Europa Games and Military History
Question:
May the Allied anti-shipping forces fly transfer missions?
Answer:
No, Rule 23J states explicitly that these air units “may only fly naval patrol bombing missions”, and transfer missions are not naval patrol bombing missions. Note that the naval units in port mission is not a naval patrol bombing mission, either.
Source:
TEM 74
Question:
The issue arose whether an unlimited number of naval patrol units (the Allies have about 30 assigned) can fly from Bizerte, a reference city.
The Allies claim that any number of air units can fly from this airbase, even though it has a capacity of one and naval patrol units are not supposed to stage. They also claim that they can make an unlimited number of contact attempts against the same hex from this airbase, even though only one stack per airbase is allowed to make a contact attemp against the same hex. I gather from your ruling above that Bizerte, by being part of the holding box, does not have to abide by the usual restrictions on staging and airbases with regard to naval patrol missions.
Answer:
This is close, but not completely correct. The off-map holding box is considered an airbase, a single airbase; therefore the Allies may make one contact attempt from that single airbase. The fact that the holding box has an unlimited capacity doesn’t change the fact that is considered a single airbase, and only one naval patrol mission can be flown from any airbase.
So the Allies can make one contact attempt from the holding box, and have that mission, of as many air units as are available, initiate that mission from any valid airbase/hex of the holding box.
To make multiple contact attempts would not be allowed since the naval patrol rules are specific that only one mission can be initiated from any single airbase. The off-map holding box rules plainly state that the holding box is considered an airbase, not a bunch of airbases but a single, discrete airbase, albeit with unlimited capacity.
To allow the Allies to attempt multiple contacts from the holding box, which is considered the air unit’s airbase, goes against the naval patrol bombing limitations on initiating missions from s single airbase. Thet would be in direct contravention of the rules regarding naval patrol missions.
While the Allies do get a bonus from using the holding box, in that the number of air units on the naval patrol mission can be artificially above the normal maximum of 12, they can’t have their cake and eat it too. They can’t claim that more than one naval patrol can be initiated from this single airbase.
Source:
TEM 71
Question:
Can any number of air operations (with an unlimited number of air units) originate from the same airbase and/or all-land clear terrain hex in the North Africa or Britain holding boxes?
Answer:
Yes. airbase capacity does not affect the number of missions that may be initiated from an airbase. Since the entire off-map box is an unlimited capacity airbase, all air units therein become operative during initial phases; then they may fly missions from any hex that qualifies as being part of the off-map holding box, evenif, say, all units take off and return to the same single hex.
Source:
TEM 71
Question:
When making a night transport mission involving staging how many times does a transport roll for night landing? For the staging? For the mission hex? For the landing upon return?
Answer:
It rolls every time it lands at an airbase at night. Staging happens during the mission movement step of an air op, and you have to declare night or day at the START of an air op. If the air op is declared as night, then so is the mission movement step of that air op, which is when staging happens. Since one may not stage during day time if one is flying a night air mission, the air unit would roll for crash landing following its one leg transfer mission, again when it landed at the mission hex, and again when it landed at the airbase chosen during the air return step. cf SF 23.G which states that a day air unit “may crash land whenever it lands at an airbase…” “Whenever” means at any time that it lands at an airbase – and per 23.B a staging air unit lands at the staging airbase, per 20.A.
Source:
TEM 59/60
Question:
What happens to the cargo of a transport aborted when making a night landing at the intended mission hex? Does it end up at the mission hex, mission origination hex, dead pile, or somewhere else?
Answer:
I assume you mean when the air transport is aborted for landing at night? In that case, the cargo is at the airbase where the air transport landed.
Abort results never eliminate cargo. The cargo could not be at the mission origination hex, since the air unit may not return there. Therefore, the cargo is at the destination hex. It is delivered before the roll for crash landing is made.
Source:
TEM 59/60
Question:
Why are there NA air units if no tactical bombing missions can be flown at night?
Answer:
Obviously, type NA air units can fly transfer missions at night without fear of crash landing! Actually, if we ever allow (some) tactical bombing missions at night, then these air units are already rated and will automatically retrofit. Don’t hold your breath waiting for night tac bombing, however. The case for this having any appreciable effect at Europa scale is rather tenuous. Still, someone someday may marshal enough data to convince me otherwise. [TEM 38/39, Errata1]
Source:
Errata published at http://www.hmsgrd.com/Files/Europa/Second Front/Second Front.pdf
Note:
Modify the success table die roll by +2 for day air units checking for crash landing after flying night air missions. (Source: TEM 59/60)
Question:
Rule 20F3 clearly says transports may air transport, but not lay mines. Rule 23C (3rd bullet) says a transport may fly extended range minelaying missions. Which is correct? (Laying mines is a transport mission which only B and HB types can perform, but so why not say ” a bomber may fly extended range minelaying missions”?)
Answer:
In essence, a B or HB laying mines is acting as a transport and thus 23C is technically correct, but I see your point. Note also that the second bullet of 23C covers this situation implicitly, since aerial minelaying is one of “most bombing missions”, in that it is not explicitly stated as a mission wherein air units may not fly extended range, in the specific mission rules. Since the rules do not disallow extended range aerial minelaying missions, it follows that the rules do allow them.
Note also that transports may carry mines at extended range, as a transport mission, so the third bullet of 23C is correct as well.
Source:
TEM 53
Question:
Staging is not allowed for DAS missions. However, the RAW allows a fighter flying escort for a DAS mission may stage, since escort is a different mission from DAS. Was this intended?
Answer:
Yes. Escorting fighters may stage prior to escorting a DAS mission.
Source:
TEM 59/60
Question:
Rule 23.B, Staging, states the initiating players units fly a “1-legged transfer mission”. The transfer rules state that transfer missions occur only in the movement and exploitation phase. I assume that this restriction does not apply to staging, otherwise the prohibition against staging of DAS missions would not be necessary. Is this correct?
Answer:
Staging is not a “mission” in itself Staging is a separate concept from transfers and while it operates similarly to the transfer mission, it is not exactly the same. The staging rules detail any restrictions upon this mission and staging may be performed during combat phases.
Source:
TEM 59/60
Question:
There is a problem involving firing AA at DAS due to the new sequencing. The rules specify that AA is fired during the AA fire step of the air operation (including DAS air operations), and not (as used to be the case with DAS) just prior to ground combat resolution against the hex. This forces the phasing player to decide immediately upon the first DAS mission arriving in the hex if he is going to attack the hex (and with which units), so that he can fire his AA at the enemy air units. If such fire binds the phasing player to attack the DAS hex (and presumably it does), the enemy could theoretically continue to pile many other DAS missions into the hex to the point where the impending attack would become suicidal.
Answer:
I see your point. I do not want to delay the AA fire, but until I can figure out a way to make this work, use the old sequencing. Modify the appropriate section of Rule 20G2c as follows:
“Each DAS operation follows the standard air sequence, until the AA fire step is reached. At this point the mission is suspended until the players are to resolve the ground combat in the hex.
When the players are to resolve ground combat in a hex containing a DAS operation, the remainder of the air operation occurs in conjunction with the ground combat, in this sequence:
Source:
Errata published at http://www.hmsgrd.com/Files/Europa/Second Front/Second Front.pdf
Alexander Alexandrovich Novikov, Air Marshal of the Soviet Union, in 1944
An Europa-map of the island of Sicily, assembled from maps 26 and 27 from Second Front.
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