Slitherine

Here's my understanding of when close defence is used:

First , INFANTRY must be involved (Armor vs armor never uses close defence regardless of terrain or if ambushing another armored unit).

Second, an ambush will force a unit to use its close defence value IF THE AMBUSHING UNIT IS AN INFANTRY TYPE (i.e. Blundering into an armored unit WILL trigger an ambush, but will not force the ambushed unit to use its close defence value.)

Now, if I'm correct in my assumptions (I know what assuming can do ), I think the last sentence on Close defence (pg25 of manual, "Also, Close Defence is used if the unit is ambushed by the enemy.") should read: Also close defence is used if A unit is ambushed by ENEMY INFANTRY, regardless of terrain.

I guess if you ambush in a city, there is an abstraction of the battle that takes place one hex adjacant to the city, unless it's infantry that let them move INTO the city first before opening fire?

Here's my understanding of when close defence is used (I like to think of it as "forced")

Only infantry can force close defence.

Infantry vs Infantry "normal attack" (i.e. no ambush) - BOTH attacker and Defender use close defence if the defending infantry occupies non-clear terrain (Forrest, city, etc.). Combat occurs in the defenders hex.

Infantry vs Infantry "ambush" (i.e. trying to move into a hex containing un-spotted Infantry, All terrain types - Only the MOVING Infantry is forced to use close defence. The defender (i.e. the guys who sprung the ambush) use ground defence. Combat occurs in the defenders hex.

Please note - These are my conclusions from playtesting and may very well be incorrect! If they are, hopefully someone will point out the errors in my thinking. Also we are only discussing when close defence is forced / used, not the other (substantial) benefits an ambushing unit receives (Increased defence, reduced iniative for the attacker, etc.).