion of the turret.
Smoke and cl ose assaul t
Gut Checks Infantry used smoke to conceal attempts to
close assault enemy armor. It was common for Infantry sol-
diers to be issued smoke grenades along with magnetic
mines and other close assault weapons. Any figure rolling a
Gut Check to close assault a vehicle will receive a -3 on the
roll if attacking through a smoke cloud. (Infantry pg 19)
Roll Under Infantry may try to roll a smoke grenade under
an enemy vehicle from the front or rear by rolling To Hit
normally. If a hit is scored the grenade will detonate under
the vehicle and the smoke will obscure the vehicles vision
on all sides. The vehicles vision will be obscured for the
duration of the grenade or until the vehicle moves. A smoke
grenade rolled under a vehicle will not drift until the vehicle
moves.
Pistol Ports Tanks that have one or more faces obscured by
smoke may fire any vehicle machine guns or use any pistol
ports into the smoke with the No Target penalty. The No
Target penalty always applies to pistol ports, and is not
applied again when firing into smoke.
Note: The use of smoke versus an AFV to obscure a close
assault will have no effect on the roll on the Close Assault
Placement Chart. Infantry who close assault through smoke
do so with full chance to place.
smoke and dr i f t
A smoke cloud will not remain in one position once placed,
instead it will drift across the table in the direction of the
wind (Terrain pg 13). Smoke drift should be resolved in the
Artillery Phase.
Wind Direction The Wind Direction chart is used to deter-
mine which way smoke will drift. There is only one roll on
the chart and this roll applies for the entire game. Select a
table edge to be North and face the chart in that direction.
Roll a d8. The number rolled will indicate the direction of
the wind. This roll should be made when the first smoke
cloud begins to drift.
Wind Force The Wind Force is the distance that smoke
will drift in a turn. The Wind Force is determined by a d6.
Roll a d6, the smoke will drift that many inches.
Constant Wind For constant wind, roll on the chart once
when rolling for wind direction. This roll will apply for the
entire game. This method is simpler and more realistic in
most weather conditions.
Random Wind For random wind, roll on the chart each turn
during the artillery phase. This method is interesting in a
game because players cannot be sure of LOS each turn.
Smoke, Drift, and Dispersion As smoke drifts across the
table it will lose its shape and begin to disperse. The illus-
trations below show how smoke will drift and disperse.
smoke
Easy ei ght s Bat t l egr ound Wor l d War I I
Sighting is the decisive factor in combat. The fighter pilot
motto of lose sight, lose the fight applies to the grunt in the
mud as well. This sighting update includes expanded expla-
nations of the sighting rules, to help gamers more easily
resolve sighting checks. Sighting and Line of Sight are dif-
ficult concepts to quantify in game terms. In the rules we
have tried to define LOS in a general sense. And we have
expanded on this, including rules for snow fall, forest in the
winter, and darkness in our scenario packs. But because of
endless variables that exist, ultimately common sense must
be the arbiter. We have included some guidelines below.
Area Sighted
The rules intentionally leave vague how much area is cov-
ered by a Sighting Check. The rules refer only to the area
to be sighted (core rules pg. 4.) The area to be sighted is
variable depending on a number of factors. The type of tar-
get and terrain are the main factors. Aopen moving tank will
be seen much more easily then a small group of infantry
crawling through a forest. This is represented on the sighting
chart by a reduced chance to sight the infantry. But the sight-
ing piece must also look much more closely to see the
infantry then it will to see the tank. In general the larger the
target, the more open the terrain, the larger the area will be.
Since the sighting player will not generally know what is
being sighted for, the gm or opposing player must use a lot
of discretion.
Pick an area The sighting player should simply pick an
area, such as that woodline, this field, or around that
building. Roll to sight as normal. Then, knowing what is in
the area, the GM or opposing player must use some judg-
ment. For example if the sighting player has sighted that
woodline and a tank has just moved around one side of the
wood, in the open, and now in LOS of the sighting piece,
then the tank should be included in the sighted area and
revealed if the roll is sufficiently low. A squad of infantry
prone in the same spot of open ground, should not be includ-
ed and not revealed. In most cases it will be clear to players
and gms what is an appropriate area to include in a sighting
check.
Binoculars
Any figure who has binoculars may use them for a Sighting
Check. A figure who uses binoculars may not move in an
action where binoculars, other figures in the squad may
move normally. Avehicle commander may also use binocu-
lars for a Sighting Check, however, the entire vehicle may
not move in an action where the commander has used binoc-
ulars to spot. Crew, passengers, and riders may mount or dis-
mount as normal without disturbing the commander. Any
enemy sighted by a figure or vehicle commander with binoc-
ulars is assumed to be sighted by the entire squad or vehicle
crew. The commander of crew served weapons, such as
medium machine guns or anti-tank guns, are assumed to
have binoculars unless stated otherwise in the scenario.
Night Sighting
Scenarios in the Normandy Nightmare and Panthers East
Scenario Packs include scenarios that occur at night. For
Sighting Checks made at night, measure the range as normal
Easy eights Battleground World War II
sighting update
sighting
and then triple it. Look up the new range on the chart, apply
any modifiers, and roll to sight as normal. Any Morale
Check made at night is at +2. Complete rules for night,
including flares, vehicles, terrain, muzzle flashes, and noise
are included in Red Devils in the Night.
Obvious Sighting
Anytime a piece takes an action that will lead to it being
automatically acquired (AQ) on the Sighting Chart then that
piece should be revealed immediately. This means, for
example, that if a tank turns a corner of a road and ends up
12 away from a squad of enemy infantry marching down
the same road then the tank is revealed to the infantry imme-
diately. There is no need to wait for the squads card to be
drawn or for them to make a sighting check to see the
tank.The squad will be revealed to the tank as well.
The Drive By In another example, if the same tank were to
cross the road in front of the squad it would still be sighted.
Eventhough the tank is out of LOS when the infantry rolls
their Sighting Check the thing passed right in front of them.
The player controlling the infantry should be told of the
tanks passing.
Easy eights Battleground World War II
sighting update
Start Point
End Point
Drive By example: In this example the tank begins its second action masked by the trees. For its sighting check
the tank has no LOS to the German squad and cannot sight them. For its action the tank moves down the road,
ending its action masked by the trees. If the tank was unbuttoned, it probably saw the squad and they should
be revealed. If the tank is buttoned up it probably did not see the squad. On the squads card the tank is out of
LOS for thier Sighting Check. However, because the tank obviously passed directly in front of them, the German
player should be told of the tank driving past.