Rules Nazi Episode 1 - Tank Riders

I was originally going to do the 1st episode on shooting, but this came up in a game with Shawn and Brian the other day.  This maybe a very short episode 1, because its pretty clear, and maybe isn't done enough because people don't think of it.  Brian thought only companies named Tank Riders could ride on tanks.

Other teams BESIDES Begleit and Tankodeseantniki CAN ride on tanks.  And they don't have to be named Soviet Tank Riders, which is just the name of a company. 

Tank teams can carry up to three infantry or man-packed gun teams as tank riders.

IS-2 and Nikis

If you are playing a game length wise like in No Retreat, infantry could take a long time to get to an objective.  Mount them on your tanks and move them up fast.  They are just more vulnerable on tanks then they would be on transports.  And more so then Tankodeseantniki or Begleit riders.

Every time the tank is hit, each passenger on the tank is also hit and must make a 5+ save.  Even if the shot doesn't penetrate the armour.  And they get no save if they are hit during an assault.
Tank riders CANNOT shoot from the tank.  Just like any other transport. 


This is different then Begleit or Niki teams.  They CAN shoot from the tank, in the shooting step and in the assault step.  And they make 3+ save when hit instead of the 5+ like regular tank riders.  And in assaults hits have to be applied to nikis before the tanks.  They are kind of like a human shield I guess.  They only get these  benefits if they are the only team mounted on the tank. 

T-34 and Nikis

You have to make sure you know the difference between a soviet Tank Rider Company and Niki's.  Soviet Tank Riders are a separate Company.  If they are destroyed, they make the same moral checks and count as being destroyed for Battalion moral checks.

Niki's are part of the Tank Company.  They are an option you take with the Tank Company.  And they DO NOT count towards how many teams are destroyed when determining if the company is below half strength.  This makes soviet tank companies with Niki's (NOT a tank rider Company) extremely dangerous in Assaults, since niki's don't count towards losses and take the first hits.

But as I stated in the beginning of this post, any infantry or man-packed teams can ride on a tank.  They don't have to be called tank riders to do this.  Doing this causes them to become tank riders.