The Hereros can use what the
Germans called ‘schnellfeuer’, i.e., fast fire. ‘Schnellfeuer’ gives the entire Herero force twice as
much firepower, at the cost of not shooting the next turn and giving up
concealment.
A) When the first Herero firing card is drawn during the Fire Phase, the Hereros
announce that they are going to use ‘schnellfeuer’. The entire Herero force gets to fire on that one card.
B) All Herero units that have line of sight to a German target must fire, and each unit fires twice as many as dice as it normally would, but with a -1 penalty.
C) If a firing Herero unit is hidden, it must be revealed to the Germans as soon as it fires.
D) After all Herero units that have line of sight have fired and been revealed to the Germans, any Herero units that are still hidden - i.e., units that didn’t fire or decoys - are revealed to the Germans; they are assumed to have been illuminated by the muzzle flashes of their rapidly-firing neighbors (however, see EXCEPTIONS to A) to E) below).
E) No Herero units can fire the next turn (that next turn is spent reloading).
(however, see EXCEPTIONS to A) to E) below)
F) A Herero unit revealed by ‘schnellfeuer’
may choose to become
concealed again the next turn, i.e., the turn that it is reloading, if it does
not move. The unit is removed from the board and 2 or 3 new blanks are put down
in its place.
G) Herero units that charge the
turn after they ‘schnellfeuer’ can still reload.
COMMENT: Alternating firefights
with massive charges was a standard Herero tactic. Therefore the Herero players
might want to use ‘schnellfeuer’ to soften up the Germans, and then charge the Germans the
next turn.
EXCEPTIONS
to A) to E):
H) Up to
3 Herero units/decoys or up to ¼ of one’s force, rounded down (whichever number
is less, 3 units/decoys or ¼ the force, rounded down) need not be revealed if
they no line of sight to a German target, e.g., Herero units that are behind
the firing line and deeper in the bush. In the next turn, those previously
unfired units may fire normally - i.e., regular number of dice, no ‘schnellfeuer’ - if they now have targets.
I) If your Herero force is divided into two large and distinct subgroups, e.g., forces north and south of a river bed, it’s perfectly OK for one group to ‘schnellfeuer’ while the other does not. The ‘schnellfeuer’ group uses the first Herero firing card drawn during the Fire Phase.
Under no circumstances can schnellfeuer take place two turns in a row! So you can’t have the North force schnellfeuer Turn 1 and then the South force schnellfeuer Turn 2. Think of schnellfeuer as an all or nothing deal, where you give up flexibility and concealment for lots of extra firepower!