Only infantry and artillery units may engage in range combat. Cavalry units and lone leaders may not engage in range combat. A unit with range weapons, battling an enemy unit more than 1 hex away is said to conduct ranged combat (fire) at the enemy unit “target unit.” In ranged combat, the target unit must be within both range and line of sight of the firing unit.
- An ordered unit may target an enemy unit in any direction.
- Ranged combat may not be used against an enemy unit in an adjacent hex.
- A unit adjacent to an enemy unit may not fire on another more distant enemy unit.
Ranged Combat (Fire) Procedure
- Announce Firing Unit Combat
- Check Range
- Check Line of Sight
- Determine Strength of Ranged Combat
- Resolve Combat
- Score Hits
- Retreats and Rally Checks
1. Announce Firing Unit Combat
Announce the ordered unit you want to fire and the enemy unit it is targeting. Each ranged combat attack is declared and resolved one ordered unit at a time, in the sequence of the player’s choice. You must announce and resolve one unit’s ranged combat entirely, before beginning the next unit’s combat. Regardless of the number of enemy units in range, each ranged combat is conducted by one eligible ordered unit against one enemy unit in line of sight and in range. Ranged combat by several friendly units against one enemy unit must be made and resolved one at a time.
2. Check Range
Verify that your target is within range. The range is the distance between the firing unit and the target unit, measured in hexes. When counting the range in hexes, do not include the firing units hex, but include the target unit’s hex.
3. Check Line of Sight
Verify that your target is within line of sight. A unit must be able to “see” the enemy unit it wants to fire at. This is known as having Line of Sight. Imagine a line drawn from the center of the hex containing the firing unit to the center of the hex containing the target unit. This line of sight is blocked only if a hex between the battling unit and the target hex contains an obstruction. Obstructions include a unit or leader (regardless if friend or foe) or some terrain features and the side edge of the battlefield. The terrain in the target unit’s hex does not block line of sight. If the imaginary line runs along the edge of one or more hexes that contain obstructions, line of sight is not blocked unless the obstructions are on both sides of the line.
Note - In the illustration, the Red Arrows indicate no line of sight on the target unit and green arrows indicate the target unit is in line of sight.
4. Determine Strength of Ranged Combat
The base number of battle dice rolled in ranged combat is determined by the unit’s range (number of hexes) to the enemy target unit.
The base number of ranged combat dice is increased or reduced as follows:
- A full strength unit combats with 1 additional die.
- A leader attached to an infantry unit, the unit rolls 1 additional die in ranged combat.
- A leader attached to an artillery unit, the artillery unit does not roll an additional die in ranged combat.
- Add any Command card ranged combat additions.
- Add any Combat card ranged combat additions.
- Reduce the number of dice rolled in ranged combat when an ordered infantry unit moves. An ordered infantry unit that moves ranged combat dice is reduced by 1 die.
- Reduce the number of dice rolled in ranged combat by any Terrain Modifiers ranged combat reductions: see “Terrain” rules section.
Note - In combat, a good habit is to first add the number of dice to the base number and then determine any reductions.
5. Resolve Combat
Roll the resulting number of battle dice against the target; hits are resolved first, followed by retreats.
6. Score Hits
In ranged combat, the attacker scores 1 hit for each unit symbol rolled that matches the target unit. Other symbols rolled are a miss.
Ranged Combat Roll
- Score 1 hit on Infantry unit
- Score 1 hit on Cavalry unit
- Score 1 hit on Artillery unit
- Does not score hit in ranged combat
- A flag does not cause a hit, but may cause the unit to retreat
For each hit scored, 1 block is removed from the target unit. When the last block in the opponent’s unit is removed, collect a Victory Banner. If more hits are rolled than the number of blocks in the enemy unit, these additional hits have no effect.
Chance to Hit a Leader: When an unit with an attached leader takes a hit in range combat, a leader casualty check must be made: see “Leader Casualty Check” rules section. A leader, when not attached to a unit (he is alone in a hex), may also be attacked in ranged combat: see “Leader Casualty Check” rule section.
7. Retreats and Rally Checks
A flag does not cause a hit, but may cause the unit to retreat: see “Retreat and Rally Check” rules section.