Overhead fire for a unit on a hill?

It seems that a unit on a lower level blocks the line of sight for ranged combat from a firing unit behind on an adjacent hill. This is not so in C&C: Napoleonics.

So am I right that ranged fire over an adjacent lower level unit is not possible from a hill hex? I can see the point of avoiding "friendly fire" on the unit below, but what about long distance weapons such as the Heavy War Machine?

Given the realistc tactic of firing bow from behind your front line, perhaps there's a house rule out there similar to the DBA/M rule on giving support in melee? Certainly adds an angle on the use of light infantry and their limited ability to inter-penetrate.

Thoughts anyone?

In C&C Napoleonics it is only the artillery that can fire over other adjacent friendly units.

In Ancients situations I'm no expert but I imagine it is a friendly fire consideration and something that just wasn't really done in the battles.

Phill

Yes I see your point about ranges and friendly fire, I'm quite confortable with diferences in rules between C&C: Ancients and C&C: Napoleonics. But perhaps a house rule for Heavy War Machines on a hill being able to fire over an adjacent, lower friendly unit? Has anyone tried this?

It seems that a unit on a lower level blocks the line of sight for ranged combat from a firing unit behind on an adjacent hill.

Where do you see that ? I can't find it in the rules.

It is written that units block LOS.
But, should one unit on a hill fire on a unit on another hill : if there is a unit at lower level between them, is LOS blocked ?
That sounds weird...
But the rules are not clear about that.

What do you think ?

The fact that a lower level unit does indeed block LOS between two (non-connecting) hill placed units is a consistent C&C rule found in Memoir and other games. It has caused much comment similar to yours.

As for the overhead shooting, the rules state that the required LOS "is blocked only if a hex (or part of a hex) between the battling unit and the target hex contains an obstruction. Obstructions include a unit or leader... some terrian features and the edge of the battlefield" (p8). So no exemptions for hills.

C&C: Napoleonics rules show that adjacent lower level units do not block LOS for artillery, but no such allowance exists in C&C: Ancients.

OK, strange, but clear !