Light Body Armor: +1 Defense Die
Heavy/Improved Body Armor: +2 Defense Dice
A unit only receives one Optimum Range die per round of fire.
A unit can only claim an Optimum Range die if all the weapons used in the attack are within Optimum Range.
Example 1: A Trained fireteam of four soldiers, two
armed with rifles and one each with a grenade launcher and a SAW, are firing at an enemy unit 7” away. Since the enemy unit is within Optimum Range of all the fireteam’s weapons (8” for the rifles, 16” for the grenade launcher and SAW), the fireteam receives a bonus Firepower die.
Example 2: The same fireteam described above is firing
at an enemy unit that is 14” away. If the entire unit fires at the distant enemy, the Fireteam does not receive the Optimum Range bonus (14” is beyond the rifles’ Optimum Range). If the fireteam decides to split their fire, firing the SAW and grenade launcher at the enemy unit 14” away, that portion of their fire would receive the Optimum Range bonus die.
Support Weapon Dice
Infantry Support Weapons are more powerful than ordinary small arms. They are generally used against other infantry, but some infantry support weapons also have anti-armor capabilities. In Force on Force,
such weapons include SAWs, GPMGs, and grenade launchers, RPGs, heavy machineguns, etc.
Figures using Support Weapons add dice to their unit’s Firepower in excess of the dice received for the figures themselves.
Support Weapons fall into the following general categories:
Light Support (+1 Firepower Die): Light Support
Weapons are man-portable and can be operated without assistance – although an assistant gunner may be on hand to spot or pass ammunition, his services are not required to operate the weapon
Optimum Range and Troop Quality
D12 Troop Quality Units have an Optimum Range of 12”
D10 Troop Quality Units have an Optimum Range of 10”
D8 Troop Quality Units have an Optimum Range of 8”
D6 Troop Quality Units have an Optimum Range of 6”
Support Weapons and units with enhanced optics have twice the usual Optimum Range for their Troop Quality.
Vehicle mounted and emplaced Support Weapons always treat their attacks as being within Optimum Range, regardless of the distance fired.
There is no “maximum range” for most weapons. Exceptions are noted in the rules.
US soldier firing a Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) which is classified as a Light Support Weapon]
effectively. Light Support Weapons generally use standard small arms ammunition, but have a greater range or rate of fire than their smaller brethren.
Examples of Light Support Weapons include: SAWs, Rifle Grenade Launchers, Grenade Launchers, and Very Light Mortars
Medium Support (+2 Firepower Die): Medium
Support Weapons usually require a crew of at least two for transport and effective operation. They are often vehicle mounted or emplaced. Other Medium Support Weapons, such as RPGs and other shoulder launched missiles, are easily portable but cause increased damage due to their explosive power. Medium Support Weapons that make a Rapid Move receive no Support Weapon dice at all.
Medium Support Weapons tend to be a bit unwieldy due to their weight and size. As a result, any unit that moves in a turn receives one bonus Firepower die rather than two (i.e., an RPG team with a normal Firepower of 5D would have a Firepower of 4D during any turn in which it moved).
Examples of Medium Support Weapons include: GPMGs, AGLs, standard RPGs
Heavy Support (+3 Firepower Die): Heavy Support
Weapons are rarely man-portable and are usually vehicle mounted or emplaced. However, some of the more powerful man-portable missile systems are also classified as Heavy Support Weapons due to their devastating explosive power.
Heavy Support weapons are generally large, weighty chunks of ordnance, making moving and firing them in a short period of time difficult. As a result, any Heavy Weapon that make a Tactical Move during a turn suffers a two dice penalty to its Firepower (i.e., a HMG team that normally had a Firepower of 8D would be reduced to a Firepower of 6D if it moved during a turn). Heavy support Weapons whose crew makes a Rapid Move may not fire at all.
Heavy Support Weapons include: HMGs, AT missiles, AT RPG
Example: A unit of Taliban consisting of six men,
four armed with an AK, one with an RPD and one with an RPG moves around the corner of a compound and fires at an American Ranger fireteam. The Taliban unit has a basic firepower of 6 (one die for each figure in the unit). One of the figures is armed with an RPD, a Light Support Weapon that adds a bonus die, raising the Firepower to 7. Another one is armed with an RPG, which would normally provide two bonus dice to the Firepower of the unit. Since the unit moved this turn the RPG suffers a one die penalty, so it only provides one bonus die. This results in the unit of Taliban having a Firepower of 6 + 1 + (2-1) = 8.
Support Weapon Annotation
The “stats” for a support weapon are abbreviated in unit organization or vehicle write-ups. The “stat-line” for a support weapon indicates the weapon’s class, and the number of anti-personnel (AP) Firepower dice it adds to a unit (or throws, in the case of a vehicle). If the weapon has anti-tank capabilities, it’s AT factor is listed along with its AT gun class.
FORCE ON FORCE
Taliban fighters man a Soviet AA gun (Britannia Miniatures)
As an example, a light support weapon, such as a SAW, would have a stat-line like this: Lt. AP:1 (Light support, +1 die to anti-personnel Firepower).
An anti-tank RPG would look like this: Hvy.
AP:3/AT:2(M) (Heavy support, +3 dice to anti-
personnel Firepower, AT factor of 2, classed as a Medium (M) gun).
Diminishing Firepower
The more frantic a unit’s movement and fire becomes, the less effective it is. To represent this, a unit’s Firepower diminishes the more it does in a single turn.
The first time a unit fires per turn, it uses its full Firepower. After that, a unit loses one die of Firepower:
Each time it fires as part of an Activation, Reaction, or Overwatch.
Each time it moves as part of an Activation, Reaction or Morale test failure.
When a unit’s Firepower is reduced to zero, it may no longer fire during that turn.
The Firepower Cap
No infantry unit may have a total Firepower greater than 10 dice.
This rule reflects the fact that there are limits to even the most highly trained unit’s fire discipline.
Note that all negative penalties are applied to the 10D cap, regardless of the number of figures in the unit.
Vehicular weapons, bombs, and certain game effects are exempt from the 10D cap.
Example: A mob of 12 Taliban, some armed with RPK
machineguns and RPGs are firing at a unit of British SAS sheltering in a boulder strewn ravine. The Taliban fighters’ total Firepower is nearly 20D, but it is reduced to 10D due to the Firepower Cap. The Taliban have Poor Supplies, earning them -1 die penalty to their Firepower, reducing it to 9D for this attack.
Splitting Fire
Units normally find that it is tactically advantageous to group their fire, but there may be situations in which a unit would benefit from splitting its fire between multiple targets in the same activation.
Note that a unit that fires on infantry with its small arms while using Support Weapons to engage a vehicle is not considered to be splitting its fire.
To split fire, the owning player must announce what targets a unit is going to engage and how many Firepower Dice will be devoted to each target. Support
Firepower
Number of Figures + Special Weapon Dice = Number of Troop Quality Dice in Firepower
+1 die if in Optimum Range +1 die if target Unit is Exposed +1 if unit is Well Supplied
-1 die if unit made a Rapid Move this turn -1 die for each Reaction/Overwatch fire after the
first in a turn
-1 die for each move as part of a Reaction or Morale test failure
-1 die in defensive fire vs. Close Assault -1 die if unit is Poorly Supplied
Infantry Firepower may never exceed 10D. All negative penalties are applied to the 10D cap, regardless of the number of figures in the unit
Weapon dice must be allocated to one target and may not be split among multiple targets.
The number of targets a unit can service is limited by its Troop Quality.
Example: A Russian unit taking cover in a traffic circle
is being engaged from two sides by Georgians. The Russians are D8 Troop Quality, so they can split their fire between two targets. They have a Firepower of 6 (4 figures plus 2 dice for two Light Support weapons – a SAW and RGL). The player decides to split his fire exactly in half, with one rifleman and the SAW gunner engaging one group of Georgians and the other rifleman and RGL engaging the other. The Russians will engage each unit with a Firepower of 3.
Making the Attack Roll
To determine the outcome of an attack during a firefight, the attacker rolls his adjusted Firepower versus the defending unit’s adjusted Defense.
The attacker rolls a number of dice equal to his adjusted Firepower and discards any dice with a score of less than 4.
The defender rolls a number of dice equal to his adjusted Defense and discards any dice with a score of less than 4.
The defender matches his Defense dice to the attacker’s Firepower dice, attempting to match each of the attacker’s dice with an equal or higher die roll.
The defender may arrange his successful dice against the attacker’s successful dice as he sees fit.
Any of the attacker’s dice with a score of 4 or greater that cannot be equaled or exceeded by a Defense Die indicates a casualty.
Example: A fireteam of 5 D10 Troop Quality Marines
(3 with rifles, one with a SAW, and one with a Rifle GL) make a ranged fire attack on a unit of 4 Taliban crouched behind a low mud wall. The Taliban are within the Marines’ Optimum Range.
The Marine player’s Firepower is 7 (one for each figure in the fireteam), +1 die each for the SAW and Rifle GL, which are Light Support Weapons). The Taliban are in Optimum Range for all the unit’s weapons, so it receives another bonus die. The Marines’ final Firepower total is 8D10.
The Taliban’s basic Defense is 4 dice, one for each member of the unit, which is less than the Marines’ 8D Firepower. Since a unit’s basic Defense is equal to the lesser of the number of figures in the unit or the Firepower of the attack directed against it, the Taliban have an unmodified Defense of 4D. Any Cover dice are added to this, so the Taliban receive +1 Defense die for being In Cover and another +1 die for the Solid Cover provided by the wall. This brings their Defense total to 6D8 (these Taliban have a Troop Quality of D8).
The Marine player rolls his Firepower of 8D10, noting each individual roll: 10, 9, 7, 5, 4 (he also rolled a 3 and two 1s, but since those are not a 4 or higher, they are discarded).
The Taliban player rolls 6D8 for Defense and notes the result of each die: 8, 5, 4, 4, 3, and 2. The rolls of 3 and 2 are discarded.
The dice are laid out and the Taliban player matches his Defense dice against the Marines’ Firepower dice as best he can, trying to equal or exceed as many of the attacker’s scores as possible.