This will be more litigious and argumentative than I normally am. (I hear some people ducking for cover.) I'm using the
Jadgpanzer IV/70 for an example, but is applicable to anything ID'd as a tank destroyer on the site.
Last 2 points in Relevant AFV rules Wrote:- Closed-top AFV's: Provide the +1 modifier on the Assault Table when combined with infantry. (Modifier only applies to Germans in all scenarios; Soviet Guards in scenarios taking place after 1942; Polish, US and Commonwealth in scenarios taking place after 1943.) (ACC)
- Tank Destroyer: do not provide the +1 Assault bonus, even if closed-top (SB)
I am assuming ACC is "Assault Combat Chart". Is SB "Scenario Book"? I'm going to assume it is until further information comes to light. So, going through in production games.
Tank destroyers specified with rules: Elsenborn Ridge (GSRs 4 & 6), Spearhead Div (GSRs 4 & 6), Road to Dunkirk (GSR 5), Fall of France (GSRs 4 & 7), South Flank (GSRs 6 & 9) and Liberation '44 (GSRs 4 & 6). No problem, falls into relevant AFV rules nicely.
Tank destroyers specified without rules: An Army at Dawn (GSR 5), Invasion '44 (no TDs), Burning Tigers (GSR 10), Dishonor Before Death (GSR 9) and Blackshirt Div (GSR 5). Here is where the distinction without a difference problem comes up. Most games get around the issue on the technicality that the TD's are open-topped. So why is it pointed out that the units are tank destroyers? There is no game relevance, but there is a game rule.
No tank destroyers specified: Saipan '44, Broken Axis, Conquest of Ethiopia, Deluge, Fire in the Steppe, Lithuania's Iron Wolves, Marianas '44, Parachutes Over Crete, Britain's Battle of the Bulge, Armata Romana, Afrika '44 and 49th Mountain Corps. There is a hodge-podge of reasons here. In some there are no tank destroyers. Others have open-topped tank destroyers, which are not identified as such. (Why would you?) Lastly a couple seem to rely on the games which they expand, but don't say they are doing so.
All-in-all, it looks confusing for new players, and I suspect some solo players have missed the distinction at times. Sorry Robin, I don't think most players are going to PG unit list when there is a question, they go to the rules and game books. I personally abhor a distinction without a difference. I also have new players to play with and I need to point to rules in their books for their understanding.
