Buying scheduled artillery

Started by agtfos, 23 June 2022, 12:36:37 AM

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agtfos

I just don't get it.
Let's say I buy an off table m198 gun, cost 70 pts. I then buy a 4 he units at 10 pts. (total cost 40 plus 70 = 110pts). This allows me to schedule 4 He strikes throughout the game right?
If I buy another the same that's 8 strikes in total, but I can use 2 strikes per turn at different targets in 4 turns?

Superscribe

Hi

Each off table artillery unit can fire once per turn either using scheduled (if you have bought assets like HE at 10 pts each) or commanded by an HQ or FAO (which does not need assets to fire). Scheduled strikes arrive on target, with no deviation, on the turn specified.

So 2 guns with 4x HE each would allow you to schedule 1 HE attack/gun/turn so you can do 2 strikes in a turn if you wish, on the same or different targets. 

In any turn that a gun is not scheduled it can be commanded to fire by an FAO or HQ (on successful command throw) with normal deviation rules applied.

Hope this helps

Rgds
Chris

Big Insect

To add to that - in a turn where the off-table guns are not assigned to a scheduled activity and therefore are not using the purchased munition assets - they can fire as commanded by the FAO. But this FAO commanded fire does not use up any of the munition assets.

HE munitions for anything other than scheduled fire are included as standard in the cost of buying any on or off-table artillery. But scheduled HE must be bought at 10pts per gun per scheduled fire mission for off-table artillery (including Mortars, Rocket Launchers, Naval support etc).

Smoke or other types of special munitions (Chemical, Illumination etc.) must be purchased for all guns/mortars (both on or off-table) but once purchased the units can use the munition for any number of Commanded fire missions, but only once for each scheduled fire.

EG. a battery of 3 off-table 105mm guns (each automatically has HE munitions) - the player has also bought 2 Smoke assets and 1 FASCAM asset.
Smoke is scheduled to be delivered for turns 1 and 2 of the game - this ties up 1 of the 3 guns in the battery in turn 1 and another in turn 2; leaving the remaining 2 gun to be commanded by the FAO in turns 1 & 2 to fire either HE, Smoke or FASCAM (as commanded fire).

From turn 3 onwards there are no more scheduled fire missions available, so the FAO can command all 3 guns to fire either HE, Smoke or FASCAM. NB: the type of munition being requested must be declared before the FAO attempts the command roll.


In the army lists - where an on-table artillery/mortar unit is listed as Munitions: HE, Smoke, Chemical (for example) in the Notes section - HE is included in the points cost of the guns, but Smoke and Chemical must be purchased. This is a one-off cost (e.g 20pts per gun for Smoke) but that is available for the entire game.

Remember that guns/mortars (on or off-table) that are assigned to fire Chemical/Biological weapons can only fire this ammunition type - whether it is a scheduled or a commanded fire mission, not HE or any other other munitions.

All of the above also applies, in the same way, for off-table Air Support.
Scheduled air strikes need to be bought and assets bought to be used in them.
FAC commanded strikes need the aircraft to be purchased, but all AIR:GA units have HE (or the equivalent - and that includes MGs, cannons, rockets etc) included in their purchase price. But if a FASCAM asset is bought, and the aircraft has the ability to deliver that asset (in its Notes in the army list) it can deliver that type of munition for any number of FAC commanded strikes.

If the rules wording needs to be adjusted to clarify this I'll look at that.

Thanks
Mark
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "out of the box" thinking.

Superscribe

QuoteSmoke or other types of special munitions (Chemical, Illumination etc.) must be purchased for all guns/mortars (both on or off-table) but once purchased the units can use the munition for any number of Commanded fire missions, but only once for each scheduled fire.

and...

In the army lists - where an on-table artillery/mortar unit is listed as Munitions: HE, Smoke, Chemical (for example) in the Notes section - HE is included in the points cost of the guns, but Smoke and Chemical must be purchased. This is a one-off cost (e.g 20pts per gun for Smoke) but that is available for the entire game.

and...

Remember that guns/mortars (on or off-table) that are assigned to fire Chemical/Biological weapons can only fire this ammunition type - whether it is a scheduled or a commanded fire mission, not HE or any other other munitions.


Hi Mark

On-table artillery do not use templates so I am not sure how on-table artillery with Munitions listed with anything other than HE can use special munitions, as I understood that each of these uses a fire zone to identify units affected, or have I missed something? :)

Regards

Chris

Big Insect

QuoteHi Mark

On-table artillery do not use templates so I am not sure how on-table artillery with Munitions listed with anything other than HE can use special munitions, as I understood that each of these uses a fire zone to identify units affected, or have I missed something? :)

Regards

Chris

You can fire Special Munitions at individual units on-table, using on-table guns (as long as you have bought the munitions as assets). You do so in the same way you can fire HE. There is no template for on-table artillery, you are correct Chris. The effects specified in the Special Munitions section in the rules, is only applied to the target unit.

The fact that you are firing at a single vehicle model on the table can make this look slightly odd, but in reality you are firing a number of on-table guns at a number of dispersed target - an enemy platoon.
 
Most on-table guns actually have a very limited range of munitions they can fire (in the lists).
Chemical is probably the most difficult on-table munition in this respect, but in theory larger on-table mortars (107mm - 120mm+) were very capable of firing chemical munitions in a fairly concise targeted manner, if required to do so.

Such a small amount of these weapons is considered to disperse quite quickly, or have limited on-going impact on the game, so there is no need for templates to represent them, although using markers to indicate which units are effected is helpful.

Does that make sense?
Thanks
Mark

'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "out of the box" thinking.

Superscribe


Superscribe

Hi Mark. So based on what you said above, if you bought a smoke asset for 20pts and fired by on-table arty it would only cover the target unit, but if fired by off table arty would fill a 20cm square template?

Ithoriel

Off table is a stonk over a period of time - hence once per turn. On table is a salvo or two but, if you can make the command rolls, may be repeated.

The rules work by not caring about the minutiae of what's going on in the real world but concentrating on the outcomes.

Right result for the wrong reason, as I describe it, is better than the other way round, no?
There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data

Big Insect

Quote from: Superscribe on 23 June 2022, 08:41:06 PMHi Mark. So based on what you said above, if you bought a smoke asset for 20pts and fired by on-table arty it would only cover the target unit, but if fired by off table arty would fill a 20cm square template?

Spot on - but remember you could fire your on table gun any number of times in a turn, at any number of targets, as long as the Command unit ordering the guns passes its command role to make the order - so it is a much more 'granular' directed fire, at a visible enemy.

Off-table is a fire-order to the battery to fire over a longer period at a general set of co-ordinates (as Itheriol states) - hence you get a fire zone, but only one 'shot' per turn.

As stated elsewhere - the rules are primarily geared towards off-table artillery - when you have artillery units on-table they are really only there because the front-line of battle has reached them, or (as is the case with a lot of the Warsaw Pact/Soviet trained forces) your tac.doc requires close support from your SP-Guns to keep it up with the advancing MRRs or Armour etc.
But to be frank, that is probably not the best way to play these SP-Guns - I always play mine as off-table artillery but assign them to specific HQs (as per the notes in the Soviet lists).

Cheers
Mark

 
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "out of the box" thinking.

Superscribe

Thanks for the update and detailed reply 😊