Hey There...I just recieved TOI in the mail a couple days ago and was excited to set it up and play...I was overwhelmed with all the rules of play...There are certain rules I don't understand as followed...

1.When firing with a tank how many dice do you use?..also there is a rule about armor on tanks and always to draw a six on a die for some reason I dont get that...Because if you roll a 6 all the time how does the defender ever damage you?

2. When firing with your motor crew and there range how is it determind when a fresh unit has a LOS for them?

I would really like to get to know how to play this game more with a simple understanding it just seems way to confusing...

cadet54 said:

Welcome to the club :)

cadet54 said:

It depends on what type of tank and what its shooting at.  The reference card tell you how many attack dice to roll for the attacking unit depending on what it is attacking (infantry or vehicle).  If the target has armor and/or cover, you also roll that many defensive dice (armor+cover).  At normal range 5s and 6s hit.  5s and 6s on the defensive dice negate hits.  Any hits left over do damage or suppress depending on the type of attack that was made.

cadet54 said:

The range of the mortars is from the mortars, so up to 8 hexes from the mortar squad is normal range, 9-16 hexes is long range.

Welcome to TOI.

cadet54 said:

I think you must be referring to the special armor-rule for the Tiger here (?). This rule allows the German player to change one (only one of several) of his red armor/cover dice to 6 (thus ensuring that at least one of his armor/cover is effective). Don't be daunted by the rules. They make more sense than the rulebook sometimes makes them seem.

The special rule your referring to is on armored combat, with tanks that have the 'thick armor' special ability. Pz IV's, Tigers, and Panthers have it thus far (Im sure the King Tiger does as well but I dont have Normandy so I cant comment on them). The ability enables them to turn one of their defending die that normally wouldnt deflect a hit into a 6 therefore canceling one of the attackers hits. Sometimes this takes away the only hit they have, while other times it only takes away one of many.

My apologies the above is incorrect, only the PzIV due to its side skirts has the Thick Armor special ability. My fault!

My advice is to read the rulebook through front to back.  Then set up the boards and figures.  Then read each section twice and see how it works on the board.  Then check the index on the back page and see that many things get mentioned on multiple pages.  Read all relevant pages for each item.  Then I would do a search here or over at BoardGameGeek for anything you still have questons about, so you can read all the previous discusssions.

Luftwaffe Flak said:

actually only the tigers have thick armor the PZIV does not

derros87 said:

The Panther's also have the thick armor.

well i havent used any of my panthers yet as i only have DotF so i must have forgot that thanks for the correction

Goodness you guys are right, the player aid that was included in my trade copy has the wrong stuff!