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Panzer_Commander wrote:

I understand the rule that a spotter cannot move if he has spotted and cannot spot if he moves. However, what is the rule for the TRANSPORT that the spotter is sitting in? May I move my KV-1 with my Red Army Forward Observer riding shotgun AFTER the spotter has spotted for my mortars?

The later questions answer is Yes. Yes you can call in fire. The Spotter doesn't move; but hte unit is in transport and therefore can move on its own. It is not the Spotters fault that the KV1 moved

It is a bit of gamemanship but legal to do.

It also makes the Soviets Mortars and Artillery more effective at eliminating German soldiers while the T-34's and KV-1's do their thing.

wackywayne wrote:

I don't understand , where does it say that you cannot spot if he moves ( do you mean I cannot move two hexes during the movement phase, and then (call in) benefit from his spotting ability on the mortar/artillery assualt? )

If the spotter is on foot (not being transported) during the combat phase he has two options:
Move or Not move. If he doesn't move he can Attack.

If he moves he cannot be used for the Spotter ability.
If he doesn't move (regarless if he attacks or not), he can be used for the spotter ability.

2nd condition:
The Spotter is on a vehicle with transport during the combat phase. He has only one option:
Sit on the unit with Transport and hope he doesn't die. Since, that option doesn't include the SPOTTER moving, then the Spotter can be used for his SPOTTER ability.

If the Vehicle with Transport that the spotter is sitting in moves during combat, it doesn't make a hill of beans to the spotter. By rule, the spotter isn't using any movement allowance. He is just innocently sitting on the vehicle hoping he doesn't die.

So, you can manipulate this situation to allow a transported Spotter to call in teh 82mm mortar attacks, etc. BECAUSE the Spotter isn't using any of his movement allowance.

I'm not sure where you're getting speed 2 for spotters. Except for the American FO Jeep, they all have speed 1. That means they can move 1 in the movement phase and then spot and/or attack during the assault phase, or move 1 in the movement phase plus 1 more in the assault phase and not spot or attack.

In other words, they operate just like all other units, except they can substitute spotting for attacking, and they can spot from any transport.

Steve

Isn't the Ranger still a Spotter?

That would be another unit other than the FO Jeep that doesn't follow the basic idea. I mean if being in a vehicle is supposed to make moving and spotting possible than the FO jeep should be able to do it, but not the Ranger, if just moving and spotting is supposed to be non-compatible then a Vehicle shouldn't help and a Ranger shouldn't be able to move and spot either.

Sometimes I wish we would get the intention not just the rules change so we could tell when something is supposed to be variation and when its an oversight.

I know it's been a while, but this thread was cited in the Q&A thread.

Colonel Coo's answer is a bit misleading.

Chatting on the Radio does nothing for Aircraft. It is a separate SA that limits when a unit is counted as a Spotter. The Spotter SA is what gives the bonus to Aircraft.

What I was commenting on is something that happens in a lot of collectible games. With each piece having it's own rules, revisions and new abilities frequently have unexpected interactions. Why change the way figures with ability to spot work? Presumably to address a deficiency in the way it played or a balance issue.

If you go with balance issue as the issue (overly strong artillery due to mobile spotters), then it appears that the Ranger was an oversight, as the only Spotter that doesn't have the Chatting SA and it is legit to question whether they were intended to be able to move in a vehicle. Given the FO Jeep can't move there is support that being in a vehicle was not supposed to allow you to do pop up spotting.

If you go with game play (strange jungle interactions and spotters being strangely fast in the move phase), then the issue is why this ability works differently for two figures out of the set.

It just seems that these two figures got overlooked when they changed things and the question is 'why' they changed things. If you know why they changed things you have a better indication of which direction to go when making house rules or asking for clarifications.