RE: [Epic] Artillery

From: Andy Skinner <askinner_at_...>
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 11:16:15 -0400

> Concerning artillery,
> which units are taken as casualties,
> a) the ones under the template
> b) the nearest ones
> c) you can choose which ones

I'll make a distinction between barrages (use a template) and artillery
(shoot where you can't see).

If you're asking about artillery specifically, then the template isn't
really relevant, and the question is: do you pick from the front of the
detachment if you were shooting over terrain and can't see the target
anyway? There aren't any rules for otherwise, so although this is a good
question, I'd say yes.

If you're asking about barrages, where the template is part of the issue,
then officially they just add fp, and you assign hits along with any
non-barrage fp, front to back. You only place one template, and all
barrages use the same fp.

I don't really care for this, though there are holes in other approaches, as
well.

One variation (our current house rule) says that you place a template per
barrage attack, and you can't overlap barrage templates until all the valid
target units are covered. This is because I don't think a single barrage
template takes an accurate measurement of troop density for a detachment
that is pretty spread out except for 3 units together. (Except that if a
detachment has just filed through a narrow place and then spread out, you
should have been able to pound that narrow place the whole time they were
going through. This seems to me to be the rarer case.) One time this
looked like it was going to really hurt an attack by some fighta-bommerz, so
we changed it a bit, though looking back I don't see why the above wouldn't
work.

Another variation allows only units under the template to be hit. I'd like
this, but admit that it does mean you have to separate your barrage shots,
making the procedure a bit longer, and that it allows you to target your
barrages more exactly. This would make barrages more like other SHWs, which
can be shot at any unit in a detachment. (Since barrages can be shut down
by a single BM as a SHW, I wouldn't mind too much them gaining this SHW
advantage.) But it's more of a change than I'd like to easily make.

> and, are their other rules for casualties between barrage and heavy
> barrage?

No, just double the fp for heavy barrage.

andy
Received on Wed Aug 26 1998 - 15:16:15 UTC