From: Allan Goodall <agoodall@a...>
Date: 1 Aug 2000 09:11:50 -0700
Subject: Stargrunt II Artillery Rule Inconsistency
I found something while writing my SG2 cheat sheet (for those interested, it will be available Real Soon Now, as I need it for GenCon). The Inbound Chart rules state that an artillery strike is placed on box 1, 2, or 3 of the inbound chart. It states, on page 45, that at the End of Turn phase that the incoming artillery support, aerospace units, or reinforcements are moved one box further along the chart. So, if an artillery strike is in box 3, it moves to 2, if in box 2, it moves to 1, AND if in box 1, it is moved to the "battle area". So far, so good. The actual statement is: "At the end of each full game turn, during the TURN END PHASE, both players move any counters currently on the Inbound Chart - each counter is moved ONE box closer tot he "Battle Area", irrespective of what the counter represents. Counters that are newly plaed on the chart are still moved up at the end o the turn they were placed. Whenever a counter is in box 1 at the start of the Turn End Phase, the player may have the option to shift it across to the LOITER box INSTEAD of moving it onto the Battle Area circle; this is only permitted if the counter represents a UNIT (ground or air) rather than a fire support mission - incoming fire missions must automatically be moved onto the Battle Area when they reach it." - pg 45. However, on pg. 46, this is contradicted. It states that when an artillery support strike hits BOX 1, it can be placed on the board that turn. Here is the contradictory comment under "Arrival of Fire Support": "If the counter is placed in box 1 to start with, this means the mission is an immediate-response one and will arrive during the SAME game-turn it was requested; if it starts at box 2 or 3 then it moves up one box per Turn End Phase as usual and is available on-table once it reaches box 1." And later, "When the mission counter has arrived in box 1 then the player may choose to resolve the fire at any time during that turn, counting this as his activation (ie: in palce of activating an on-table unit). If the player does not choose to bring the fired down before he has activated his last on-table unit he MUST then resolve it before the Turn End Phase." - pg. 46. See, it is contradicted. The Aerospace rules agree with pg. 45 (and only make sense following page 45). I suspect that this is an error. My interpretation is this: 1) Pg. 45 is correct for ALL types of support. Even "immediate response" fire missions can only be resolved once the artillery strike hits the Battle Area. 2) All references to box 1 on "Arrival of Fire Support" should be "battle area". What do the rest of you guys think? Jon, do you have an official ruling?