When a unit receives its order die, this represents the squad’s leader telling his men what to do. Ultimately, of course, this is you, the player, deciding how you want your troops to act that turn. However, if troops are under fire, there is a possibility that the men will disappoint both you and their squad leader, and decide all they really want to do is to keep their heads down.
The choice of orders a player can issue to his units is represented by the six faces of the order die as follows:
| Order | Summary of Action |
| 1 Fire | Fire at full effect without moving |
| 2 Advance | Move and then fire |
| 3 Run | Move at double speed without firing; also used for assaulting |
| 4 Ambush | No move or fire but wait for opportunity fire |
| 5 Rally | No move or fire but lose D6+1 pin markers |
| 6 Down | No move or fire but gain an extra -2 to be hit |
The models in the unit do not move, instead they open up with their weapons at their chosen target(s) at full effect. Some large and bulky weapons can only be fired by units receiving this order, as they require the firer to be stationary. See the rules for Shooting.
The unit can move and then fire its weapons. The unit’s shots will be less accurate than if it chooses to remain stationary and fire, and some of its weapons may not be able to fire at all. See the rules for Movement and for Shooting.
The unit moves at double speed, but cannot fire any of its weapons. See the rules for Movement.
The unit does not move or fire. Instead, the soldiers take up firing positions and wait for a target to present itself. See the rules for Shooting.
The unit does not move or fire. Instead, the troops pause for breath, patch up the wounded, pass ammo around and regroup ready for the following turn. See Pinned, below.
German Sd.Kfz 232(6 Rad) Armoured Car
The unit does not move or fire. Instead, the troops hit the dirt and keep their heads down as far as possible, making maximum use of whatever cover is available. See the rules for Shooting.
Normally, units do what you order them to do without question. However, units that find themselves under enemy fire are less reliable, and sometimes they will ignore their orders altogether. This is represented by the rules for pinning. Pinned troops are indicated by markers placed on the tabletop next to or behind the affected unit. Units that have taken a great deal of fire will gain more markers and will become increasingly reluctant to obey their orders.
Every time a unit is fired at by an enemy unit and suffers one or more hits as a result, place a single pin marker next to it. Units that are shot at by several enemies, or over a number of turns, can potentially rack up multiple pin markers: they become more firmly pinned down and the chances of them obeying their orders are reduced even further.
In the case of some particularly heavy weapons two or more pin markers can sometimes be scored against a target in one go. For example, if a heavy artillery barrage hits a unit it is likely to be more effectively pinned down than it would be by rifle fire. However, in general the fire of a single unit adds one pin marker to the target. Note that the number of hits caused is not important here: the only thing that matters is the fact that the target has been fired at and has been hit at least once.
It can sometimes happen that one of your own units will fire on another of your units accidentally. This is referred to as ‘friendly fire’. Hits from friendly fire also result in a unit taking pin markers as if the target had been an enemy.
If you do not wish to clutter the gaming table with markers it is perfectly acceptable to note down where units have been pinned instead. However, this does involve a certain amount of paperwork, so on the whole we would recommend that suitable and unobtrusive pin markers are used where possible.
Each pin marker on a unit lowers its morale value by one. Morale is discussed and affects a unit’s ability to obey its orders. Regular infantry has a morale value of 9. If it has two pin markers on it, its morale value would therefore be reduced to 7. If it has five pin markers its morale value would be reduced to 4.
In addition, if a unit ever has a number of pin markers on it that is equal or higher than the unit’s morale value, the unit routs and counts as destroyed, as described below.
Pinning also reduces a unit’s ability to fire effectively as we shall see later on; however, for purposes of understanding how orders work it is sufficient to know that each pin marker reduces a unit’s morale value by –1.
A unit that is not pinned executes any order it receives automatically. The order die is placed next to the unit and the corresponding action is carried out without any need to take an order test. There are some situations where orders are not received automatically and a test must always be made regardless of whether the unit is pinned – but these are occasional exceptions and need not concern us for now.
If a unit has one or more pin markers it is considered to be pinned down and might not obey its order. After placing the order die next to the unit, the player must take an order test to see if the order is obeyed. Roll 2D6 and compare the result with the unit’s modified morale value as described above.
If the 2D6 result is equal or lower than the unit’s modified morale value, the unit passes the test. A unit that passes an order test immediately discards one pin marker, and then executes the order it has been given. This represents the unit pulling itself together and recovering some of its discipline before obeying its instructions. For example, if a regular unit has two pin markers its modified morale value is 9–2 =7. So, your 2D6 roll must score a combined total of 7 or less to pass the test. Any roll of between 2 and 7 will therefore succeed and any roll of between 8 and 12 will fail.
British carriers speed into a shattered town
If the 2D6 roll is higher than the unit’s modified morale value the test is failed. A unit that fails its order test does not discard any pin markers and must then execute a down action rather than the order intended. However, if a double six is rolled then not only is the order failed but the unit must roll again on the FUBAR chart below and take the action indicated. This means that the unit has panicked, misunderstood its order, or that something has gone terribly wrong somewhere along the line.
Regardless of any modifiers that apply to a unit’s morale value, the highest morale value is 10 and the lowest is 2. This means that order test rolls of 2 will always succeed regardless of any modifiers that apply, and results of 11 or 12 will always fail.
Infantry squads can normally be purchased under strength, consisting of just five or six men. You can then add additional men to the squad, normally up to double the initial numbers, so ten or 12. If you purchase the maximum amount of men available (ten, 12 or whatever the number for that particular squad) the squad is said to be ‘at full strength’. To represent the confidence of a fresh squad that has not taken casualties, infantry squads at full strength can re-roll failed order tests. The moment the squad takes the first casualty, this bonus is lost. Note, however, that this rule only applies to infantry units of at least ten men – smaller squads lack the staying power of large groups of men.
There is one important exception to the rules for taking order tests. If you order a pinned unit Down, no order test is taken. The unit goes Down automatically. However, note that if you do this then the unit does not lose a pin marker, as it has not passed an order test.
If a pinned unit is ordered to Rally, it will take the order test as above, but will ignore all negative modifiers from pin markers.
If the test is successful, the unit will immediately discard D6+1 pin markers rather than 1. Roll a die and add 1 to the score to determine how many pin markers are removed.
If an order test roll comes up two ones (snake eyes) then not only is the order automatically given but the unit also immediately loses D6+1 pin markers rather than 1.
If an order test roll comes up two sixes then not only is the order not given but the player must immediately roll on the chart below. Roll a die to find what action the unit takes.
| FUBAR CHART | |
| D6 Roll | Effect |
| 1 or 2 |
Friendly Fire The unit does not move and opens fire against a friendly unit, mistaking it for enemy. Place a Fire order by the unit. The opposing player controls the firing unit as if it was one of his own, except that the chosen ‘friendly’ target (or targets) must have an enemy unit within 12’’ (proximity to enemy is precisely what has caused the ‘friendly fire incident’!). If no such target is available the unit does not fire and goes Down instead. |
| 3, 4, 5 or 6 |
Panic The unit executes a Run order and must move as fast as possible away from the closest visible enemy unit. If no enemy are visible, or if the unit can no longer move for some reason, it goes Down instead. |
TOP SECRET
During a game we usually refer to units that have been given a Fire order as ‘firing’, a unit that has been given as Advance order as ‘advancing’ and so on for units that are running, in ambush, rallying or going down. We also use these same terms throughout the rulebook where the intent is sufficiently clear, but where we need to be precise we usually describe a unit that has a Fire order placed next to it as enacting, undertaking, conducting or otherwise engaged in a ‘Fire action’, and so on for an Advance action, Run action, Ambush action, Rally action and Down action. Although it might sound a bit of a mouthful to say troops are ‘taking part in a Fire action’ this is plainly less circuitous than describing the same men as ‘a unit that has a Fire order die placed next to it.’
Not all troops are the same. Some are highly trained, motivated, or experienced, whilst others are hurriedly conscripted and committed to the battlefield with little training or equipment. This is represented in the game by the morale value of the troops. As we have already discovered, this is a measure of how likely the unit is to follow orders under fire.
Troops are divided into three different categories as follows:
| Quality | Morale | Examples |
| Inexperienced | 8 | Conscript, poor or little training, no combat experience. |
| Regular | 9 | Normal training and some combat experience. |
| Veteran | 10 | Special training (paras, commandos, marines) and extensive combat experience. |
Infantry units normally include a leader. In the case of an infantry squad this would typically be a sergeant, corporal, lance corporal or an equivalent rank. These non-commissioned officers (NCOs) are an integral part of their unit and cannot be deliberately separated from it. If an infantry squad’s leader is killed, the unit suffers a permanent –1 penalty to its morale value. The same is true for HQ units, consisting of a superior officer and a few men – if the officer is killed, the men will suffer the same permanent –1 penalty. Crewed weapons and weapons teams don’t have specific models as leaders, but if the team is reduced to one last crewman, it also suffers a –1 penalty to its morale value in the same way.
Remember that each pin marker on the unit also results in a –1 penalty to its morale value. A veteran unit with one pin marker has a morale value of 9, whilst the same unit with four markers has a value of 6, and so on.
If a unit has as many pin markers as its original morale value, or more, then it is automatically and immediately destroyed – its morale has entirely collapsed and the unit is routed from the field. Thus inexperienced troops are routed once they have 8 pin markers, regular units 9, and veteran units 10. This won’t happen very often because units will usually be wiped out long before their morale collapses in this way.
The Trento Division strongpoint at El Alamein, by Steve Noon © Osprey Publishing Ltd. Taken from Warrior 169: Italian Soldier in North Africa 1941–43
Regardless of how many pin markers it has, or how many bonuses or penalties apply, a unit cannot have a morale value of greater than 10 or less than 2. Ten is the best value possible and 2 is the worst.
Normally, all the order dice used to activate units during the turn are gathered up and placed back in the dice bag at the end of the turn. There are, however, two notable exceptions.
Units that end their turn in Ambush can retain their order or return it to the dice bag as usual. If the player decides to retain the Ambush order, the order die is left where it is and the unit starts the next turn already in ambush and ready to shoot at a target that presents itself. This allows a unit to stay in ambush from turn to turn, watching and waiting for the enemy to make a move.
Alternatively, at this point a unit in Ambush can attempt to fire – roll a D6. On a 4+ the unit can fire normally and then place its order die back in the dice bag. On a 3 or less, the unit does nothing and the Ambush dice is put into the bag – the unit has simply lost its concentration.
Units that end their turn Down can retain their order or return it to the dice bag as usual. If the player decides to retain the Down order, the order die is left where it is and the unit starts the following turn already down. A pinned unit that does this also loses D3 pin markers immediately instead of returning its order die to the dice bag. This allows a pinned unit to recover its effectiveness without passing an order test, so long as it stays down, representing the unit’s leader regrouping his men under fire.
