Using command cards to increase Leader Level

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Contrarius
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Using command cards to increase Leader Level

Post by Contrarius »

Say I have a level I Leader and burn two command flags to bump him temporarily to level III.

Now, I use 2 of his initiatives to remove shock, the other to activate the 6-man group that he is attached to.
My query is this, when it comes to firing does his group fire with 6+3 dice or just 6+1?


On a similar vane, when a Leader Lvl I is bumped to Leader Lvl III in this way, does his command range also go up from 4” to 9”?
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Captain Reid
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Re: Using command cards to increase Leader Level

Post by Captain Reid »

It's just rather slack wording in the rules.

What actually happens is that a flag is used to add one Command Initiative to the Leader which is immediately expended, it doesn't increase his Status (though the wording implies that it does)

So in your particular example the Status I leader is boosted to 3 CIs. He uses two to rally Shock and one to Activate the Unit. He's still Status I, so he directs their fire adding one dice as usual.

And in answer to the second question, I'd say no as you're really just adding CIs, not adding to Status.


Now it could be argued that the rule in fact means what it says, but the consequences of that would be to raise a lot of questions and issues surrounding the use of flags in general.
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Archdukek
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Re: Using command cards to increase Leader Level

Post by Archdukek »

Hi Contrarius,
No you can’t use Command Cards to increase a Leader’s Status Level.
The relevant rule on the use of Command Cards in section 3.1, page 26 says

“Any number of Command Cards may be used by a Leader to increase his Command Initiative for the current Turn. For each Command Card used the Leader may add one point of Command Initiative for the current Turn.”

There is no mention of any change to the Leader’s Status Level, just a temporary increase in Command initiative. He retains the Status Level he started the game with.

Unlike Captain Reid I don’t think the rule is ambiguous at all and that it means what it says. It has just been misread by some as implying that the Leader’s Status Level increases to match the number of Command Initiatives/Orders he can issue that Turn. It doesn’t.

John
Peter
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Re: Using command cards to increase Leader Level

Post by Peter »

It's not ambiguous, but it's easy to misread (he said in self defence)
Peter
Contrarius
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Re: Using command cards to increase Leader Level

Post by Contrarius »

Thanks, guys!
My confusion came really from the FAQ where Rich was perhaps cavalier with his wording, stating that a leader’s level can be raised with the use of command cards, theoretically even to Lvl. 8.
Thought for a moment that I’d been playing the game wrong all this time :?

There’s another rule on p.22 regarding initiatives that also got me thinking I was playing wrong. It seems to imply that for a leader to direct fire and hence “to add 1D6 for each level of his status” he must expend an initiative IN ADDITION to the initiative used to activate the firing unit.
Archdukek
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Re: Using command cards to increase Leader Level

Post by Archdukek »

Hi Contrarius,
Yes that FAQ wording is misleading but is a common occurrence.

On directing fire originally a number of us were of the view that directing fire onto a specific target needed an additional Command Initiative as you say. However, Rich subsequently clarified that it didn’t, activation and direction could all be done with a single CI. Think of it as the Leader issuing a single order to fire on a single Group to the front.

John
Counterpane
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Re: Using command cards to increase Leader Level

Post by Counterpane »

A related issue came up in one of my games at a previous Virtual Lard. What about a Level 0 Leader (after being wounded)? Does his Command Radius go down to zero?
Munin
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Re: Using command cards to increase Leader Level

Post by Munin »

That seems reasonable (i.e. he can only issue commands to groups or formations to which he is physically attached)
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