pre-designated Close Combat dice roll per

player turn.

6. CLOSE COMBAT
6.1 Basic Close Combat Resolution
6.1.1 20.1 Close Combat is an alternate type
of fighting which can occur only during the
Close Combat Phase between opposing units in
the same hex. There are no terrain
modifications to Close Combat dice rolls.
6.1.2 20.2 Unlike regular Fire Combat, Close
Combat is considered simultaneous and both
sides fire on the other-even if one or both sides
is eliminated by opposing fire (Exceptions: poor
visibility, Partisans, concealed counters)
6.1.3 20.3 In Close Combat, the firepower
factors of attacking Units are compared to the
firepower factor of the enemy units being
attacked in order to arrive at a ratio of attack to
defence strength known as odds. For example,
if two 6-2-8 squads attack a 4-6-7 squad the
odds would be 12-4 or 3-1. Fractions are always
rounded down in favour of the defender. Once
odds are determined the Close Combat Table on
the Quick Reference Data Chart is consulted to
determine the Kill Number for those odds. If the
Kill Number or lower is rolled the attacked units
are eliminated. The dice must be re-rolled for
each separate Close Combat attack.
6.1.4 20.4 You may divide your Close Combat
attacks in any manner you wish so long as no
unit attacks more than once per Close Combat
Phase. You may attack all or only some of the
enemy units in the hex. You may combine all
your Close Combat into one attack or break it
down into smaller combats. All Close Combat
attacks must be designated prior to any Close
Combat dice rolls.
6.1.5 20.5 LMGs are the only support
weapons which can be used In Close Combat.
They add to the firepower of an attacking unit
but are not included in the firepower of a
defending unit when determining Close Combat
odds. LMGs have no penetration factor when
utilized in Close Combat.

6.1.8 20.71 If at the end of the Close

Combat Phase, all friendly squads which
started the phase in the hex are eliminated,
then any leader units in the hex are
eliminated also.
6.1.9 20.72 A leader which begins the
Close Combat Phase alone in a hex with
enemy units is given a nominal firepower
attack and defence strength of 1. The leader
may not use both his nominal firepower
strength and man a LMG, but his leadership
modifier does affect his Close Combat
Attack dice roll.
6.1.10 142.6 Pinned units in CC have their
FP halved for offence only. They still defend
in CC with their normal inherent FP.
20.1 Does smoke affect Close Combat?
A. No. {COI4-68}
20.4 May a unit be attacked more than once per
player turn in Close Combat?
A. Yes, but all such attacks must be pre-designated.
{14.5-34}{COI4-68}
20.4 & 73.5 Suppose a Close Combat attack is
made against both a CE (exhausted) and non-CE
unit. Would the -1 DRM apply to both units?
A. No - the DRM would only apply to the CE unit.
Assume the dice roll is a '6'; the CE unit would be
attacked by a '5' dice roll, the other unit by a '6', even
though there was only one dice roll. The same logic
would be applied to IFT attacks on combination CEnon CE targets. {16.1-34}{COI4-38}{COD-104}
20.5 Is the firepower of a LMG doubled in Close
Combat?
A. No. {16.1-34}{COI4-38}{COD-104}
20.6 Can a leader in a melee use its leadership
DRM defensively to worsen an opponent's attack?
A. No -leadership DRMs can be used only to
improve your own fire. {COI4-38}{COD-104}

6.1.6 20.6 The leadership modifiers of each

leader in the same hex may be applied to one

Squad Leader Classic

6.1.7 20.7 Close Combat attacks may not

be made against a leader unless the leader
began the Phase as the only enemy unit in
the hex.

F-1

4/3/2004

20.72 Suppose two or more leaders are alone in a hex

with enemy squads in Close Combat. Do they each have
a "nominal" strength of 1?
A. No - together they would have nominal defence
strength of 1. Of course, if they had a LMG, they could
man it at full effect for an attack strength of 2. {COI4-68}

6.2 Visibility Effects

6.2.1 158.1 The moving player who has just
advanced into CC may deduct 1 from his CC
attack DR's only during the player turn he
advanced into CC for any one condition which
lessens visibility in the CC hex (smoke of any
kind, night, fog). Advancing reinforcing units in
subsequent turns would not be eligible for this
DRM as long as the melee persists. Units in
melee with a smoke making capability may
attempt to place smoke during their PFPh, but
may place it only in their own hex.

6.3 Melee
6.3.1 20.8 If units of both sides remain in the
hex after all Close Combat attacks have been
executed, those Units are "locked in melee" and
may not leave the hex until one side or the other
has been completely eliminated.

6.3.6.1 158.21 If the declared withdrawing

unit is not eliminated or captured, it is
placed at the end of that CCPh in any
adjacent hex free of enemy units that it
could normally reach were it moving in its
APh.
6.3.6.2 158.22 Units withdrawing from
melee may carry SW's, etc. (move
prisoners, horses, wounded, or SW's during
that CCPh) in excess of their IPC only by
increasing their vulnerability. Non-broken
withdrawing units may attempt to take their
wounded and SW's with them when they
withdraw, but do so at the expense of an
additional -1 DRM per PP taken in excess of
their IPC.

6.3.2 20.81 Units locked in melee cannot fire

out of the hex during any subsequent Fire
Phase, or conduct any other activity other than
Close Combat.
6.3.3 20.82 New units may be brought into
the melee hex within the limits of stacking
during their Advance Phase.
6.3.4 20.83 The melee hex may be fired on
usi ng Fire Combat from units outside the hex
but such fire affects both friendly and enemy
units alike.
6.3.5 20.84 As long as a melee exists in a hex
no support weapons can be captured in that
hex.

6.3.6.3 158.23 Partisans do not suffer the -2

DRM for CC withdrawal provided they
qualified for the first-attack advantage of an
ambush, and they make their withdrawal
attempt in the first CCPh following their
ambush attack.
6.3.6.4 158.24 Units withdrawing from/into
a minefield or into a booby trap hex are
immediately attacked by those devices with
no chance for booby trap disarmament.

6.3.6 158.2 WITHDRAWAL FROM MELEE:

Any non-berserk unit engaged in melee
(Exception: melee inside a bunker with enemy
units outside the bunker) may attempt to
withdraw from melee into an adjacent non-

Squad Leader Classic

enemy occupied hex by announcing its

intention to do so at the start of the CCPh
before attacks are designated. Withdrawing
units may not make CC attacks.
Withdrawing units are subject to a -2 DRM
to all CC attacks made against them during
that CCPh. The withdrawal DRM is only -1 if
any visibility hindrance is present in the
melee hex. The withdrawal DRM could be
favourably modified by adding a +1 DRM for
every friendly, unbroken unit in the CC that
is not attempting to withdraw. If the
withdrawing unit is a leader/hero, it may be
attacked in CC as a separate target with a
defence strength of 1 - unless it is
withdrawing with a MMC, in which case it
shares the fate of that unit. If there is more
than one such unit, the leader may secretly
choose the one it will be considered part of
prior to any resolution of CC during that
turn.

F-2

4/3/2004

6.3.7 158.5 Mounted cavalry, cyclists of all

kinds, vehicle passengers, and even skiers who
survive their initial round of CC are not required
to remain in melee. These units have the choice
of dismounting and remaining in melee without
their prior handicap, or moving out of the melee
hex in their mounted mode normally during
their next MPh. Should they dismount, their
form of conveyance remains in the melee hex
with them and is subject to capture (Exception:
AFV's are not subject to capture and are free to
leave the melee hex in their MPh). Should no
friendly units remain behind to keep the enemy
in melee, those enemy units are freed from
melee and may DF on the exiting units in the
adjacent hex.

subsequent RtPh. Broken units may never

attack.

6.5 Cowering
6.5.1 121.2 All IFT or Close Combat
attacks which derive any portion of their
firepower total from the inherent firepower
of a squad or crew may be adversely
affected due to that unit's partial failure to
fire under stress. If the IFT or Close Combat
resolution dice roll, prior to any
modification, results in "doubles" (same
number on both die) the attack is executed
on the next lower column of the IFT or
Close Combat tables UNLESS a leader
(even a '0' or' +'leader) is directing that fire.

20.8 & 59.6 Assume spreading fire reaches a hex in

which opposing units are locked in melee. Can they each
go to a separate hex and break the melee?
A. No - 20.8 takes precedence. They cannot leave the
hex while in melee and are consequently eliminated.
{COI4-68}
20.81 & 89.3 Can a Russian squad locked in melee
eliminate its prisoners?
A. No. {COI4-38}{COD-104}
20.83 & 20.9 Suppose four squads (2 Russian and 2
German) are locked in melee and during the Russian
Prep Fire Phase outside fire into the melee hex breaks
both Germans and one of the Russian squads. What
happens?
A. The broken Russian squad is eliminated, the two
German squads are either eliminated or captured at the
Russian's option and the good order Russian squad is
free to move or fire as if it had started the phase alone in
the hex. {COI4-38}{COD-104}

6.4 Broken Units in Melee

6.4.1 158.3 A broken unit in the same hex
with an enemy unit is not automatically
captured/eliminated. Broken units may be
attacked in CC and are subject to a -2 DRM to
the CC DR. Broken units in melee may not rout
during the RtPh, but they must attempt to
withdraw from melee. (Note that a "melee" does
not exist until both sides end a CCPh in the
same hex.) Broken units may withdraw into any
adjacent hex in the same manner as above, but
once there normal rout rules would apply in any

Squad Leader Classic

F-3

4/3/2004