Frequently Asked Questions

Disposable Heroes / Coffin for Seven Brothers

FAQ for Disposable Heroes

II Turn Sequence
No FAQ.

III Movement
Q. The rules for movement within forests (top of page 4) seem to expect forests to be fairly small,
basically using the building paradigm. Should larger patches of forest be divided into building-sized
areas to handle movement and close combat?

The rules do not imply that once in a forest that troops disperse throughout like in a building. A Unit has to
measure and move as normal once inside the woods. You can play with very large forested areas, and this
gets kind of interesting as your LOS is limited to 10" inside of woods, making for a very deadly hide and
seek.

IV Firing
Q. How do you rate Bocage?

A. Bocage means different things to different people, or different areas... true Bocage can not be moved
through or seen through at all except at specified entrances, and if you had units sheltering in it to fire
outside you could specify soft through hard (that's -2 through -4) as a cover modifier. Normal hedges work
like walls, medium cover if you are on it, a -1 linear obstacle if between... YOU define the terrain for your
board.... forest can not be seen through, but can be moved through.

See p.6 'Firing in Cover' for more cover examples.

Q. Does the rule of Ten & One (p.12) apply to firing?

Yes.

The only exception is bunkers. To hit units in a bunker, you need to roll a natural 1 on the dice, and then roll
a second normal ACC roll of 5. This is the only case where you need to make a roll such as this. Bunkers are
very tough, and your chances of hitting units in them are exceedingly rare, and this encourages bunkers to
be busted with FT teams and engineers.

Q. If a Unit only has one figure as a target due to LOS and it becomes a casualty, can another model
out of LOS be removed in the Unit instead? Example: Sarg. is the only target because the rest of his
unit is around the corner. After player X fires and kills Sarg. can player Y removes private Snuffy
even though he was around the corner but still in the same unit?
No. That would be the bad part of exposing only your Sgt to fire, while the rest of the squad hides. However,
if only your BAR man was exposed, you could still take another model off as someone is assumed to reequip
themselves with the BAR. If you caused 12 casualties and can only see a single model, only a single model
is removed from play.

Q. Can you explain why figures can be removed as casualties from another Unit than the one fired
at?

When firing at a unit, you can only affect as many models in LOS. If parts of a section are behind a concrete
building, and only two guys are in the open, regardless of how effective your firing is, only the two in the open
are affected. They either become KIA, WIA, or run screaming... but the others in the protection of their
intervening terrain, continue to fight on (though they still make a Guts check for Pin).

Now then, on the replacement models, you can drag in models from out of LOS units as long as they are
within Command Radius and are not already Pinned.

Why?

The rules allow NCO's and Officers (sometimes individual privates) the initiative to keep crew served
weapons going, or to assist in specialty tasks. So a 3 man HMG section takes 3 hits, effectively wiping them
out. A nearby rifle section led by Sgt Withers, yells out "Smyth, Evans! Hollingsworth, on the Vickers!" The
three men jump into action and get the HMG going again.

In game terms, you remove three models from the rifle section (you are not required to actually remove even
one model from the HMG section on the board, you can take all three from the rifle section). Now, the
remaining models of the two units both take a Guts check with full modifiers, not only because the initial unit
(if not completely wiped out) took fire, but the removal of men from the adjoining rifle section both disrupts
and degrades the rifle section, and the men crossing over are likely to be confused, or take a few minutes to
organize the crew served weapon. If they make the Guts check, that means they quickly get it going, if they
fail and are pinned, means it will take them a minute to straighten it out.

The example shows that this function in game terms is not literally models taking the bullet for each other,
but a representation that infantry are trained on a variety of weapons and duties, and that in real combat,
leaders from top to bottom will do what they have to keep the important weapons (HMGs, LMGs, AT Guns
etc etc etc) going.

A command Unit could also man support weapons, however you would be losing all of the
benefits/equipment/special rules of the command unit when doing this, but that's your choice. So keep that in
mind, models don't bring anything special with them when replacing crew, and it also does not have to be
only crew served weapons. It could be any unit, including rifle sections ("Hey you, cooks and typists, pick up
those M-1s, we need you!") that receive these types of replacements.

And if there is no one within command radius, that's too bad, the crew can not be replaced, nor the weapon
remanned in future turns.

V Weapons
Q. Can a figure Maneuver 6" then throw a hand grenade 5" (half range)? The same with Sneak?

A. Yes.

You can only throw two grenades from the Unit in any one Activation, and they both have to be from the
available pool of figures that are firing. They hit on a 2 ACC for all grenades and all throwers. The only
exception is that throwers who are in base to base contact with a piece of enemy terrain (such as standing
on the outside of a building throwing at an enemy inside...) hits on a 5 ACC.

Q. On p..9 for 'Blast Weapons' it states "If a hit is successful, roll to wound for each model in the target unit
using the weapons AP characteristic." Would this apply for a hand grenade on a widely dispersed unit?

A. Yes. Grenades are also blast weapons. You apply that same as any other blast weapon. The low
killing statistics and the dispersement of the unit has been factored into the grenade's low AP. Remember
though, any blast weapon in a confined space such as a building gets a +1 AP... (this includes
penetrating hits in closed vehicles for rolling to wound crew).

Q. On p.10 it says that “Indirect fire weapons that have LOS to their target have an ACC of 4”.
However the table below it says their ACC is 3. Which is correct?

A. The table is correct, it should be ACC 3. This is also correctly identified in the Coffin for Seven Brothers
Artillery section.

Only radio equipped FOs have an ACC4. This is because men manning indirect fire weapons can not take
as effective cover as normal infantry and still operate their weapons properly. If they have LOS to the target,
the target has LOS to them. FO's can take normal cover, and still be able to call adjustments in, increasing
the probability of accurate fire. Like everything, a little subjective, but it works smoothly.

VI Close Combat
No FAQ.

VII Morale
Q. A Unit takes a casualty but then passes its Gut Check. It is then fired on again by another enemy
Unit and takes another casualty. Does the Unit now suffer a -2 DM for casualties or only the -1 DM for
the casualty that has just been inflicted?

The Unit only suffers the -1DM for the casualty just inflicted. We give the models the ability to pull
themselves together as the overall game is a very short battle, and it takes a little while for all the casualties
incurred to sink in. In fact, the turn limit represents the time in which the platoon (or company, or battalion) co
realizes just how much has been lost and stops the attack, or retreats.

Q. When a Unit is pinned it must be Activated and it loses it's turn. Does this count as that sides
activation?

A. No.

The pinned Unit is Activated, but this does not count as the pinned Unit's side's activation. That side still gets
to choose another Unit to activate. At some point, when all of the Units on one side have been Activated,
then the other side gets to finish up whatever they have left. A key is to Pin (and Activate) opposing Units
that have not had a chance to go yet that turn.

Q. When does a pinned Unit try to move to cover?

A. If the cover is within command radius the pinned Unit moves Immediately. If there is no cover within
command radius the Unit must remain in the open until rallied. See p.13 'Pinning' for the priority on which
cover to choose.

Q. A half section has its own leader and is required to take a Guts check. Within command radius is
the section leader and also the overall platoon leader. Which leaders' Guts attribute do I use for the
check? Can I use the best of them, the platoon leader?

As long as the platoon leader is not pinned (falling back, routed...dead) any unit IN HIS COMMAND
STRUCTURE may use his Guts if within the command radius. Same thing if the Lt is KIA, then the
Command Sgt would be used. Also, the NCO in squads can be used this way but ONLY for sections in their
same squad.

When you play multi platoon games, it is recommended that you maintain a platoon structure of some sort.
Well planned attacks should not involve squads of different platoons all mixed up, so this is why the rules
don't allow the 2nd Platoon's Staff Sgt to apply his Guts to 1st Platoon sections.
The Company commander, of course can give orders to any element of his company. Infantry commanders
can not help out vehicle crews, and vice versa.

Q. Who can autorally?

A. Only the "commander" (whoever is in charge of the command section at that time) can perform the auto
rally. This counts as a "Firing" action for the model, so if your command section is 4 models, normally 2
would get to Fire. If you use the commander to auto rally someone, then only 1 model may actually Fire.

Also note that only YOUR platoon commander can auto-rally you. You can not use someone else's
commander to rally. If you play company games, a company commander can auto rally pinned units in his
command, and each of the platoon commanders can auto rally a section in their own platoons..

VIII Scenarios
No FAQ.

IX Platoon Lists
No FAQ.

FAQ for Coffin for Seven Brothers

I Movement
Q. How do you calculate vehicle speed when reversing?

There is no reverse for vehicle movement. Vehicles must move through or around terrain and obstacles, but
there is no cost for turns or reverse movement. Point... when using Tripwire rules, it is very important to
represent the appropriate front of the vehicle while moving at all times, but you may turn freely, or drive in
reverse, or whatever...(just don't expose your flank, then try to change your mind when your opponent
unmasks his 8.8L71... he can call it the way it looks).... just remember to not move sideways.

II Combat Acquisition
Q. Please give an example of the Acquisition modifiers (p.46) when 'Targeting Enemy Vehicles'. Are
they cumulative?

A. Example below. The modifiers are cumulative.

If a vehicle occupies any type of terrain that would give infantry a cover modifier, that is a -1 ACC regardless
of type (wall, woods, rubble).

If a terrain piece or vehicle blocks part of the line of sight between the firer and target (ie, neither is against
said terrain piece), and covers up to 25% of the target, that is a -1 ACC.
If the terrain piece blocks line of sight to equal more than 25% of the target vehicle, that is a -2 ACC.

So, a vehicle is parked at the edge of the wood... a position that would provide cover for an infantry man, so
-1 ACC (but not the -2 that the infantry would get). But there is a wall a few inches in front of the vehicle,
that's a linear obstacle and adds a further -1 ACC (linear obstacle modifier always applies as normal). To
make it worse, another tank is parked in the middle of the field, and that thing allows the firer to see only
about half of the target that would otherwise be visible, that's -2 ACC, so our poor shooter, would start his
Acquisition with a 1ACC (prior to mods for coax, speed, etc).

The good news, is that once Acquired, the Firer gets to ignore each one of those cover modifiers.

Q. I'm not clear what happens when Direct Fire HE is targeted at an AT gun. Could you run through a
fully worked example?

A. A PzIV H wants to get that pesky 57mm AT gun. The tank is not moving, LOS ok, range 33". The PzIV
must acquire first. Base ACC 5, +1 because it is in Coax Range, so ACC 6. The 57mm gets to take cover
like infantry, not like a vehicle, so if our 57mm is in woods (-2 ACC soft cover), and there is a stone wall
between the PzIV and the 57mm (say 12" from the one, and 11" from the other), that'd be -1 ACC for linear
obstacle. The ACC for Acquiring would be ACC 3. PzIV rolls a 6, no Acquisition, places a blue marker
BEHIND the 57, which gives a +1 bonus next turn.

Next turn, PzIV tries again, now with the same cover, etc, but a +1 for previous Acquisition attempt, ACC of
4, PzIV rolls a 3, target Acquired. Same Activation as target Acquired, the PzIV gets to Fire (it does not wait
until next turn, take your shots now). Start with the Main Gun (or guns), in this case a 7.5cmL48. Once
Acquired, all the cover modifiers are dropped, so its ACC 5, +1 for still being in Coax range, ACC 6 for the
Main Gun to hit. Pz IV rolls a 5, that's a hit.

The AT gun has 3 crew so 3 d10s are rolled. The AP on a 7.5cm (medium) is a 2, this is not confined space,
so a 2 or less on each of the die will result in a casualty. Pz IV rolls a 2, 4, 9, only 1 Crew KO'd so far. The
PZ IV also has a Hull mounted mg, which it can now Fire too, as this is an Acquisition needed weapon too.
There are no cover modifiers once Acquired, BUT the Coax only helps the Main Gun, so roll the RoF 4 for an
MG34, with base ACC 5.... rolls 2,3,6, 7... that is 2 hits, rolls the AP of 8 or less for the 2 hits, gets a 3 and a
10, so one more crew out of action (leaves one guy left).

The question also needs an answer to: "how do I destroy the gun?". This is not something accounted for in
the rules. However, it would work as follows. Make a separate roll for the gun anytime there is a Main Gun hit
on an artillery piece. The MGs NEVER affect artillery directly, they can only be used to kill crew. Use the
same AP as given for the weapon (a 7.5 medium is AP of 2), BUT use the DM of the target gun reversed as
a modifier. So, the 57mm is a Light Gun, DM -1,... SO .... +1 to the AP, now an AP of 3.... PzIV rolls a 4,
narrowly misses destroying the gun (if he had rolled a 1,2, or 3, would have destroyed the gun). The reverse
DM modifier of the target artillery represents it is harder to affect large guns than small guns... so an 8.8 Flak
has a DM of +1 (heavy gun), that'd be a -1 to the AP, so an American 75mmL40 (medium, AP of 2) would
need an AP of 1 to destroy it. Do NOT apply the reverse DM to the crew's AP number, a big gun does not
make the crew tougher to kill!

Another type of gun, lets say a German 12.8cm is firing, you would need the 12.8cm AP of AP 5 (Super
Heavy), +1 for the reverse DM -1 of a light 57mm gun, needs n AP of 6 to destroy the 57mm gun.

Note: if the reverse DM of the target artillery reduces the AP to a 0 or less, the gun can NOT be destroyed by
that weapon. For example the 57mm (AP 1) firing at a Soviet 122mm reverse DM -3) would have an AP of
-2, and would be unable to destroy the Soviet 122mm.

If you want to add some more complexity to your games, you can do this same thing anytime there is a "Roll
to Wound Crew" result from a vehicle penetration result, roll for each weapon (MG or Main Gun) to see if you
knock these systems out on a vehicle. We don't play this way because with large number of vehicles, you will
need to keep records, and it slows play down. Some players don't seem to mind, so think of that as an
Optional Rule, make sure your opponent agrees, etc...

To complete the above example, on both Activations, the PzIV might have a Pintle mounted MG. In the first
Activation, no Acquisition, BUT the Pintle gets to shoot anyway, like small arms, with all modifiers... so MG34
RoF 4, at ACC base 5, -2 Soft Cover, -1 Linear Obstacle, needs ACC 2 for all 4 dice.
Next Activation, Acquired, there is no change to the Pintle mounted MG's fire, still RoF 4, ACC 2... the
Acquisition does not help the Pintle mounted MG.

And once again, consider any weapon less than a full 20mm to be completely unable to destroy artillery
pieces directly, ie never roll to destroy a gun when firing MGs, even heavier calibre weapons like a 12.7mm
or 14.5mm, or .50 M2.

Q. If I am firing small arms at a soft skinned vehicle with passengers (p.49 small arms vs vehicles) do
I try to penetrate the vehicle as if a vehicle firing? or do I directly affect the crew and passengers as
per usual small arms?

A. You must declare before rolling when using small arms vs vehicles. What are you trying to do? Fire at
passengers/crew with modifiers? Or fire at vehicle hoping for penetration? As long as you declare before
rolling, you can pick, you can even choose to have the BAR fire at the vehicle and the SMG fire at crew.

Now, the AP from firing directly at crew/passengers is right off the AP, these are burst, shots etc going into
bodies, so your BAR wounds on an 8. The BAR uses the M1 Garand row on the Anti-tank chart (p.33).

If on the other hand you fire at the vehicle, and get a result (remember EVERY penetrating hit adds +1 for
the penetration results, you can light up soft skins with small arms fire pretty quickly) indicating
crew/passengers roll to wound, the base AP for every penetrating weapon is 2 modified by the DM of the
weapon, and then the +1 for enclosed/confined space explosion. So a BAR would be at 2, -3 DM(for all small
arms) but +1 enclosed/confined space, = 0, but a minimum of "1" AP no matter what, the force of this
explosion/spal/etc is relatively weak, good opportunity for crew and passengers to abandon prior to
catastrophic failure.

If it is a Bazooka firing at the Truck, again use a base AP of 2. The same formula applies, 2 AP, -1 DM, +1
enclosed explosion, so AP of 2 overall when rolling to wound. Also not explained in the rules, apply same
thing to other infantry AT weapons like PzF or Schrecke. So DM is +1, that's AP base 2+1 DM, +1
enclosed/confined, AP of 4 vs the crew/passengers, and so on.

Follow this through, take a look at a 7.5L48 (or L70, or 75L40....), a Medium class weapon, AP 2, DM +0,
enclosed/confined +1, crew would be wounded (roll for each, separate die) on AP of 3.

III Close Assault

This is true of infantry that do not carry AT weapons or Explosives. Infantry without these types of munitions
can only follow the rules as stated on page 50.

However, look at the Explosives charts as shown on pages 25 or 37. You will see that some contact
weapons (like a German Zimmerit Mine, or an American Sticky Bomb) actually have a range. This is an
abstract “assault”, regardless of the vehicle speed (stationary medium slow or fast speed, doesn't matter), at
the end of an infantry model’s 6" Maneuver movement (can't be Running 9") gets his normal ACC of 5 plus
modifiers to Fire at the vehicle target. This represents in entirety a model jumping on, attaching the
explosive, and detaching himself prior to the explosive going off. Keep in mind that all infantry carried AT
weapons, even those with extended ranges (ie, actually “shoot”) like a Bazooka or a Panzer Faust, can be
Fired at their full range (can never fire extended range) as long as the Firer moves 6” or less.

IV Passengers
Q. Is it correct that passengers in a halftrack or other occupants of open topped vehicle are
vulnerable to small arms fire, but have a -4DM protection thanks to their vehicle?

A. Assuming it is an armoured vehicle, correct.

Q. Passengers can spot and fire at enemy infantry without the need to Acquire?
A. Make sure to look over the top paragraph pg 52, Firing While Loaded... whether moving or not, any
infantry small arms being fired are at -1ACC, 1/2 range, 1/2 RoF. The rules are written that infantry
passengers do not Acquire. It is assumed that they mostly hunker down, putting a few random shots "over
the side".... but the penalties above keep you from trying to use halftracks like mobile pillboxes (they
weren't), and though you can zip them up and unload at close range to the enemy (this is not always a bad
tactic), you will definitely run the risk of losing squads at a time from AT fire (ATR, ATG, PzF, PzS, Bazooka,
PIATS... they ALL work on half tracks).

Pintle MGs are given a slight advantage, as they are mounted to be fired from the vehicle, so they suffer only
a -1 when the vehicle is moving medium or fast speed, no Acquire (though you can force them to Acquire....
important note, Acquisition has the advantage that once you Acquire, the pintle MG can fire ignoring cover...
having it NOT Acquire makes it overall less effective on targets in good cover, but more effective on targets
in the open).

Also, while loaded, the halftrack and passengers Activate together.

Q. When a vehicle is loaded with two units of passengers how do they activate?

A. When loaded (ie being transported) they are all Activated as a single unit.

V Artillery
Q. When reading the first three sentences of 'Firing Off-board Batteries' p.53, it seems to me that, for
example, a 6 tube battery firing with the assistance of a command unit (ACC 3) would proceed thus:
1st tube, ACC 3; 2nd tube, ACC 2; 3rd and subsequent tubes, ACC 1; but the example that follows
seems to contradict this? Please explain.

A. With a radio equipped command group spotting for the battery, the first tube would have ACC 3, the
remainder would have ACC 2 (ie, 1 less). Note the example in the third paragraph .The only time this would
be different is if the initial spotting unit (command w/ radio) could not spot for some targets; you would then
have to recalculate.

Q. Could you give a worked through example of Direct HE fire at buildings. ?

A. Direct fire at an infantry Unit in a building. Unit firing is a 75mmL40 from a Sherman.

Start with a base ACC 2, for trying to acquire infantry in a building... let's assume within coax range, +1, so a
3 ACC to Acquire? If you get it.... then a base 5 ACC to Fire, +1 for coax, so 6 ACC to put a round into the
unit....

Only if you Acquire AND hit when Firing do you consider the DB roll. If you do not Acquire, or if you Acquire
and you fail to Hit, you do not consider the shots to count towards destroying the building.

Only Indirect Fire has to worry about RP (roof penetration), so the 75 doesn't need to make that roll.

The 75 is a Medium Class gun, so check your chart on pg 54, you will see the DB number needed is 1 or
less. This assumes the building has no modifiers (ie, 1 family dwelling, normal construction, +0 modifiers)....
if you do not destroy the building, mark it with a green counter (like a vehicle penetration), this is now a
modifier for further chances to destroy the building.

You would work out damage from the main gun vs the infantry unit (only the one you Acquired), AP of 2 +1
for enclosed, wound the unit on a 3 or less, roll for each model. Then work out hits from hull mounted MGs if
applicable (remember, the coax is spotting, so you do not use it against the infantry in this case). Whether
the unit has been killed or not, you roll for the DB. If the building is destroyed, EVERY model, friend and foe,
however many units are present, is rolled for casualty, 3 AP. Any survivors are Pinned and Activated,
remove the building and replace with rubble.

From indirect fire, like from a 3" mortar (Medium Class), you would roll to hit, but must first make your RP
roll, or there is no affect on either the unit or on the building. One big difference from Indirect Fire, if it
penetrates the roof, you do not roll for just one unit, you roll for every model in the building. Then you would
make your DB roll, etc. But if the mortar did penetrate the roof, even if it does not destroy the building, put
another green counter on for cumulative damage.

VI Smoke, Weather and Night

No, they only apply to firing.

VIII Optional Rules

IX C7B ID Cards
No FAQ.