The actual distance between town A and town B is 187.2 miles.
To find the actual distance between the towns, we need to use the given scale. The scale states that 1 cm on the map represents 12 miles in reality. Therefore, to find the actual distance, we need to multiply the length on the map by the scale factor.
So, the actual distance between towns A and B is 15.6 cm * 12 miles/cm = 187.2 miles.
Therefore, the correct answer is A) 187.2 miles.