Some Basics on Armor in Panzer Grenadier, from my research for the Relevant AFV Rules on the
Unit pages.
Any unit with a printed armor defense value (even a value of 0) is an Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV) (
Rule 1.2 Definitions). All AFVs are Combat Units and are activated by Tank Leaders
(Rule 3.3)
There are two specialized types of AFV with their own activation rules:
• APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) – They may be activated by regular leaders and tank leaders (
1.2,
3.34,
4.3,
5.43).
• Armored Cars – All have their own armored car leaders, who can only activate armored cars (
6.85).
There are units which are
NOT AFVs, despite some of them having armor values. These units are explained in various Game and Scenario Book Special Rules, and include (for now):
•
Prime Movers – Transports which only transport Towed units and/or leaders (May not carry personnel units). May or may not be armored (armored models are open-top). All are mechanized.
•
Armored Transports – These are not combat units and are therefore not APC’s, and they can transport all types of transportable units (5.6) so they are not Prime Movers. They suffer the same vulnerabilities in combat as open-top AFV’s (see 7.61). All are mechanized.
•
Unarmored Weapon Carriers – These are unarmored halftracks (Bufla and Sk7/2) or fully-tracked vehicles (Karl siege mortar) with mounted weapons. All are mechanized, except the BM-13 (Katyusha rocket launcher mounted on a truck). They are weapon units, not AFV’s, so they are never efficient and can not be activated by tank leaders.
•
Portees – Trucks with mounted Anti-Tank guns, Anti-Aircraft weapons, or artillery. Stack as combat units. Move like trucks, but fire like guns. Do not limber or unlimber. Have the truck’s -1 armor value. Truck and gun are treated as a single unit, and do not transport other units.
Anything else with an armor value (even a value of zero) is an AFV and is activated by Tank Leaders.
AFV units with indirect fire or: what makes a tank a tank?
