Used this new card last night in an early war Russian campaign scenario I created. We gave the card to a sdkfz 222 armored car. It was able to spot for a Panzer IV short and a Stug IIIB (only one per turn though). At the end of a hard fought battle, the KV-2 was holding an objective. The armored car closed for a point blank flank shot (flank not mattering on a heavy tank though), scoring a point of damage. The KV-2 was a couple of hit points away from its demise. The Stug IIIB shot, using the line of sight provided by the armored car.

The question is, if an artillery observer's line of sight is point blank and flank, does that mean the artillery tank also is treated as being at point blank and flank? Instincts say no...but the literal reading of the card says yes! We went with yes, and the KV-2 was destroyed....although its final fury blew the courageous armored car crew to smithereens.

PS. Early war Russian campaign games have been awesome for our group. German initiative and blitzkrieg is just barely enough to pull out wins against the Russians. For example, in our game last night a T-34 was holding an objective with cover. Massed German fire finally got through a crit that bailed out the T-34. Later, the KV-2 had its shooting crippled by a crit that damaged its optics. The fast speed of the T-34 and BT tanks are tough to deal with though!

Here are the relevant rules:

Close Range
Subtract one Defence die if the shooting tank is within one Measuring Arrow (including the head) of the target tank.

Side Shot
Subtract one Defence die if any part of the shooting tank’s hull (excluding protruding gun barrels) is behind the front of the target tank.


Since the tank with the Artillery keyword is still the 'shooting tank' it wouldn't get a close range or side shot bonus unless it was eligible for it themselves.

From the section on Cover:
A target is in Cover if you cannot draw a line from the tank’s turret (or the point the gun crosses the hull of an Assault Gun) to at least three corners of the target tank without passing through any other tank or any terrain that Blocks Line of Sight or gives Cover.


Because the Artillery Observer card changes where the line of sight is drawn from, yeah, no cover :D

It came with one of new expansions. Basically think of a close up spotter calling Arty from a further away tank. Ive not used it yet so cant comment on its effectiveness.

They are in shops in the lichfield area if ebay isnt an option.

Ask yourself the question I did recently though. Do I need them right now? I nearly bought a huge set of the Hobbit models other day. In the end I didnt because I thought over half my LOTR stuff is either unpainted or unassembled (and I paint a lot to be fair). Ive had the new tanks for about week and a half, only put together Honey so far as still working on last years stuff.

What Im saying is, if you got plenty to do, buying more can be detrimental to your motivation. I can tell you now, desert tanks of mine wont see a brush for months at moment cause Im behind as is.

However, if you arnet backed up or dont care for painting, ignore me as not relevant then.

Good luck whatever the case mate.