Subject: Re: Up Front Questions
From: "Christian Killoran" <xman@pcisys.net>

Brian Bankler wrote in message >

These answers are based only on our own "house" rulings, nothing official.

Questions:
>1) Marsh. The card and the rules contradict on the numbers What is it?

Go with the rules.  It just sucks to shoot from a marsh.

>2) When a hero card doubles an LMGs firepower, it says it doubles the
>   bracketed number. So if the firepower is say 7[4], a hero card
>   only makes a non-moving, crewed LMG an 8 (2*4) instead of a 7?
>   Is that the intent, or does it add as well (7+8=15) or something
>   else? Or is it just that real heroes don't use machine guns?

FP is 8  However heroic you may be, your crewman feeding ammo is not.

>3) Movement card...when looking up Fire strength, you add the card
>   underneath...if it's a movement card, do you keep going back to
>   a terrain, or is it movement + next card only?

Only the top two cards matter.  Think of it this way...if a group in woods
moves out with one card, the fireteam is just leaving the woods.  They get
the penalty for moving, but still retain the benefit of the cover.  Two
movement cards represents a team that has entirely left it's cover, that's
why you remove terrain cards underneath at that point.
>
>   OK, now the tough ones.
>
>I set up US vs Germany, giving the US 3 Groups of 4 and the germans 2
groups of 5. The germans kept winning, because the US never seemed to have
enough firepower. Are large groups inherently better, because of firepower?

Firepower is what large groups are good at, but large groups also have some
serious weaknesses.  Probably the most obvious is that a single pinned man
in a large group prevents that group from moving, and rally cards of
sufficient size are not always handy.  More subtle, but equally important,
is the fact that large firepower heavy groups often can't be used to "burn"
unwanted movement cards.  This is especially important for the Germans since
they can discard only one card per turn.  If you've got a hand full of
movement cards, you're gonna have an ugly situation for a long time unless
you've got groups that can scoot around and use 'em up (the same goes for
terrain cards.)

Finally, as you progress through the rules, you will find that the increased
firepower bonuses for flanking fire and encirclement can make it extremely
dangerous to keep a "short" line of big groups.  Remember too that your
group "A" pays a range penalty for firing at enemy groups "C" and "D".

All other things being equal, it's usually best to create a "fire" group out
of your heavy weapons (usually positioned at "B") and many low morale
riflemen, and one or two smallish "manuver" groups out of your high morale
men (esp. if some are equipped with short range assault weapons.)  Use the
fire group to suppress enemy fire teams while the manuver groups burn
movement cards with lateral movement untill you get lucky enough to pin a
bunch of his shooters.  Then rush forward while the enemy rallies and nab
yer good terrain.  When yer getting really close, use that gully card you
have been saving to cover your guys final advance to the victory conditions!

I haven't analyzed the deck, but it seems that there
>may be some breakpoints to watch out for...like 7 firepower vs 11
>or 12 (meaning 9 is not really different than 7, but 11 is much better
>than 10). Any tips?

Some folks set up their fire groups with this in mind, but in my experience
something ALWAYS goes wrong and messes up that perfect math.  A more
productive plan would be to watch out for the Range breakpoints...that
magical place where a fireteam suddenly jumps from being useless to being
ferocious.  Save your big fire cards for that situation!

Subject: Re: Up Front Questions
From: tarot@notmenetvigator.com (Alan Kwan)

On Mon, 18 Oct 1999 14:58:59 -0400, Brian Bankler
<bankler@rtp.ericsson.se> wrote:

>I just picked up a used copy of Up Front, read the basic rules
>(1.0-20.0 or so) and walked through Scenario A (solitaire).
>
>Questions:
>1) Marsh. The card and the rules contradict on the numbers What is it?

-1 / -1

There is an errata sheet in my copy.

>2) When a hero card doubles an LMGs firepower, it says it doubles the
>   bracketed number. So if the firepower is say 7[4], a hero card
>   only makes a non-moving, crewed LMG an 8 (2*4) instead of a 7?
>   Is that the intent, or does it add as well (7+8=15) or something
>   else? Or is it just that real heroes don't use machine guns?

Since doubling is effectively "increase by one time", I used to play
that the firepower becomes 7+4=11 .

>3) Movement card...when looking up Fire strength, you add the card
>   underneath...if it's a movement card, do you keep going back to
>   a terrain, or is it movement + next card only?

Two cards only, although as I recall certain cards (such as smoke?) do
not count towards this 2-card total.

>Are large groups inherently better, because
>of firepower?

Large groups have better firepower, but they are also bigger targets,
since one fire attack attacks all men in a group.

"Live life with Heart." - Alan Kwan / tarot@notmenetvigator.com
http://home.netvigator.com/~tarot (hard-core game reviews)
(please remove anti-spam section "notme" from mailing address)
Dimension S editor:  http://209.213.100.47/

Subject: Re: Up Front Questions
From: Ken Agress <kenagress@earthlink.net>

On Mon, 18 Oct 1999 14:58:59 -0400, Brian Bankler
<bankler@rtp.ericsson.se> wrote:

>I just picked up a used copy of Up Front, read the basic rules
>(1.0-20.0 or so) and walked through Scenario A (solitaire).
>
>Questions:
>1) Marsh. The card and the rules contradict on the numbers What is it?

That's a typo on the card.  Marsh is -1/-1.

>2) When a hero card doubles an LMGs firepower, it says it doubles the
>   bracketed number. So if the firepower is say 7[4], a hero card
>   only makes a non-moving, crewed LMG an 8 (2*4) instead of a 7?
>   Is that the intent, or does it add as well (7+8=15) or something
>   else? Or is it just that real heroes don't use machine guns?

Real heroes don't have crewmen.  :-)

An LMG without a crewman fires with it's bracketed values.  Therefore,
your hero card can only affect this value.  Note that not all
countries have crewed LMG's though...

>3) Movement card...when looking up Fire strength, you add the card
>   underneath...if it's a movement card, do you keep going back to
>   a terrain, or is it movement + next card only?

Only the top two.  Once two movement cards are in play, you're out of
the terrain.
>
>   OK, now the tough ones.
>
>I set up US vs Germany, giving the US 3 Groups of 4 and the germans
>2 groups of 5. The germans kept winning, because the US never seemed
>to have enough firepower. Are large groups inherently better, because
>of firepower? I haven't analyzed the deck, but it seems that there
>may be some breakpoints to watch out for...like 7 firepower vs 11
>or 12 (meaning 9 is not really different than 7, but 11 is much better
>than 10). Any tips?
>
You need to structure your groups to fit the scenario you're playing.
Having oodles of firepower never hurt, but may not be the best
solution.  For the scenario you selected, you'd want to maximize your
firing ability.  Personally, I'd have gone for a group of 4 and a
group of 8 as the Americans, planning on doing most of my moving (in
and out of good terrain) with the smaller group while the larger group
provided supporting fire.

As to the breakpoints - they don't really exist.  Since any fire
mission can include more than a single fire card, you can unload heavy
hitters pretty effectively.  What you need to look at is the victory
conditions for the scenario and deploy your forces accordingly.  Most
require a certain number of unpinned men at a particular range chit,
which can make a small group very, very worthwhile.  Also remember
that some weapons change their effectiveness rapidly as you close in
on your opponent.  That sub-machine gun that was worthless at RR0 is
worth more than the bolt-action rifle at RR5.

Ken Agress

Subject: Re: Up Front Questions
From: John_David_Galt@acm.org

Brian Bankler wrote in rec.games.board:

> I just picked up a used copy of Up Front, read the basic rules
> (1.0-20.0 or so) and walked through Scenario A (solitaire).
>
> Questions:
> 1) Marsh. The card and the rules contradict on the numbers What is it?

Oddly enough, this isn't covered by the errata at
   http://www.abs.net/~anomaly/upfront/errata/errata.html

I've always played that the rules are correct and the card is wrong (it's
-1 to both incoming and outgoing fire), since both examples at 8.44 say so.
But you might want to join the Up Front mailing list and ask there.

> 2) When a hero card doubles an LMGs firepower, it says it doubles the
>    bracketed number. So if the firepower is say 7[4], a hero card
>    only makes a non-moving, crewed LMG an 8 (2*4) instead of a 7?

Correct.

>    Is that the intent, or does it add as well (7+8=15) or something
>    else? Or is it just that real heroes don't use machine guns?

The Hero card represents one man who momentarily feels very brave.  If this
guy can do something by himself, he can be very effective.  (He is also a
darned fool, and has a good chance of getting a medal, posthumously.)

In the case of a crew-served weapon, one heroic man isn't going to help
very much, if at all, because it's heavy and bulky enough that it's very
difficult for one man to move or fire it.

> 3) Movement card...when looking up Fire strength, you add the card
>    underneath...if it's a movement card, do you keep going back to
>    a terrain, or is it movement + next card only?

You add the top two cards only, except that Wire doesn't count against the limit of
two.  (Thus when there are two Movement cards, the terrain underneath doesn't count.
In fact, it no longer has any effect on the game, except that if you remove a
Movement card (as a result of rejecting a new terrain card) it will apply again.)

>    OK, now the tough ones.
>
> I set up US vs Germany, giving the US 3 Groups of 4 and the germans
> 2 groups of 5. The germans kept winning, because the US never seemed
> to have enough firepower. Are large groups inherently better, because
> of firepower? I haven't analyzed the deck, but it seems that there
> may be some breakpoints to watch out for...like 7 firepower vs 11
> or 12 (meaning 9 is not really different than 7, but 11 is much better
> than 10). Any tips?

You usually want one group to be big, so that you can use the big fire cards.  How
big is big, depends on what you have to work with.  As Americans in scenario A, I
would probably set up 8-4, with the three highest morale privates and the Corporal
(#2) in B and everyone else in A.  The idea is that group A just goes to range 1 (or
possibly 2 if he can get there in the first two or three turns), then digs in and
shoots at anything that moves.  B is your "maneuver group":  eventually they may
close and fight at close range with the enemy (or if the enemy is hurting, try to
advance to range 4 and win by victory conditions); but their main job is to keep any
German group from getting to range 4 by getting in its way.  (Since the Germans have
to set up first, if their big group is at A I'd put mine at B.)

As the Germans I'd probably set up the same way, only 6-4 since they have only ten
men.  The reason it's not 8-2 is the victory conditions:  four men to range 4.

Each group should always be arranged with the heavy weapon (LMG, BAR, mortar) LAST;
any officer next-to-last; and the privates in order of highest morale first.  This
is important because shots fired against your group are always resolved in the order
you've arranged the men -- so you're giving the enemy as many chances as possible
for their weapons to break before they can hit your most important guys.  For the
same reason (and because officers tend to carry short-range weapons) I like to have
an officer (in this case the German sergeant) crew the LMG or mortar.

(Yes, I'm aware I'm misusing the word officer, but there aren't any commissioned
officers in the game, unless the Russian commissar qualifies.)

General tactics boil down to two main things:  movement and card usage.

Movement I've partly covered already.  After the first three or four turns you
should be very reluctant to move any group, unless the scenario demands it (such as
D) or you start with groups too far apart to help each other (scenario R in Banzai).
If you must move, try to do it when most of the enemy groups are themselves moving,
or stuck in Marsh or Streams, or have a lot of pinned men.  And try to have a good
terrain card in your hand _before_ you play Movement.

Most of the time you want to collect two types of cards:  Fire (if it's not so big
that you can never use it) and Rally.  Holding a Move in your hand is good too, to
get rid of Wire even though you probably don't have any intention of really moving.
Although Fire cards can seem plentiful because they tend to "run in bunches", it's
best to get maximum use out of them by waiting until an opposing group is Moving, or
until you've stuck them in bad terrain, maybe with a nice Wire or two on top... :D

The other reason to hold back Fire cards, even when you could use them, is that one
Fire 3 or 4 (final value after he Conceals) is worth about ten Fire 1s, in terms of
taking out the opponent's men.  If you get a card like "Fire 1 (1)", don't just use
it because you can!  Save it until you can combine it with a "Fire 2 (6)", and it
will be worth its weight in gold.

Unless you have a perfect hand, try to go through lots of cards, especially if you
have made more kills (and so would win on victory points (Rule 16.4) if the 3 decks
ran out soon).  If you are Germans you can always discard one per turn, no matter
what else you do; take advantage of this.  If you are Americans, discarding uses a
turn and usually shouldn't be done if you have something constructive to do, but
there are some creative ways to get rid of unplayable cards without discarding.  For
example, you can move, then play them as Open Ground.

What follows isn't exact and doesn't cover all situations, but it's a start.  Cards
at the top of this list are the ones I most want in my hand.  If I discard (or get
rid of cards in other ways) I usually want to discard the bottom-most ones.

   1.  Hero.  (Most of the time, I use a hero in order to play a big Fire card, or
       to be able to rally an important man (like my heavy weapon operator) and fire
       in the same turn.  But if we get to close range I will save it for more
       important things, such as to rally a heavy-weapon guy or officer OUT OF TURN
       when he is already pinned and is about to be shot at again.)

   2.  Fire cards, but only if I can use them (now or at a range I expect to be at
       in the next few turns).  Of course if a really good opportunity to use them
       (say a Fire 4 or better) arises, then blam!

   3.  Up to two bad terrain (Stream, Marsh, Minefield if in play) and/or Wire
       cards.  (Don't bother if your opponent is in a position where he shouldn't
       move again, except for Wire which can be played even on a non-moving group.)
       Bad terrain should be saved for where it will do the most good (that is,
       where you will be in range to blast away after he is stuck in that terrain).

       Note that playing terrain or Wire on your opponent counts as a discard, so it
       will count against your discard capability for that turn.  The terrain play
       is usually worth doing.

   4.  One big Rally (4 or greater) or two small Rally cards.

   5.  Concealed cards.  Play one ONLY if you have too many, or if the shot can kill
       or rout a man (= Fire 2 or better if you have no unpinned men).  Otherwise
       let the fool waste his ammo.  "Too many" usually means more than two, though
       if you have a small hand size (Russians or Japanese) and want to do something
       requiring multiple cards (say Move + terrain), you may have to use these up.

   6.  One Movement card, in case Wire gets put on you.  (If you plan to move, save
       every Movement card you can get, in case bad terrain gets dumped on you and
       you have to Move again.  Also save at least one good terrain card to put on
       yourself, though in a pinch Open Ground is okay at long ranges.)

   7.  Everything else:  good terrain if you don't plan to move, unusable Fire
       cards, Cower cards (such as the Pillbox and Minefield in scenario A), and
       excessive numbers of any card except Fire and possibly Concealed.

At close range a lot of this changes.  In particular, at relative range 4 or 5, I
want to save lots of Movement and Concealed cards so I can infiltrate, do Close
Combat, and get bonuses while doing so.  (For this you need all two pages of Rule
20.)

John David Galt

Subject: Re: Up Front Questions
From: "Andrew Maly" <anomaly@abs.net>

>>
>> Questions:
>> 1) Marsh. The card and the rules contradict on the numbers What is it?
>
>Oddly enough, this isn't covered by the errata at
>   http://www.abs.net/~anomaly/upfront/errata/errata.html

Actually, it is under the components page.  The card is incorrect, the
TEM for both incoming and outgoing fire is -1.

>
>> 2) When a hero card doubles an LMGs firepower, it says it doubles the
>>    bracketed number. So if the firepower is say 7[4], a hero card
>>    only makes a non-moving, crewed LMG an 8 (2*4) instead of a 7?
>
>Correct.

This is the correct interpretation.

>
>> 3) Movement card...when looking up Fire strength, you add the card
>>    underneath...if it's a movement card, do you keep going back to
>>    a terrain, or is it movement + next card only?
>
>You add the top two cards only, except that Wire doesn't count against the limit of
>two.  (Thus when there are two Movement cards, the terrain underneath doesn't count.
>In fact, it no longer has any effect on the game, except that if you remove a
>Movement card (as a result of rejecting a new terrain card) it will apply again.)

That's about as good a plain language answer as there is on the subject.