Breakout Normandy FAQ

BKN FAQ  ( from https://breakoutnormandy.com/faq/ )

19 April 2018

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WBC Tournament Special Rule

8.1 Impulses. Add: If either player discovers an overstacked condition and if it is too late or illegal for the overstacked side to correct during the current impulse or phase, game action pauses while the overstacked units are retreated under the normal retreat rules (including fresh units flipping to spent), one at a time by the non-owning player, until stacking limits are met. A move from an overstacked area is an illegal play, and if no dice have been rolled after the phasing player begins this illegal movement, the other player can have the phasing player return to the position before any movement. The non-phasing player then retreats the phasing player’s units from the overstacked area in the manner outlined above. When legal stacking has been restored, the phasing player may recommence movement.

4 The Playing Pieces

4.23 Field Artillery and 4.24 FLAK/PAK: Q: Can field artillery (including nebelwerfers), FLAK, and PAK units move into a contested, enemy-controlled area without accompanying point units? A: Yes. Exception: Not in a mandatory assault.

4.31 Unit Size & Organization. Q: Can the 2nd Armored Division CCA unit combine with units of the 2nd Infantry Division for the divisional bonus in assaults? A: No.

6 Sequence of Play

6.3 Daylight Phase. Q: Does the impulse end immediately when a sunset DR indicates the end of the daylight phase? A: No.

Q: Can the Allied player demolish bridges after a sunset DR that is not rolled to resolve an assault or bombardment? A: No. Exception: A player may declare a double impulse after a sunset DR.

Q: Can the Allied player make a sunset DR early in the impulse, solely for the purpose of determining whether the day ends or the weather changes, and then continue to move units and/or make assaults? A: No. A sunset DR that is not an attack resolution roll ends the impulse. No further action within the current impulse is allowed. Exception: A player may declare a double impulse after a sunset DR.

Q: If the Allied player take an assault impulse but does not assault, is there a sunset DR? A: Yes. Every Allied impulse has a sunset DR. The Allied player must make a sunset DR after completing all actions in an assault impulse that did not include an assault DR. No further actions are allowed. This represents a choice by the Allied player not to make any further move or assault or bridge demolition attempt in the impulse. Exception: A player can declare a double impulse after a sunset DR.

8 Movement & Combat

8.221 Seizing Bridges. Q: Can a player assault across a bridge, and if repulsed, use a different unit to attempt to seize the bridge? A: No. Assaulting across a bridge counts as the one attempt allowed to seize the bridge.

Q: Following an overrun in the active area, may the overrunning units seize bridges bordering the now free active area? May units which did not participate in the overrun attack do so? A: Yes, but all units have spent 1 or 2 MF for the assault prior to the seizure attempts, not just the overrunning units (8.54).

Q: If the active area is cleared without achieving an overrun, may the assaulting units seize bridges? A: No. Q: May units that did not participate in the assault seize bridges? A: Yes, after paying 1 or 2 MFs per 8.54.

Q: Following an overrun in the active area, may the moving player repair bridges bordering the active area? A: No. Bridge repair takes place before movement/assault (8.21). Exception: double impulse reactivating the active area.

Q: If a bridge seizure attempt is made, do all units crossing any bridge during the impulse pay 1 additional MF? A: No. Only units crossing the attempted bridge(s) spend 1 MF before crossing.

8.222 Capturing Unbridged River Sections. Q: If friendly units seize a bridge, does the enemy retain control of the river until either infantry units successfully cross the river or friendly units control both areas bordering the river? A: No. Bridge control entails control of the entire border. River control (8.511) is only for river boundaries that do not have bridges or where the bridges are destroyed. When a bridge is repaired, any river control marker is unnecessary and can be removed.

8.23 Bridge Demolition. Q: If the Germans exit a contested area, making the area free and Allied-controlled, can the Germans still destroy bridges between the exited area and adjacent Allied-controlled free areas? A: No. Ownership of bridges goes to the side that controls the two areas adjacent to the bridge immediately when both areas are free and controlled by the same side. A bridge has to be controlled at the moment of a demolition attempt (20.4).

8.31 Multiple Destinations. Q: May units which start in the active area combine for an assault in another area if some, but not all, of the assaulting units participated in an overrun in a third area? A: Yes.

8.34 Exit of Enemy-Occupied Area. Q: Can armor units enter, then exit an area containing only non-armor enemy units in a single impulse if they enter from and exit to free areas and they have enough MF? A: Only if they overrun the area entered (8.53).

8.35 Entrance of Enemy-Occupied Area. Q: May artillery and FLAK/PAK enter a contested area in an optional assault unaccompanied by a point unit even if none of the units already in the contested area are point units? A: Yes.

Q: May artillery enter a contested beach area from a different area in an optional assault if the entered beach area still has intact fortifications? A: Yes. The fort restrictions under 21.6 cover only landing directly onto the beach from the approach.

8.36 MF Costs. Q: Do all units beyond the first one entering an enemy-controlled vacant area in the same impulse pay 2 MFs? In a double impulse? A: Yes and yes.

8.4 Air Interdiction. Q: If a number of German units are moving during clear weather, may the air interdiction drs be made in any order or must one unit complete its movement before interdiction drs are made for other units? A: No. The German player can stage movement in any order, including starting movement with one unit and rolling interdiction, pausing to move another unit and rolling interdiction, and returning to move the first unit, rolling more interdiction attempts.

Q: If the Germans declare a double impulse, does fresh FLAK screen units in the first impulse even if it is activated for movement in the second impulse? A: Yes. A unit is fresh until the moment it acts. Even in a normal impulse, a unit could move out of its starting area to seize a bridge or overrun, then move back into and through the activated area using fresh FLAK cover, and the FLAK could be activated for movement later in the impulse.

8.372 Enemy-Held Bridges. Q: Can a unit regroup over an enemy-held bridge or river boundary? A: No. Although units can’t move in this fashion, note that 12.5 explicitly allows supply points to be traced over a non-flooded, enemy held river boundary regardless of bridge status.

8.51 Mandatory Assault. Q: Is Allied movement into a beach area from another area (not from its approach) a mandatory assault if the beach fortifications are not already destroyed? A: Not if no other mandatory assault condition is met. The fortification requires a mandatory assault only from the connected approach.

Q: In a mandatory assault, if any of the activated units are interdicted attempting to join the assault, do all of the units that successfully entered the area have to make the mandatory assault? A: Yes.

8.511 River Crossings. Q: Can the Germans move infantry class units over the river line from Montebourg (Area 52) to St. Mere Eglise (Area 50) without making a mandatory assault if St. Mere is contested and the Allies hold the bridge? A: No. Bridge ownership entails river boundary ownership. Any German movement from Montebourg to St. Mere Eglise in this case must be a mandatory assault.

Q: Do the Germans lose a river boundary if the Allies control both areas? A: Not unless both areas are free. (The last sentence of 8.511 should read “free” instead of “controlled.”)

8.52 Optional Assault. Q: Do the Germans get the +2 DV modifier for beach fortifications in an optional assault? A: Yes (9.3).

8.53 Overrun. Q: Can field artillery support a subsequent attack following an overrun… 1) if it could not support the overrun because it was not adjacent to the area where the overrun occurred? 2) if it could have supported, but chose not to support the overrun? 3) if the subsequent attack does not include any units that participated in the overrun? 4) if it has already supported a subsequent attack following the overrun? A: 1) Yes. 2) Yes. 3) Yes. 4) No, unless the subsequent attack was also an overrun.

Q: Can an artillery unit supporting an assault in a bocage area continue to support other assaults by units elsewhere during the same impulse? A: No, because overruns are not allowed in bocage terrain.

Q: Can moving field artillery (including nebelwerfers) accompanying point units into an assaulted area continue moving after an overrun? A: Yes if the assault is mandatory. If the assault is optional, the player must choose before resolution whether the artillery will continue to accompany the assaulting units and share in the result, or stop moving and ignore the result.

8.54 Active Contested Area. Q: Can units in an active contested area exit the area before an assault in the area is resolved to avoid paying the 1 or 2 MF penalty for leaving after the assault? A: Yes, but if they exit before the assault they are bound by the conditions of 8.34 (Exit of Enemy-Occupied Area).

Q: If the active area is contested, and an assault clears the area, may units that did not participate in the assault move into an enemy-occupied area if they have enough remaining MFs after paying 1 or 2 MF, per 8.34 (Exit of Enemy-Occupied Area)? A: Yes. It doesn’t matter how the area is cleared (even an optional retreat can clear the area). This holds in any terrain.

Q: After an assault in an area that does not contain enemy armor, can non-participating armor move out under 8.34 (Exit of Enemy-Occupied Area) without paying MF costs for the assault? A: No. If you wait to observe the result, you pay the MF cost for the assault.

9 Assault Resolution

9.1 Procedure. Q: Do field artillery units (including nebelwerfers) moving with attacking units share the result of the assault? A: Yes.

Q: Can field artillery units (including nebelwerfers) moving with attacking units stop moving in the area being assaulted before it is resolved to avoid sharing the result? A: Yes in an optional assault. No in a mandatory assault.

9.2 Attack Value. Q: If Wehrmacht corps artillery supports an assault by SS units, or vice versa, is there a -1 penalty to the German AV for SS and Wehrmacht units assaulting together? A: Yes.

Q: Do field artillery or nebelwerfer units moving with units during an assault add one to the assault AV? A: No.

9.41 Failure. Q: If an assault fails, do field artillery (including nebelwerfer) units moving with the assaulting units go D1 and share retreat conditions? A: Yes.

Q: If an optional assault fails or stalemates, do any units that moved into the area without participating in the assault share in the assault result by going D1 and/or retreating? A: No.

Q: After the D-Day phase do units assaulting beaches from approach boxes in mandatory assaults retreat back to the approach if they stalemate or fail? A: No. They remain in the beach area with no further penalty, just like units assaulting during the D-Day phase.

9.62 Voluntary Retreats. Q: Does a voluntary retreat have any impact on the attacker’s result? A: No.

9.64 Retreat Priorities. Q: Can a US unit retreat into a British controlled area, and vice versa? A: Yes. Nationality has no impact on retreat priorities. Retreat to a vacant area could change nationality control under 7.3.

Q: Are areas separated by unbridged flooded or unflooded river boundaries adjacent for calculating retreat priorities? A: Yes. All areas sharing any boundary are adjacent.

Q: Are zones and approach boxes treated like areas for retreat priorities, including adjacency? Yes for zones, but note that zones are never fully stacked for comparing retreat paths at the same priority. No for approaches.

Q: If retreating units reach bridge crossing limits in their retreat, or area stacking limits at the end of their retreat, what happens to additional retreating units above any limit? A: If they have no other retreat option they are eliminated instead of retreating. They count toward the defender’s required CPs. They count as units eliminated in the impulse for the purposes of advantage marker control and impulse shifts.

Q: Can retreating units drop to a lower retreat priority if a higher priority retreat path cannot satisfy bridge crossing or stacking limits? A: Yes. If there is no legal retreat path without overstacking or exceeding bridge limits a the highest priority, retreating units can drop to the next lower priority until a path is found that satisfies stacking and bridge limits. If there is no legal path that adheres to the limits, the unit is eliminated instead of retreating.

9.66 Retreat Distance. Q: If an infantry unit retreats across an unbridged river boundary into a fully stacked area, can it continue to retreat? A: Yes. MF limits do not apply to retreats.

10 Bombardment

10.1 Bombardment Impulse. Q: Can a D2 unit be chosen as a primary target? A: Yes. Any resulting APs would have to be allocated to other units of the defender’s choice.

Q: If all units except field artillery (and nebelwerfers) in an area are D2, can field artillery (including nebelwerfers) be chosen as the primary target? A: No.

10.3 Defensive Value. Q: Do fresh field artillery in the target area add 1 to the DV vs. the Le Havre battery bombardment? A: No. The Le Havre battery is not field artillery, per 3.16.

11 The Advantage

11.2 Advantage Shift. Q: If the day started on C, the weather changed on Impulse 2, and a player shifts the impulse marker backward three spaces, (11.21 and 11.22), does the number of impulses already played change for the purpose of Air Supply (12.9)? A: Yes.

Q: If impulse marker shifts have already moved a weather change marker to C or 13, are additional impulse marker shifts allowed? A: Yes. Weather change markers do not move off the impulse track (18.42): the number of overcast impulses played can change if the relative positions of the turn start and turn end impulse and any weather change markers are affected.has been shifted to C or 13, Impulses shifted before C do not count for air supply.

11.23 Shift Limits. Q: If the day started on impulse C, and on impulse B the Allies eliminate 4 German units while holding the Advantage, can the Allies lengthen the day by 2 impulses? A: No. The Advantage marker rests on the current impulse. In this example, the Allied player could move the marker back to C, a maximum of one space. At the end of the impulse, the marker would move ahead and the next impulse would be impulse B.

11.23 Shift Limits. Q: Can impulse shifts be used to change the sunset DR outcome for weather or turn end? A: No.

11.4 Double Impulse. The Advantage may be spent by the Attacker to declare two active Areas during his Impulse instead of one, or to activate the same Area twice. Among other things, this allows units which began the Impulse in different Areas to combine forces in a single Assault if the two active Areas are declared before the resolution of any attack involving the combined forces. All normal rules apply (the Attacker may still not enter an Area previously attacked in the same Impulse). A Double Impulse counts as only one Impulse for all purposes including the Impulse Track. A player may observe the results of part or all of his first Impulse before deciding to declare a Double Impulse, or he may declare them simultaneously so as to combine forces from two active Areas in the same assault. Note that the prohibition against attacking the same Area twice in the same Impulse applies only to entry of that Area. Fresh units which begin an Impulse in a Contested Area may use a Double Impulse to attack before or after a bombardment of that Area, or to combine with units entering that Area in a combined Assault.

The double impulse deserves some explanation before the Q & A. A double impulse is two impulses that count as one impulse. The two impulses can overlap or they can be consecutive. Players have carte blanche to execute these impulses, except rules that set impulse conditions and limit what can be done in a single impulse apply. Things that can only happen once in a double impulse:

• Enter an area attacked either assault or bombardment

• Assault a single area (8.54)

• Repair/Seize/Demolish a single bridge

• Make a sunset DR

• Earn impulse shifts (11.2) by eliminating enemy units (count eliminations in both halves)

• Move the impulse marker at the end of the impulse

Q: Can an area be assaulted during the second part of a double impulse if it was bombarded during the first part? Yes, but it can’t be entered after it is attacked. The only way to assault after a bombardment in a double impulse is to bombard a contested area, declare a double impulse to activate the bombarded area for an assault impulse, and assault with units that started in the bombarded area.

Q: Can an area be bombarded in the second half of a double impulse if it was entered or assaulted in the first half? A: Yes.

Q: Can a player double impulse if one or both of the impulses are naval or air bombardments (see 17.1)? A: Yes.

Q: Can a player pass, observe the sunset DR, then double impulse? A: Yes.

Q: Can a player declare a second assault impulse after blowing a bridge? A: Yes.

Q: Can a player declare an assault impulse, repair bridges and move units, then double impulse to activate a second area for repairing bridges and moving units? A: Yes.

Q: Can a player activate one free area, repair bridges on its boundary, then declare a double impulse to activate a second free area to move units through the first area and over the newly repaired bridges? A: Yes.

Q: Can a player repair bridges on the border of the second activated area if units have already moved in the first half of a double impulse? A: Yes.

11.4 and 20.5 Bridge Modifiers. Q: Are bridge repair/demo modifiers for the second activated area set at the start of the second activation? A. No. Bridge repair/demo modifiers are set globally at the start of the first impulse.

11.4 and 8.34 Exit of Enemy-Occupied Area. Q: If an area is cleared in the first half of a double impulse then activated in the second half for an assault impulse, do activated units in the newly cleared area pay any movement points for the assault in the first half? Are they limited by the exit of a contested area rules? A: No and no.

Q: Can units move into a vacant enemy area, paying 2 MFs, in the first half of a double impulse, then activate a second area and move into the same enemy area, paying only 1 MF? A: No. The movement point cost for an enemy controlled vacant area is set at the start of the first impulse.

Q: If the Allies activate Sword Beach and overrun the defenders, can they activate a declare a double impulse after observing the assault at Sword, and combine units that started in Sword Beach with the units in the second activated area in an assault against Caen? A: Yes.

12 Disruption & Supply

12.5 Supply Lines. Q: In the common D-Day game position, when the Allies control bridges from St. Mere Eglise (Area 50) to Montebourg (Area 52), Pont l’Abbe (Area 49), and Carentan (Area 44), and St. Mere Eglise is German-controlled and contested, and the Germans control the bridge to Utah Beach (Area 51), is Utah Beach isolated? A: Yes. German supply can cross the river from Montebourg into St. Mere in this example, but no further. Note that in this example, if the Germans seize 52-50, the “magic” bridge, Utah Beach is no longer isolated.

Q: Can supply cross a river boundary if the enemy holds the bridge between the two areas? A: Yes.

Q: Is an Allied unit in supply if it is separated from a supply source by an area controlled by the other Allied nationality? A: Yes.

12.51 Depots. Can the Germans place a depot in an area that traces its supply line over an unbridged river? A: No. The 12.71 language restricting Allied depot placement via friendly bridges applies to the Germans, too.

12.71 Beaches. Q: If the Allies contest a Beach but do not control it, then the Germans clear the Beach, making it a free area for them, does this constitute regaining control for the purpose of denying the depot to the Allies until the turn after they control it? A: No.

12.9 AIR SUPPLY. Q: When counting overcast impulses, do you count impulses that were repeated or skipped due to Advantage shifts (11.2)? Do you count any impulses that were shifted to before C? A: No and no.

13 Regroups

Q: Can US units regroup into British-controlled areas and vice versa? A: Yes.

Q: Can units regroup from a contested area? A: Yes.

14 Zones

14.2 Movement. Q: Does the “ALL” written in the arrows between zones and areas mean it takes all MFs to move in either direction? A: No. It takes all MFs to move from an area to a Zone or between zones, but normal area entry MF costs apply to move from a zone to an area. Note: This means that the German reinforcements on June 7 can reach to Caen during movement on the 7th, provided they are not stopped by interdiction.

Q: Is regrouping allowed into a contested zone? A: No.

14.4 Combat. Q: Does a move into an uncontested, enemy-occupied zone require a mandatory assault? A: Yes.

15 Fortifications

15.2 Removal. Q: Does a disrupted unit that refits to spent immediately destroy a beach fortification? A: Yes.

Q: Does a spent unit in the beach area during an impulse, before an assault, destroy the fortification? A: No. Check for fortification removal at the end of the impulse or phase. If the attackers go D1 in an assault they do not destroy the fortifications.

16 Artillery

16.12 Assault Support. Q: Can an artillery unit support more than one assault during an impulse, if in range and a unit of its organization participates? A: No. Exception: See overruns (8.53).

18 Weather

18.42 Impulse Shifts. Q: If an overcast weather change marker is on C on the impulse track, and a clear weather change marker also moves to C, what is the weather on impulse C for the purposes of Air Supply (12.9)? A: Clear. Keep the most recent marker that moved to C or 13.

19 Reinforcements

19.3 Allied. See 21.6 for landing at an uncontested beach after the D-Day phase.

Q: Can the at start units redeploy to another beach as reinforcements? A: Yes, but not until the June 8 turn. They are subject to the June 7th Reinforcements (19.5) printed beach restriction. See Regrouping (13) and the Offshore Box (3.4) rules for movement to the offshore box and placement as reinforcements.

Q: Can US units land at a British controlled beach, and vice versa? A: Yes, but only from an approach of their own nationality.

19.4 Interdiction. Q: If all of the landing units are interdicted to spent in a mandatory assault, do any of them stay spent at the end of the impulse? A: No. If they are all interdicted, they go D1 without rolling an assault. The defender may not voluntarily retreat.

19.5 June 7th Reinforcements. A: Can the at start units redeploy to another beach as reinforcements? A: Yes, but not until the reinforcement phase of the June 8 turn. See regrouping (13), for movement to the offshore box and entry as reinforcements.

20 Bridges

20.1 Overview. Q: Can I move over an enemy controlled bridge without attempting to seize it? A: Yes. The only movement impact of the ownership of intact bridges is to mandatory or optional assault conditions and to the defense value modifier in an assault. Ownership of the bridge does not affect the MFs required to cross it or the legality of movement across it. (Exception: See point units and entering enemy-occupied areas, 8.35). Under the other rules of movement, seizing a bridge before moving across might make area entry an optional assault instead of a mandatory assault, it could lower the DV in an assault, and it could offer a player the best odds to control the bridge, compared to assaulting across it.

Q: Can I move across a destroyed bridge or a river boundary to repair it? A: No. Destroyed bridges may not be crossed, and crossing a river boundary does not repair a bridge.

Q: Can I move into an area and repair bridges adjacent to it? A: No. Bridge repair happens before movement, and only on the borders of the activated area. See the double impulse rules for special cases.

Q: Can 5 units cross a bridge (8.371) from the active area into a contested area for an optional assault, and if they lose or stalemate on the assault, can one or more of them retreat back across the bridge at the attacker’s option? A:Yes.

Q: Can more than 5 defending units retreat across a bridge (8.371)? A: No. This rule can force the defender to take CPs as eliminations.

Q: Can 5 units cross a bridge (8.371), assault, and return back across the same bridge if they overrun? A: No.

Q: If a German unit is interdicted while attempting to cross a bridge, does it count against the 5 unit limit? A: No.

Q: Must a moving unit still seize a bridge between two friendly, free areas to take possession of it? A: No. Bridge and river boundary control is instantaneous when both areas are free.

Q: If a German-owned bridge is seized by the Allies, is the river boundary Allied-controlled? A: Yes. Bridge ownership confers ownership of the river boundary between two areas. If the Allies later destroy the bridge, mark with a blown bridge marker and an Allied river control marker.

Q: If the Allies successfully cross the river boundary from Port-en-Bessin to Trevieres, does the river boundary or bridge between Trevieres and Omaha Beach become Allied-controlled? A: No.

20.21 Construction. Q: Is a construction marker removed if both connected areas become free and controlled by the enemy? A: No. Construction markers can be removed voluntarily by the owner, by a successful repair attempt, or if a +1 marker takes APs as the primary target in a bombardment.

Q: If both areas adjacent to a destroyed bridge are free, is the bridge automatically rebuilt? A: No.

Q: Do I have to have a unit in the active area to repair or destroy bridges? If I have one present, does it flip from fresh to spent? A: No and no. Bridge repair and destruction actions do not require units or affect them.

20.23 Night Construction. Q: Can I place a depot, repair a bridge, then place another depot in an area beyond the newly repaired bridge? A: Yes.

Q: If a unit is isolated at the start of the refit phase due to a destroyed bridge, can the bridge be repaired to restore a supply line to it and allow supply points to be spent to refit it? A: Yes.

20.5 Bridge Modifiers. Q: If the Germans control Bretteville and it is contested, and the Germans declare an assault impulse and vacate Bretteville, turning to to Allied control and free, what is the demolition drm if they attempt to blow the bridge between Bretteville and Aunay, if Aunay is German and free? A: The demolition drm is +5. Bridge demolition drms are set at the start of the impulse: +3 for Aunay +2 for Bretteville = +5. The drm is not affected by the German movement. (Note: This contradicts Example 6.)

21 D-Day

21.6 Daylight Impulses. Q: If the Germans clear a beach after the Amphibious Assault Phase, can additional Allied units land at the beach from its approach? A: Yes, but only on the June 6 turn. After June 6, see 19.3 for the rules governing reinforcements.

Q: Can artillery unaccompanied by a point unit move into a contested beach area that still has intact fortifications if the movement is not from the directly connected approach box? A: Yes. Artillery can destroy beach fortifications with this move by the presence of a spent unit in the beach area at the end of the impulse (15.2, removal of fortifications).

22 Victory Conditions

22.3 Victory Points. Q: How do the Allies isolate Cherbourg? A: Block the German supply line to Cherbourg under 12.5. Note that if the Germans cannot trace supply from a depot of infinite capacity to Cherbourg due to supply line river crossing restrictions, Cherbourg is isolated in the same way Utah Beach is isolated in the example above if the Allies contest St. Mere Eglise and control the bridges to Montebourg, Pont l’Abbe, and Carentan.

22.4 Credit for Contested Areas. Q: If 7 contested VPs give the Allies credit for one full VP, can the Allies earn two full VPs by contesting 14 VPs, winning the 1-week game (22.2) with 7 VPs and 20 contested VPs to make 9.6 VPs? A: Yes

24 Extended Game

24.5 Storm Occurrence. Q: If the storm is already over by the 19th, what is the weather on the 19th? A: Overcast.

24.6 Storm Effects. Q: How much are German depots worth during the storm? A: Treat storm as overcast for the start of turn condition (10 if the day starts in storm), and treat storm impulses as overcast for counting the number of impulses of clear or overcast weather per 18.41, the supply consequences of weather changes.