Anti-tank guns, first introduced in Days of the Fox, are include in Fury of the Bear, as they were one of the most effective weapons against armored vehicles during World War II. In Tide of Iron, anti-tank guns (or AT guns) are featured as mostly stationary equipment that must be manned by a squad. These powerful weapons are low in mobility and armor, but they are deadly against enemy vehicles. The rules governing AT guns are detailed below.
Traits: Equipment
All anti-tank guns have the equipment trait. Units with this trait are governed by the following rules.
Actions with Equipment
Units with the equipment trait have the following rules governing how they take certain actions.
- Advance: An advance action may only be performed if there is a fresh friendly unit present in the same hex. Fatigue the friendly unit, as well as the equipment unit, and move both of them into an adjacent hex that does not contain enemy units. They may not enter a hex that is impassable or a hex that already contains two or more units. Any obstacles (such as a mine field) in the destination hex are triggered as normal. In other words:
- An equipment unit can only move one hex regardless of terrain.
- An equipment unit can only move if moving with a friendly fresh unit (moving both of these units counts as a single action).
- Concentrated Fire: A concentrated fire action may only be performed if there is a friendly squad, either fresh or in Op Fire mode, present in the same hex. Activate the equipment unit to perform its normal concentrated fire action. The friendly squad in the hex is not activated by this action. An equipment unit can participate in combined fire just like any normal unit, but only when a friendly squad, either fresh or in Op Fire mode, is present in the same hex.
- Prepare Op Fire: A prepare for Op Fire action may only be performed if there is a friendly squad, either fresh or in Op Fire mode, present in the same hex. In order for an equipment unit to attack an enemy unit using Op Fire, there must be a friendly squad (either fresh or in Op Fire mode) present in the hex. Fatigue the equipment unit and follow the standard rules for opportunity fire.
- Fire and Movement: Equipment units may not perform fire and movement actions.
- Assault: Equipment units may not perform assault actions. Equipment can be assaulted by enemy units as explained below.
Important: Note that a unit cannot activate equipment if it is pinned, disrupted, heavily damaged, or inside a pillbox or trench.
Assaulting Equipment
Although equipment units cannot perform assault actions, they may be assaulted by enemy units. When assaulted, equipment units do not add any dice to an assault. Equipment units cannot be assigned hits and do not retreat from an assault. Equipment always counts towards the unit limit in a hex, and may be used by an opponent (see below).
Stealing Equipment
It is possible for equipment to be used by an enemy nation. If an enemy unit is present in the same hex as a unit with the equipment trait, then the equipment is treated as if it were a unit of that nation. In other words, players may perform advance and concentrated fire actions with enemy equipment following the equipment rules discussed earlier.
Units with the equipment trait do not prevent enemy units from moving into the hex (although other units present in a hex still may prevent this). For example, if a hex only contains equipment units, enemy units are free to enter the hex. If other squads or vehicles are present in the hex, then the move is not possible.
Entrenched Equipment
Equipment units in the same hex as at least one entrenchment gain +1 cover. Equipment units do not gain any cover from pillboxes or trenches in the same hex.
Squads that are in an entrenchment (but not a pillbox or a trench) can be used to activate equipment in the same hex.
Special Abilities
In addition to the equipment trait, AT guns have two special abilities listed below.
Fragile: If an AT gun becomes heavily damaged, it is immediately destroyed.
Concussive Firepower: When an AT gun attacks a squad located in a building hex or pillbox, the AT gun receives +3 firepower and +3 range.
Actions with Equipment
The Soviet player may make a concentrated fire action with his AT gun to attack the German tank. He can take this action because there is an unfatigued squad in the hex.
Even though the Soviet AT gun is in Op Fire mode, it cannot shoot at the moving German tank, because the only squad present in the same hex is pinned.