[NetEpic ML] REPOST: Artillery Notebook

From: Tzeentch <tzeentch666_at_...>
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 18:45:09 -0800

Heres another blast from the past you might be interested in.... Feedback is
GREATLY appreciated...
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NETEPIC ARTILLERY NOTEBOOK

ARTILLERY V3.0

Artillery Classes
  Under these rules all artillery types are grouped into three general
categories. These three categories are then broken up by guidance type (or
lack thereof).

--Categories--
Tube
Rocket
Drone

*Tube - This represents the vast majority of artillery types and encompases
most varieties of howitzers, railgun artillery and even weapons such as the
hop splat gun.
*Rocket - Pretty much self-explanitory. Rockets usually (but not always)
fire quantities of unguided rockets to saturate an area.
*Drone - Drones are unmanned vehicles that have some sort of warhead
attached to them. In some cases they operate without outsite communication -
the Imperial Deathstrike is an example of an autonomous drone. Other drones,
most notably those used by the Orkoids, are actually operated by a pilot via
remote control. Unlike the above two categories drones do not have a
notation for guidance and follow there own special rules.

--Guidance--
*Guided - Guided munitions have some ability to home in on the signals
generated by an Active Designator (see below). As a rule they tend to be
quite accurate.
    If attacking an Active artillery marker the weapon gets a +1 to hit.
Guided munitions scatter the normal 2d6cm if fired indirectly by
non-Spotters.
*Unguided - Unguided munitions are just that - unguided. This covers the
vast majority of 'dumb' ordinance in the Epic universe. Unguided munitions
tend to be cheap and available in vast quantities.
    Unguided munitions ALWAYS scatters d6cm even with a Spotter and 3d6cm if
firing indirect with no Spotter.
*Uncontrolled - These munitions are not only unguided, but tend to be very
inaccurate as well. But in compensation they tend to be VERY powerful and
with large areas of effect.
    Uncontrolled munitions ALWAYS scatters 2d6cm even with a Spotter, or
4d6cm if firing indirect with no Spotter.

Ranging Shot
An artillery battery that does not change targets or move receives a +1 to
hit if it fires on the same target as it did during the previous turn. The
bonus is
not improved if multiple turns are spent firing at the same target.

Artillery Orders
  Artillery batteries are slightly different in how they are given orders
(in much the same manner that flyers receive modified orders).
  First Fire: Artillery can fire in the First fire segment. The unit may
fire two barrages. Basilsks may still only fire twice. Very large artillery
pieces may only fire once (Bombards, Goliath cannons) as do weapons that
must reload (Manticore).
  Advance: Artillery may fire in the Advance fire segment THEN move up to
its advance rate. Note that this movement is outside the normal movement
segment. Basilsks may fire, move at up to advance rate then fire again with
no penalty.
  Charge: Normal rules.
  Note that all artillery fire takes place BEFORE other fire during the same
phase. Thus during the First Fire phase (for example) all artillery units on
First Fire alternate fire before other units may fire.

Arc of Damage
  All artillery fire is assumed to be coming form the direction of the
firing battery for purposes of determining where the unit is hit.

Falling Short
  Once the battery fires and range is being determined you must check to see
if the rounds fall short. This happens if when measuring the range it is
found that the artillery cannot fire that far. The template is then placed
at the maximum range of the artillery based on a straight line drawn from
the battrery and the target. Anything falling under the template is attacked
as normal. Do not roll for scatter in this case.

Deviation
  Unless the artillery is firing in Direct Fire mode or firing on an
artillery marker artillery shots automatically scatter (amount varies on
guidance type).

Counter Battery
  If there is a Counter-Battery Sensor (CBS) within 75cm of an artillery
impact (not necessarily just a marker) then the unit may make a 'to hit'
roll with its sensor to see if it locks on to the enemy artillery units
location.
  If the 'attack' is successful then an artillery marker (passive) may be
placed anywhere on the fired artillery battery as long as the marker is
within 5cm of a fired vehicle.
  Currently all units notes as being Forward Observers are assumed to have
CBS gear.
   Until further detailed assume the CBS 'hits' on a 5+.

Range
  When measuring range from an artillery battery all ranges are measured
from the "Main Gun" (the actual English term may be different, maybe say,
"center piece") concept instead, as used
by the real life batteries for simplicity in manual calculations. This is
the gun closest to the center of battery in the battery commander's opinion.

  This is decided on and marked before any shots are fired. So in the game
the
player will declare his "main guns" for each battery at the start of the
game, and may mark them if they are numerous. All range calculations
are then made from this piece.

  When direct firing however all ranges and LOS calculations are measured
from the individual
unit.

SPOTTERS
  Forward Observers (hereafter referred to as 'spotters') are equipped with
a 'weapon' known as a Designator. The exact form and specifics of this
weapon are varied through the different races and armies - but they can be
grouped into two types, Active and Passive.

Active - Active designators send out some sort of signal or beam to guide
the artillery strike in. Active designators may target moving units as well
as ground locations.

  If a target is 'painted' by the active designator it remains painted until
the unit either moves out of line-of-sight or the observer designates
another target. No additional designation rolls need to be made.

  Until more detailed rules are given Active Designators have a range of
75cm and 'hit' on 3+.

Passive - Passive designators do not send out any sort of signal or beam but
are slightly more limited do to the fact that there is nothing for incoming
artillery rounds to home in on. Thus passive designators may only target
points on the ground.

  Until more detailed rules are given assume the passive designators have a
range of 100cm and 'hit' on a 4+.

  Spotter may measure the range before actually seeing if they wish to
'fire' their Designtors.

Artillery Markers
  Once a target is Designated it is given an 'artillery marker' to show that
it is the target of an artillery strike.

  For every real marker the player may place two dummy markers anywhere
within range and LOS of the spotter.

  Note that in some cases units may be able to tell if they are really
painted or not - in those cases dummy markers are not effective.

  Both types of designators may place markers anywhere in the spotters range
and LOS.

  If the designator is Passive then the marker may only be placed on a
location - if it is placed on a unit then the marker remains in place even
if the unit moves away. It does not 'follow' the unit.

  Active designators, on the other hand, MAY be placed on moving units and
move with the unit as long
as the unit remains in range and LOS of the spotter. The active designator
artillery marker must actually be placed on an enemy target (chosen by the
spotter) and remains on THAT target until it is either destroyed or moves
out of the spotters LOS and/or range. If the target is destroyed the spotter
may move the marker to any other valid unit in the same unit.

Designating
  A designator is classed as a weapon even though it does no damage. Each
designator has a to-hit number and a range associated with it.

  When the player announces a designation attempt he rolls the to-hit dice
and applies
any modifiers to the roll as if he were firing a normal weapon.

  If successful the marker is placed on target. Should the roll fail the
marker is placed on target but it then scatters d6cm. Active designators
that scatter off their target may not move with the unit but otherwise the
marker functions as a normal active designator marker.

  Each Spotter stand may only have one artillery marker in place at a given
time. If the player wishes, the player may announce in the End Phase that he
is maintaining his designation of his current targets, if this is the case
the markers remain where they are (subject to normal rules) and do not
require an additional Designation attempt.

  Should the Spotter be killed or forced to move (routed, etc) then his
artillery marker is removed.

Designating Phase
  Designators 'fire' after the orders phase but BEFORE the combat phase.

  They may also be fired in either of the combat segments and may be 'snap
fired'.

  Units may not designate from inside vehicles unless the vehicle itself is
a spotter.

Non-Spotters Designating
  As has been mentioned in the first section firing artillery based on data
from non-spotters is inaccurate. But it is important to note that artillery
may NOT fire on units that their is no LOS to. There must be a friendly unit
within LOS of the desired impact point for the artillery to fire there.
There is no 'firing blind'. So while artillery directed by non spotters may
be inaccurate (usually scattering 2d6cm) its better then nothing. If you
want accurate fire get some spotters!

Direct Fire
  Artillery may be fired directly without spotters. Artillery tends to not
be very nimble however, and thus suffers a -1 to hit against targets that
moved the previous turn. -2 if the target was on Charge orders.

  Artillery fired in a direct mode utilizes a different template system.
This is an equilateral triangle 3cm to a side. There is a dividing line
between the apex and the mid-point of the opposing side to align the LOF.
One point of the triangle may be placed within LOS and range with the 'far'
end pointing in adirection straight away from the firing artillery unit.

  When firing in direct fire mode each artillery unit is treated as a
separate unit and fires individually. Artillery is not designed to be used
in this manner and is not very efficient.

  Due to the nature of rounds fired in this way all artillery receives a
bonus to their normal target save modifier of an additional -1 (if the round
would not normally have a modifier it receives a -1 TSM).

  All LOS and ranges are determined from the individual unit. All modifiers
for normal ranged combat apply. To hit numbers are determined by the
individual BP value of the artillery piece.

Optional: Artillery Rounds
  When the player announces he is firing an artillery battery he may state
that he is using an special munition type (if available). This must be
stated BEFORE the battery fires. All units in the battery fire the same
munition type.

---MUNITION TYPES AND EFFECTS---
*Smoke - Smoke rounds do no damage, instead the firing player may place a
number of smoke templates (3cm by 2cm rectangular templates) equal tot he
number of firing units in the battery. These templates must touch and no
template may be outside of the batteries normal range.
  Smoke blocks line of sight (for game purposes it is assumed to be 25cm
'tall'), including designators (both types). If a unit that is Actively
designated moves so that the Spotters LOS must cross the smoke templates
then the marker is lost.
(Designers Note: Smoke rounds are assumed to be an advanced 'black fog' type
that blocks thermographs and interferes with other targeting systems.
Optionally some races may have to use much more innefficient smoke types.
This includes Normal Smoke (vehicles do not have LOS broken, Designators are
blocked (unless Passive from a vehicle Spotter).)
*Anti-Personnel - these rounds are specifically designed to be more
effective against infantry targets. usually this means utilizing many small
bomblets to saturate an area with explosives or special rounds that release
thousands of flechettes or shards that carpet a large area with flying
death.
  AP rounds do not have a TSM but templates covering infantry count as
DOUBLE BP for to-hit purposes. AP rounds have no effect against anything
above light vehicles. Light vehicles (skimmers, dreadnoughts, tarantulas,
etc) are hit as normal but do not suffer the BP doubling when rolling
to-hit.
*Anti-Tank - these rounds come in many shapes and sizes. Some release small
mini missiles that seek out armored units (SADARM) while others are not
rounds at all but missiles launched from artillery units (Copperhead).
Whatever the actual method they have the same effect.
  Anti-Tank rounds have their BP HALVED for to-hit purposes against
infantry. Vehicles (including light vehicles) are hit for normal BP but the
rounds have an additional -1 target save modifier.

Optional: Command Vehicles
  As an optional rule all command vehicles except for light vehicles and
APCs can be assumed to possess Passive designators with a range equal to
that of its longest ranged weapon. This rule is optional.

Kenneth
NetEpic Idea Rat
Received on Wed Nov 03 1999 - 02:45:09 UTC