17. Snipers¶
17.1 General¶
Snipers are provided per a scenario's OOB. A player will never have more than one sniper, per game, at his disposal. A sniper may only be brought into play when activated, and remains in play, in its original hex, until withdrawn or eliminated. Snipers may not be used as spotters for mortars or off-board artillery or air strikes.
17.2 Activating a Sniper¶
A player's sniper is activated when an opposing infantry unit rolls a natural 12 (⚅⚅) while making an AP or AT attack. If activated, a Sniper marker is placed within LOS and six hexes of the attacking unit(s) that activated the sniper, and the sniper immediately attacks those units (see 17.5 Resolving a Sniper Attack). The Sniper marker must be placed in a hex that provides a cover modifier, and hindrance hexes may be used (i.e. behind a hedge). If no cover hex is available the sniper may not be activated.
17.3 Withdrawing a Sniper¶
A sniper may be voluntarily withdrawn by the owning player during any After-Action Phase. If a sniper is withdrawn it is removed from the board, and may only be activated again when a natural 12 is rolled by opposing infantry units making an AP or AT attack.
17.4 Opportunity Fire¶
A sniper that remains on the board may make one Opportunity Fire attack per turn, during the opposing player's Movement Phase, against a moving infantry target. The sniper must have LOS to the target, and the target must be within six hexes. A Fire marker is placed on the sniper after it conducts an Opportunity Fire attack.
17.5 Resolving a Sniper Attack¶
The sniper player makes a die roll, and if the roll exceeds the cover modifier of the target hex, including any intervening terrain hindrances, the target unit(s) suffer a number of Casualty Points equal to the result of the die roll minus the applicable cover modifier(s). Casualty Points are applied in the same manner as described in 14.61.
For example, a group of attacking units in a woods hex generate a sniper. The sniper player rolls a 5, thus inflicting 3 Casualty Points to the units that generated the sniper.
17.6 Eliminating a Sniper¶
Whenever a sniper makes an attack the opposing player immediately makes a Sniper Elimination Check. Only the units targeted by the sniper may make an elimination check. If there are no unpinned units in the target hex an elimination check cannot be made. A die roll is made, and if the roll exceeds the cover modifier of the sniper's location, including any intervening terrain hindrances, the sniper is eliminated. If an enemy unit enters a sniper's hex it is automatically eliminated. A player may no longer activate a sniper if it is eliminated.