TOI is a game of military conflict, the heart of which lies in the projection of force against the enemy. Such force is exemplified in “firing” or “attacking” with your units against enemy units.
This section of the rules will explain how to resolve attacks between units. Note that these rules use the words “fire” and “attack” interchangeably.
Targeting Infantry or Vehicles
As explained in the “The Player Reference Sheet” diagram, the combat values (range and firepower) of any given unit are dependent on whether the target of the attack is an infantry or a vehicle unit. For example, an American machine gun crew has a range of 5 and firepower value of 3 when firing against squads.
Against vehicles, that same machine gun crew has a range of 3 and a firepower of 2.
All squads, and the figures that are placed in the squad bases, are considered infantry. All units with the light vehicle and heavy vehicle traits are considered vehicles. On the player reference sheet, each figure has an icon indicating whether that figure is considered a vehicle or infantry.
In TOI, an attack targets a single squad or vehicle. If a hex contains multiple squads or vehicles, the firing player must indicate which exact squad or vehicle within that hex is to be the target of the attack. (Area attacks and assaults are exceptions to this rule – see page 32 and pages 33-34.)
Example: The German player activates one of his tanks to make a concentrated attack against an American occupied hex containing 2 squads and 1 vehicle. Before firing, the German player must designate which of the 3 units in that hex is the target of his attack. He decides to target one of the squads, and then proceeds to check range and LOS to the target squad.
Eligible Attacking Units
A player’s main task in TOI will be to attack enemy units in battle as a means toward accomplishing victory objectives.
An attacking unit must always be eligible to attack the enemy target, or the attack cannot proceed. An eligible attacking unit is one that is both in range and has line of sight to the target unit.
Attacking with Mixed Squads
Often a squad will consist of a mixture of different figures with different ranges and abilities. A squad is eligible to attack an enemy unit if at least one figure in that squad is eligible to do so. Any figures that cannot participate in the attack (usually because they are out of range) simply do not contribute to the attack strength, nor can they apply any of their abilities to the attack. Since a squad can attack only once per activation, any non-participating figures may not attack later in the round.
You may always choose to have some figures in a squad not participate in an attack.
Remember that individual figures are never activated, only units.