Tank Leaders Marking and Activating

[bigdiggerman]

Been having some fun with Fire in the Steppe Scenario 3. However, I am a little unsure how to mark who is a tank leader. The rules say to record the letter IDs but I dont see any letters on my tank counters. Also, when a tank leader activates his AFV stack and adjacent AFV stacks can they combine direct fire together?

[plloyd1010]

Your confusion comes from mixing 2 tank leader schemes. What is in the rules, and thus applies to most games, is that you assign a tank leader to a specific unit. Such as would make unit T-26, ID letter B a tank leader. (EFDx and FitS counters don't have ID letters or numbers) T-26 B would be a tank leader for the game duration or until destroyed.

FitS doesn't have "tank leaders", it has a limited number of tank leader activations. To use one, designate a tank unit to activate from. (A tank stack works just as well.) That unit may activate all tanks in its hex and adjacent hexes for combat movement and assault, as well as any other actions which requite a leader's activation. The tank leader status ends when the activation is completed. You may designate as many tank leader activations in a turn as there are tank leaders defined in the scenario, minus losses due to GSR 13.

[joe_oppenheimer]

when a tank leader activates his AFV stack and adjacent AFV stacks can they combine direct fire together?

Not using the normal PG rules. Tank leaders don't have the ability to allow stacks to combine fire.

Note that I don't own FITS so could be wrong if there is a special rule in that game allowing it.

[plloyd1010]

when a tank leader activates his AFV stack and adjacent AFV stacks can they combine direct fire together?

Not using the normal PG rules. Tank leaders don't have the ability to allow stacks to combine fire.

Note that I don't own FITS so could be wrong if there is a special rule in that game allowing it.

No, there is no special rule in FitS that allows tanks in adjacent hexes to combine fire.

In the larger sense, combining fire from tanks in adjacent hexes is a complicated affair. Doing so requires a regular leader, with a combat modifier, with a unit having a direct fire value and tank leader to be in the same hex, and a unit with a direct fire value and the 2nd tank to be in the adjacent hex. The tank leader and the regular leader would activate together, each leader activating their counterpart in the adjacent hex. As units activating in the same hex may always combine fire of the same type. A leader with a combat modifirer, tank leaders don't have those, may combine of units they activate from an adjacent hex. It is real nice when you can do it, but situational friction often prevents such an fire team.