1. 1.321 RESTRICTED SLOW TRAVERSE (RST): An AFV with a Two-Man turret was at a marked tactical disadvantage in combat; the commander's need to divide his attention between directing his crew and serving the Gun resulted in lowered efficiency in both roles. Italian and Russian AFV aggravated this defect by using the commander as the gunner rather than as the loader, with the result that whenever he was unbuttoned to properly direct the AFV or to gain a better view of his situation, the Gun could not be fired at all. This explains much of the relative ineffectiveness of the masses of tanks which the Red Army fielded in 1941. Prior to the war only the Germans and British had grasped the fact that an undistracted commander (as well as a radio) was necessary for the efficient use of a battle tank. The One-Man turrets of French tanks aggravated their situation even more. Most tanks with these drawbacks are represented by having ST and a lower ROF, and thus require no special rules.
2. 1.6 ARMOR FACTOR: The AF represents the average effective armor thickness in cm of that target Facing and aspect, weighted to take Slope into account. A 0 AF actually represents < one cm of armor, while a 1 AF represents 1-1.5 cm.
3. 2.401 MOTION STATUS: The ability to declare Motion status during the opponent's MPh addresses the issue of a fast defender which is forced to sit and watch while a slower but more heavily armed AFV moves next to it before firing. In reality, the lightly armed vehicle would use its speed to move away as soon as an enemy AFV was observed. While this rule does not prevent the ATTACKER from using the turn sequence to artificially cut down the range to such a would-be fleeing target, it does negate some of those advantages by putting the vehicle in Motion, thereby making it not subject to the Point Blank Range To Hit DRM (Case L) and increasing its chances of escape by allowing it to move in its MPh without first expending a MP to start/
4. 2.5 ESB: Tracked vehicles were capable of greater speeds than their MP allotment represents, reflecting a driver's reluctance to punish his vehicle at top speed for fear of mechanical breakdown or throwing a track - especially after long periods in the field without proper maintenance.
5. 2.51 MECHANICAL RELIABILITY: While most AFV could be expected to function normally within the time span of an average ASL scenario, others were inherently more susceptible to frequent and unexpected mechanical failures usually due to overstressed/
6. 3.5 VEHICULAR MG/
7. 3.71 LOW AMMO B#: Most vehicles with extremely limited ammunition loads were not intended for use in Direct Fire situations such as are most commonly depicted in ASL. Such vehicles are usually a source of OBA, where their ammunition needs are handled by supporting supply trucks. More detailed rules for the use of ammunition vehicles and replenishment of ammunition during play will ultimately be provided in Chapter H.
8. 6.8 CARRIERS: The British Army did not have a halftrack as such, aside from the Lend Lease M-5 and its variants. Far more common in Commonwealth service were the Universal, Loyd, and Bren Carriers. These tracked, armored vehicles were mass-produced by a variety of manufacturers in many different armament versions, and were invariably referred to as Carriers. Carrier "crews" were primarily mechanized infantry forming an integral part of the infantry battalions in the British Army. Each battalion HQ Company contained one Carrier platoon of 64 men and 13 Carriers, which functioned as a mobile assault or reserve unit.
9. 7.11 FP: Ordnance is given little weight in calculating the FP of an OVR attack because it is of little value in the close-quarter fighting reflected by an OVR. The vehicle depends primarily on its movement, imposing presence, and secondary armament firing on targets of opportunity for its lethality. Most OVR situations would not leave the vehicle with time to bring its MA to bear against targets at such close range and probably in full flight, nor might the vehicle commander be willing to stop his vehicle long enough to aim in such close proximity to enemy Infantry without escorting Infantry of his own.
10. 7.15 OVR TEM: The -1 FFMO DRM is applied to the defender in an OVR in Open Ground because it is likely that all but the most seasoned troops will panic and move about when enemy armor is in their midst if they have no cover to hide in. Similarly, the TEM for walls/
11. 9.3 AFV/
12. 11.1 GYROSTABILIZER: The Gyrostabilizer was a revolutionary feature found only in certain AFV of U.S. manufacture, commencing with the M3A1 light tank. This device allowed the Gun to maintain its aim in elevation regardless of the terrain traversed. Other tanks of the period required much longer to re-acquire a target after movement, thus presenting an easier target for return fire. However, many tank commanders disconnected their Stabilizers, preferring to halt before aiming the MA; this was due both to the danger the unpredictably moving breech presented to the turret crew, and to the difficulty in reloading the Gun when both it and the tank were moving. For this reason, players who feel Gyrostabilizers pose too strong an advantage may wish to consider lowering by one the Multiple ROF of all guns so equipped. Allowing every AFV equipped with a Gyrostabilizer the full benefit of a Gyrostabilizer is therefore arguably unrealistic as many crews were not proficient in its use and found it overly complicated and time consuming.
13. 16.1 DD TANKS: Although other tanks pioneered the DD (Duplex Drive) principle, it was the Sherman that used it in action. The vehicle was water-proofed and fitted with a collapsible canvas screen around the hull sides, thus displacing enough water to keep it afloat even though the vehicle itself was suspended below the water's surface. Both propellers and tracks were driven simultaneously, enabling the vehicle to engage the land transport mode instantly upon contact with the shore.
14. 17. AEROSANS: The Soviets were using the Aerosan for military purposes by 1920, and it saw action in the Winter War in Finland and across the Soviet Union as far as Stalingrad into mid-1944. The ski-mounted, fan-propelled Aerosan could not be represented using any of the five existing movement types (1.1), so adding it required the introduction of a new type (AS) - a step not taken lightly.
15. 17.3 RIDERS: To distinguish between Passengers and Riders on the same Aerosan, players may wish to place Riders on a CX counter or other, unused system counter.