Hill Control victory conditions

[tlangston28]

I'm playing Desert Rats scenario #1 using 4th Ed rules and in reading the victory conditions,  hill control is key to Minor and Major victory and reads "...ALL hill hexes are controlled..." (emphasis my own).   Reading RAW,  Control of all the hill hexes in this particular scenario is currently British/Punjab (setup on the hill, enemies entering the board). In addition,  Control is defined by an undemoralized combat unit being the last to occupy a hex exclusively.

The question then is, by these rules,  Does the Italian player need to run around on the hill hexes after eliminating or forcing off the British/Punjab in order to obtain control of ALL hill hexes?  

I couldn't find the question anywhere else and in reading the AARs it sounds like most of the players were playing to "clear" the hill rather than "control" the hexes on the hill.

[plloyd1010]

In the technical sense, yes. An Italian unit would need to run through every hex.

In a practical sense (assuming we were playing) if the are no Punjabis on, and maybe next to the hill, it is completely Italian, if the Italians were the last to be on the hil.

[Shad]

Does the Italian player need to run around on the hill hexes after eliminating or forcing off the British/Punjab in order to obtain control of ALL hill hexes? 

Strictly taking rules as written, yes, the Italian player would need to walk a unit/units through every single hill hex.

Personally, I only play this way if a hill ends contested - last entered = current occupier. If one side stands alone on the hill I just give it to them.

But that's not the rules as written.

[tlangston28]

Thanks for the reply, guys.  I think we are going to treat it as cleared of enemy rather than having to walk through every single hex, especially on the Desert Rats (and Afrika Korps maps for that matter) where the hills are huge.  I can just imagine an officer telling his men to "run around every scrap of this hill of sand so that we are sure we have it - never know if there are Italians or Germans hiding somewhere!"

[triangular_cube]

Thanks for the reply, guys.  I think we are going to treat it as cleared of enemy rather than having to walk through every single hex, especially on the Desert Rats (and Afrika Korps maps for that matter) where the hills are huge.  I can just imagine an officer telling his men to "run around every scrap of this hill of sand so that we are sure we have it - never know if there are Italians or Germans hiding somewhere!"

I seem to recall at least one Afrika Korps scenario that required the player to control every hex on the board, a feat that RAW was impossible within the turn limit, even if unopposed.