9. PARATROOP LANDINGS

9.1 AIR DROP: Paratroops can be dropped in a scenario only if the weather is Clear, Mud, Mist, Gusty, or Snow (not Falling Snow). Wind Direction is established (B25.64) even if there is no wind. Paratroops entering play via air drop are virtually helpless during and immediately after their descent²³, and consequently forfeit their normal capabilities during the Player Turn in which they are dropped [EXC: CCPh]. Paratroops may not fire, move, advance, direct/assist/affect other units until they have removed their parachutes during their APh (9.6). Until then, each paratroop unit remains offboard and is represented solely by the parachute counter with the ID that matches the Cloaking BOX it is in.

⅝" parachutes can be purchased for a DYO OB (H1.2) at a cost of two extra points per elite MMC purchased. Indicate this on the Roster by recording in the "MPV ea" column the MMC's BPV (first adjusted as per H1.22-.24, if applicable) increased by two, and by recording "P" in the "A/B" column of the same line. ½" parachutes have zero BPV, but only one per item to be separately air-dropped can be used.

9.11 WINGS & STICKS: All paratroop forces to be dropped in the current Player Turn are divided into groups of five Sticks called Wings. Each Stick is composed of one ⅝" parachute counter and up to one ½" parachute counter. Only one Wing in a Player Turn's air drop can be composed of less than five Sticks. Each Stick can consist of a maximum of one squad (or its equivalent), one SMC, and one separate SW. All Personnel in a Stick are represented by, and dropped as, an inherent part of that parachute, and have their identity as a component part of that parachute secretly recorded. Use of the Cloaking Counter Display Boxes on the Chapter E/K Divider is suggested to avoid written records. Air-dropped Personnel and weapons do not take their actual counter form until their parachute is removed from play; consequently, leaders have no leadership capabilities until they appear during their APh (9.6). All SW (including dm76-82mm mortars) can be dropped by parachute, but must be dm if possible. A SW, although part of its Stick, is represented by a ½" parachute which is placed onboard above the Stick's ⅝" parachute until Drift is resolved. Each SW remains in the Cloaking Box that matches its parachute ID until Recovered. A parachute serves only to mask the identity and provide a common Morale Level for its "occupants"; it does not render them concealed in any way. Air-dropped pieces cannot enter play concealed/Cloaked (an exception to A12.12) except possibly as a result of an offboard landing (9.41). Q&A

9.12 DROP POINT: Prior to scenario setup, each Wing secretly predesignates a Drop Point in the form of a whole hex somewhere on the playing surface and the hexgrain direction they will all share. Each Drop Point must be at least five hexes from all other predesignated Drop Points. Following setup, during the RPh of their entry Player Turn, the ATTACKER makes a dr (Δ) for each Wing. If the dr is a 1-3 the predesignated Drop Point is used. If the dr is a 4-6, the final Drop Point is determined by Random Selection to determine the board (including the originally chosen board, and re-rolling any tie dr) and the Drift Placement procedure (3.75) is used to determine the Drop Point on or near that board. With the Drop Points of all Wings thus determined, each Wing places a Stick on the Drop Point, and then places two Sticks on each side of that Drop Point along the same Hex Grain so that there is an uninterrupted line of parachutes five hexes long for each Wing with the Drop Point in the center of that line. Q&A

9.2 DRIFT: All Sticks are subject to drift during the MPh even if there is no wind. This is done by making a Random Location DR (here termed a Drift DR) for each parachute [EXC: Germans halve the white dr (FRU) while Russians increase it by 50% (FRD), prior to any Wind adjustment]²⁴. All Personnel in the same Stick drift together in the same parachute. Each Aerial SW takes its own Drift DR and drifts separately [EXC: British paratroopers retain possession of (i.e., drop with) their LMG, light mortar, and radio counters, while U.S. paratroopers retain their light mortars; they are therefore placed in the Cloaking Box with the possessing Personnel]. Each parachute's drift is then adjusted for wind (if any) direction and strength by being moved two hexes directly downwind for a Mild Breeze, three hexes thusly during Gusts, or four hexes thusly during Heavy Winds. See Clarification.

EX: The Drop Point of U.S. Stick "A" is 4K5. A Mild Breeze is blowing northeast as shown. The Drift DR of the Personnel in Stick "A" was 8 (5 on the colored dr), which results in the ⅝" parachute drifting to H6. The Drift DR of Stick "A"'s SW was 8 (6 on the colored dr), resulting in the ½" parachute drifting to J4. The Mild Breeze then causes both to drift two hexes farther to the northeast, into J5 and K3 respectively.

9.3 DEFENSIVE FIRST FIRE: After the Drift of all parachutes has been resolved, the DEFENDER may use Defensive First Fire and Subsequent First Fire vs them - even if they have drifted offboard (9.41). Aerial paratroops are subject to Hazardous Movement DRM, and can claim neither Height Advantage, TEM, concealment (9.11), nor any Hindrance other than LV/SMOKE (E.6). Hazardous Movement DRM even apply to an attack (only) on an Aerial SW in an attempt to destroy/malfunction it (A9.74) although such attacks will usually be caused by mistaken identity due to Random Selection. Although all Aerial paratroops are considered moving simultaneously, First Fire/Subsequent First Fire vs them can affect the contents of only one (barring a Random Selection tie dr) Aerial parachute regardless of the number of them in a hex. No Aerial target can be attacked twice in the same hex by the same firer (7.51), nor does fire vs Aerial targets leave Residual FP. While represented by a parachute counter, paratroopers do not take PTC, and are not subject to Pin/Heat of Battle results. See Clarification.

EX: A crew, 3-4-7 HS, and 9-1 compose Stick "A". A 4-6-7 two hexes way fires at the descending parachute with four FP and rolls an Original 4 DR, resulting in a K/2. Random Selection (due to a tie dr) results in the crew and the leader (by failing its Wound Severity dr) being eliminated; the HS takes a 2MC and passes. The leader and crew pieces are removed from the A Cloaking Box and four victory Points are recorded on the Casualty Track of the Scenario Aid Card. When the parachute is removed during the APh, it will be exchanged for the Good Order 3-4-7 HS. The HS is not affected by the elimination of the leader.

9.31 LOS: A unit has a LOS (7.25) to Aerial paratroops unless it is in a Blind Hex created by an adjacent full-level obstacle between it and the parachute, or is in a pillbox, or has insufficient NVR, or encounters a combination of SMOKE/LV/LOS Hindrances ≥6.

9.32 ELIGIBLE FIRERS & SNIPERS: Only Small Arms and Light AA (7.51) weapons can Defensive First Fire/Subsequent First Fire vs Aerial paratroops. No To Hit DR, Sniper attack, or Fire Lane is allowed vs Aerial targets. Paratroop/glider snipers may not attack until the Game Turn their side starts with Infantry onboard (not in Aerial status above it).

9.33 RESOLUTION: When a Stick takes a MC/TC it does so for all of its Personnel contents, and they all pass or fail based on a single MC DR regardless of the number of component units (or their morale) represented therein. The entire Stick checks morale based on a Morale Level of 7 - whether broken or not. Represent a broken Stick by flipping the contents of the appropriate Cloaking Box to their broken sides and placing a DM counter in the Cloaking Box. If a Stick suffers Casualty Reduction, Random Selection is used to determine which inherent crew/HS/SMC has been eliminated/wounded; any remaining components of that Stick pass or fail their MC uniformly, using the 7 Morale Level of their parachute.

9.4 LANDING: After all Defensive/Subsequent First Fire vs Aerial paratroops has ended, unbroken Aerial paratroops (not separate SW) may move one hex in any direction [EXC: Germans²⁴ ]. All parachutes then land at the Base Level of their current hex. [EXC: If that hex contains a bridge (not a foot bridge), it lands on the bridge on a dr of 1 or 2 (dr 1 if a one-lane bridge); otherwise it lands IN the hex. There is a -1 drm to this dr if the unit is unbroken.] Units/SW landing in a Blaze, non-frozen Water Obstacle, or deep/flooded stream are eliminated. All ½" parachutes are then flipped over; thereafter neither player may check the identity of that parachute until it has been Recovered. See Clarification.

9.41 OFFBOARD LANDING: If a unit/weapon lands offboard, it is not removed from play unless eliminated (9.42). The reversed-terrain-order technique of 8.221 is used to determine which units are broken/eliminated as a result of their offboard landing and such units count towards Casualty Victory conditions only if eliminated. Temporarily butt any unused board up to the board edge the unit drifted off of to measure the distance (in hexes) it landed off the playing area. An unbroken unit may move one offboard hex per friendly MPh (regardless of terrain) until it reaches the "live" board edge where it must enter normally in its next MPh/APh. The offboard unit can advance in its APh only to enter the "live" board. Broken offboard units may rally normally but may not move/rout until rallied. Offboard SW/Guns maybe Recovered normally, but only by units that land offboard.

9.42 INJURIES: A ⅝" parachute landing in a woods, forest-road, crag, building, shallow stream, vineyard, cactus patch, olive grove, Jungle (see G2.213), Bamboo, Swamp (see G7.32), Irrigated Rice Paddies, or marsh hex²⁵ must take an immediate NMC (Δ) using the 7 Morale Level of their parachute (9.33). One landing in an Interior Building Hex takes a NMC, then moves one hex directly downwind to another building hex where it takes another NMC, and so on until its contents are either eliminated or it reaches a non-Interior Building Hex, at the Base Level of which it lands. All other ⅝" parachutes must take an immediate NTC (Δ) upon landing, still using its 7 Morale. A Stick that fails its NTC automatically Deploys into its component HS [EXC: If a Stick contains a SMC/crew, those units are revealed at this time with/in place of any component HS]; one HS (and perhaps any accompanying SMC, determined by Random Selection if necessary) is moved to the next hex directly downwind, but need not take any further landing MC/TC - although it is eliminated if placed in a Blaze, non-frozen Water Obstacle, or flooded stream. The level of Landing MC/TC required is increased by one (i.e., 1MC/1TC) if the unit lands during a Mild Breeze, or by two if it lands during a Heavy Wind/Gust. See Clarification.

9.43 FINAL FIRE: After all landing DR have been resolved, paratroops are subject to Final Fire using normal LOS and fire rules vs ground targets. Any paratroops in the same Location with enemy Infantry must be attacked by those units using TPBF (A8.312), even if the paratroops are already broken/Disrupted; mark the survivors with a CC counter. Broken DEFENDER (only) units may rout from the hex during the RtPh because they have not yet engaged in CC. See Clarification.

9.5 AFPh/RtPh: Paratroops may not attack or rout, and are not subject to rout rules (including Surrender/Failure to Rout) while still represented by parachutes.

9.6 APh: Paratroops may not advance during the APh. Instead, all [EXC: those that have already Deployed; 9.42] just-dropped ⅝" parachutes are removed, and their component units are placed onboard with their normal capabilities restored. A Stick's inherent leader who was eliminated/broken prior to this point does not cause any LLMC/LLTC.

9.7 PRE-1942 GERMAN PARADROPS²⁶: German paradrops prior to 1942 are made with Sticks containing partially-armed 5-4-8/2-3-8/2-2-8 squads/HS/crews. This partially-armed state is shown by placing any unused systems counter (Acquisition counters are recommended if not otherwise needed) over such a MMC. This systems counter gives the MMC a Strength Factor of 2-2-8 {8} if a squad, 1-2-8 {7} if a HS, or 1-2-8 {8} if a crew {broken morale level given in brackets}. However, at the end of every friendly MPh in which a Good Order partially-armed German MMC moves to another hex it may attempt to locate an arms canister by making a dr (Δ) ≤ 1. This dr is subject to a -1 drm for every different hex entered during that MPh and a +1 drm if CX. If the MMC succeeds, its systems counter is removed and it is treated as a normal MMC thereafter. For Battlefield Integrity purposes, German paratroops dropped in this manner retain their fully-armed BPV. See Clarification.