NEW RULES FOR DESERT WAR

by

Alan R. Arvold

The following rules were submitted to SPI back in the mid

Seventies for consideration. They were never published. Here they

are for your enjoyment.

Infantry Close Assault: Infantry units may freely close assault

any other units, The defending unit(s) must be in a hex that is

not Clear terrain (Woods, Towns, Slopes if close assault is

coming from across a Crest hexside, Sand, Rocks) or may be in a

Clear terrain hex if the attacking infantry unit(s) are in

Entrenchments. The attacking unit(s) must be in adjacent hex to

the defending unit(s) at the beginning of the turn. Close Assault

is a separate operation and must be plotted as CLA. Close Assault

is a form of combat and under certain circumstances also a form

of movement. Close assaults are resolved during the combat phase.

Close assaults may not be combined with other forms of attack. If

the close assaulting unit is attacking a Hard target, then the

combat is resolved as a -2 differential on the combat results

table. If the Hard target is destroyed as a result of the close

assault then the close assaulting unit moves into the defending

unit's hex. Any other result means that the close assaulting unit

does not move. If the close assaulting unit is attacking a Soft

target then the basic printed attack strength is used against the

defending unit's basic printed defence strength. If the target is

destroyed then the attacking unit may move into the defending

unit's hex. If the target is disrupted then it must retreat one

hex (attacking player's choice of direction) and the attacking

unit may move into the defending unit's former hex. However if

the defending is a gun unit, it is destroyed even if it is

disrupted and attacking unit moves into defending unit's hex.

When retreating the defending unit must observe stacking

limitations. Terrain effects do not count in close assault

attacks. When more than one unit is performing a close assault on

a target unit the attack factors are added up into one big attack

factor if the target is a Soft Target or the differential is

raised one column for each additional attacking unit if the

target unit is a Hard target. When the defending unit is an

entrenchment when close assaulted then one is added to the total

defence strength. Units may not close assault across stream

hexsides even if there is a ford or a bridge in that hexside.

These rules are in addition to the automatic counter attack that

an infantry unit may perform against an overrunning unit which is

a Hard target.

Changes to Weapon's Effectiveness Chart:

A Weapon Type - NA against a Soft Target.

M Weapon's Type - Special Ratings against Soft Targets.

57mm or less - Basic Attack Strength (not more than 5)

75mm to 85mm - 7

87mm or greater - 9

Direct Non-H Fire: When any hard target is fired upon by more

than one A and/or M class units in a given phase, determine the

line of fire from each firing unit. If any two of the LOF enter

the target hex through non-adjacent hexsides, then the attack

strengths of all attacking units are raised by one before

adjusting for range attenuation.

Judging Line of Sight: If the Line of Sight passes exactly

through the corner of a hex at the intersection of a blocked

hexside and an unblocked hexside, the Line of Sight is considered

to be blocked. If the Line of Sight passes exactly through the

length of a blocked hexside then the Line of Sight is considered

to be blocked. If the Line of Sight passes exactly through the

length of a hexside of a blocking terrain hex then the Line of

Sight is considered to be blocked. In all cases the defending

unit gets the benefit of the doubt.

Smoke: Off the board artillery and all on-board H class units may

fire smoke. Smoke blocks the Line of Sight like any other

blocking terrain hex. When smoke is fired it effects the impact

hex and the six surrounding adjacent hexes. Smoke lasts from the

end of the combat phase in which it is fired to the end of the

plotting phase of the next turn. This means that if during the

plotting phase a unit can not trace a Line of Sight to the target

hex because of the smoke then no fire may be plotted to the

target hex. Units in a smoked hex may see out of them and fire

from them. A unit in a smoked hex may be spotted if either they

fire from the smoked hex and are seen or if the spotting unit is

within three hexes of the smoked hex. Units in a smoked hex have

two added to their defence factor when attacked by non-H direct

fire. This addition does not apply if there are other terrain

additions in the target hex. Units may move into and through

smoked hexes with no additional movement cost to the moving

units.

APCs: All APCs had a machine gun mounted on them. To simulate

this all APC units have an Attack Factor of 2, a Weapons Class of

R, and a Range of 10.

Overrun Table: (Add)

# of Def. Inf. and Gun Units Number of Overruning Tanks and APCs

1 2 3 4 5 6

3 -1 +1 +3 +4 +5 +6