25 pdrs and smoke

[fred.]

Thanks Mark - but you miss the main point - this note of yours 

To indicate that they did fire Smoke and so you can buy if you want to.
Guns which don't have Smoke in the Abilities column (or Illumination etc.) cannot buy those types of ammo.

Which says units must have the Smoke option, to fire smoke, but hardly any off-table artillery has this (from my limited checking just 25pdr and Neblewerfers). 

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

British 5.5", 3" mortars, Us & German 105mm & 15cm all fired smoke...

81 & 82mm & 130mm mortars all have it too..

☁️ ☁️ ☁️

[fred.]

Not on the rules I have

[Big Insect]

British 5.5", 3" mortars, Us & German 105mm & 15cm all fired smoke...
☁️ ☁️ ☁️

And all of the above are off-table artillery and so can fire Smoke, as per P49.
Smoke ammo is a purchased Asset in BKCIV as I had many representations from play-testers stating that the 'free' allocation of Smoke ammo was ruining the game. Also, the fact that smoke ammo was not universally available, even to units with weapons that could fire Smoke (such as the 81mm/82mm mortars below), made it sensible that Smoke ammo had to be deliberately purchased. NB the 130mm mortar should be an off-table Art only - so can fore Smoke, as can the 120mm American 'Chemical' mortar.


81 & 82mm & 130mm all had it too.. yes ... I am not debating that ... but as I stated earlier in the thread - BKC lists are not like CWC lists. I did not go through every unit of artillery and mortars in all the lists to specify which had Smoke ammo issued as standard and which didn't, and in which campaign they used it and in which they didn't.
If you want that level of detail you need to splash-out and buy the excellent Micro-mark lists.

Thanks
Mark

[fred.]

Focusing on Off Table Artillery in BKC

1) Assets for Smoke is fine
2) Off table being able to fire smoke as per p49 is fine.
3) But why do a few off table units have Smoke listed as a special rule (see screen shot above)? There really aren't many of these. 
4) And what does your comment on the 31st March that I have quoted twice about Smoke mean?

[Big Insect]

Not on the rules I have

Yes, Fred? And your point is what exactly?
All are off-table units - so the blanket ruling on Off-table artillery firing Smoke applies.
The two rocket launchers have Smoke against them specifically, because an un-named 'pedant' during the proof reading and playtesting stage, insisted that rocket-launcher are not 'artillery' ... so I put it in.

TBF folks - the rules are clear - ALL OFF-TABLE ARTILLERY CAN FIRE SMOKE (as per P49) - if your list has Smoke Assets and you have bought those Smoke Assets.

Thank you

[Big Insect]

4) And what does your comment on the 31st March that I have quoted twice about Smoke mean?

Which quotes Fred?

[Big Insect]

To indicate that they did fire Smoke and so you can buy if you want to.
Guns which don't have Smoke in the Abilities column (or Illumination etc.) cannot buy those types of ammo.

I have already explained Fred ... I have a number of threads running on Smoke between CWC & BKC  (lord knows why everybody gets so fixated on the darn stuff - TBF) . In CWC the lists were created in a way that meant that all/most units which 'could' fire Smoke ammo had it designated as such in the lists - regardless of whether they were on or off-table. This was primarily because a lot of Cold War games were played with 'what iff' type scenarios.
In BKC - primarily as I was 'recovering' the rules and list from the BKCIII issue - the lists were made a lot simpler. Also, in BKC it was clear from player feedback that the indiscriminate and massed use of Smoke ammo was making the game almost unplayable. Hence the availability of Smoke was limited/restricted.

But if you want to buy Smoke assets for your on-table 81mm/82mm mortars or whatever (regardless of the fact that mainly Smoke ammo was issued as a rarity and for a specific reason), then just go ahead and do so by adding an extra 5pts to the cost of the unit. Simple solution.

The BKC/CWC/FWC army lists are only a guide - they are not (repeat NOT) designed to play competition games with (like DBM/A, MeG, FoG, ADLG etc.). Players are encouraged to undertake their own research and ideally use historical OOBs.
The list are for quick, pick-up 'club-night' friendly games.
If you want 'serious' lists, as stated above then the excellent Micro-Mark lists are available to be bought.

Many thanks
Mark

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Sorry, didn't mean to stir.