ASL Side Chat – Infantry Bypass Basics

Infantry Bypass is a way for unbroken Infantry to move through a building/woods hex without paying to enter the obstacle Location, by skirting the obstacle along a hexside the building/woods depiction does not touch (if there’s any doubt it touches, that hexside can’t be bypassed). It’s limited to buildings/woods only and isn’t allowed if the obstacle is ablaze or contains an armed, non-Disrupted Known Enemy Unit. (A4.3)

You’re expected to state MF expenditures as you go and declare the bypass side(s) when you enter the hex. Normally, you bypass one or two contiguous unblocked hexsides, paying the cost of the non-obstacle terrain in the hex (usually Open Ground) rather than the obstacle entry cost; if you bypass more than two hexsides in that same hex, the bypass cost is doubled. (A4.2, A4.31)

You generally can’t voluntarily end your movement “in bypass”; to stop in that hex voluntarily, you must pay to enter the obstacle. If you become Broken/Pinned while bypassing, you’re treated as in the open portion (still exposed to fire) for the rest of that MPh, and then are considered in the obstacle at MPh end/for Final Fire TEM purposes. (A4.32–A4.33)

I’ve distilled the bypass rules into (hopefully) plain English, that can be used by both full ASL players and ASLSK players:

Bypass enables unbroken Infantry to move through building or woods hex without entering the obstacle in that hex. Instead, the movement takes place along one or two connected hexsides of that hex, and the movement cost becomes that of the other terrain in the hex, usually one MF for Open Ground. Bypass is not allowed if the hex contains an enemy unit, or if any part of the obstacle depiction touches a hexside (or hexside terrain feature) being Bypassed. Bypass must be announced when entering the hex. An Infantry unit may not voluntarily end its move in a state of Bypass. A unit that voluntarily decides to occupy an obstacle it is currently Bypassing must pay the entire MF cost to enter that obstacle even though it is already in the hex. Bypass does not prevent placement of a DC.

A unit firing at a Bypassing unit does not have to trace its LOS to the target hex center, and may instead trace to either of the hex vertices along any hexside traversed by that unit. Since a Bypassing unit is considered moving, FFNAM and FFMO usually apply.

A unit that breaks/pins while using Bypass remains in the non-obstacle portion of the hex for additional First Fire attacks made against it until the end of its MPh. If broken, FFNAM and FFMO may apply for such attacks. After its MPh, the broken/pinned unit and all portaged equipment are considered in the Bypassed obstacle itself and entitled to its protective TEM for all subsequent fire.

If you’re a Starter Kit player, go ahead and give it a try in your next game to see how it feels. It really opens up options, especially for the attacking player.

Academy Out!

GET TO THE CHOPPA…!!!

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