There are two types of Reaction Dice (RD) in Combat HQ:
- Firepower (FP)
- Anti-Tank (AT)
Infantry are FP targets; Armour are AT targets. While on similar scales, they do vary.
Infantry RD are morale-based. Armour RD are morale + armour.
Armour can’t be affected by FP. Infantry can’t be affected by AT.
When an M4 75mm fires it makes no difference as both its AT and FP are 7D.
A Tiger II has FP: 6D and AT: 11D. While it can really dent an M4, it has less chance of hitting infantry than the M4.
RD & Morale
Morale forms the base of the Reaction Dice calculation. Regulars have a base Reaction of 4D, so most infantry units have a Reaction of 4D. Armour units are similar, but Reaction is increased the more armour a unit has. But no matter how good the armour is, there is always a chance that the unit can panic under fire. A 57mm gun has little chance of penetrating a Tiger II’s armour, but tank crews don’t always know what’s hitting them.
The M4 75mm has 7D AT vs the Tiger II’s Reaction of 12D/11D. On average, at effective range, the M4 scores 3-4 hits vs the Tiger’s 6 successes. Most of the time, the M4 platoon has no effect. However., if the M4 platoon rolls three successes; and the Tiger II platoon rolls none, the Tiger II platoon is dispersed. The Tiger II crews panic and bail-out or they slam their tanks into reverse and rout. It’s often glancing rounds and jammed turrets that cause tank crews to fall back, not the wholesale destruction of vehicles. Either way, the Tiger II platoon is out of the game.
The Tiger II platoon has AT 11D vs the M4 platoon’s Reaction of 6D. With an average five or six hits vs three, the Tiger II easily wins most of the time. If the M4 platoon can get to short-range with a 3+ TN, it has more chance of hitting the Tiger II as its average hits rise to five. But the Tiger II is still shrugging off most of the damage. If the M4 platoon manages to get a flank or rear attack at short range, it hits on 2+ TN. With luck, all 7 of its dice will score hits.
Suppression
Suppression also plays a big part. Once a unit becomes suppressed, it can’t fire and its Reaction is increased to 5+ TN. Hit in the flank/rear, the Tiger II platoon’s sloped armour gives it a Reaction of 11D for an average of four successes. It can be in big trouble as seven hits will Disperse it. With morale forming part of Reaction, it’s always possible for the smaller tanks to beat the big tanks.
