Art De La Guerre

[DieselDave]

Surely the rule represents the artillery firing from within the front ranks of the unit rather than actually over it?
As such I would have though it can't fire 'over' the unit if it is in combat as the artillery would have retired to the rear.

[ethan]

[Mike Bennett]

[lionelrus]

[Dickstick]

Will this get sorted soon?
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[KevinD]

[ALEXANDER]

If artillery wants to fire over friendly light troops, it must be 1 UD away from the artillery and the target. However, the integrated artillery is automatically 1 UD behind its front unit. Is it allowed to place 1 Li in front of this front unit,
which then gives the artillery a shooting support?

Or does the Li has to be 1 UD away from the front unit?
...because the shooting range is measured from the front unit?

[KevinD]

I take this to mean everything shooting related is measured from the unit it is integrated with, thus they have to be 1 UD from the front unit.

[ALEXANDER]

Ok

..and it is true ...
that light artillery can move up to 3 UD outside tactical distance of enemy?
....if it is alined behind the unit it is integrated with?

Romans can integrade their light artillery to auxillaries.
Does this include Auxiliaries Sagitarii (Bowmen)?
Can those Artilleries (integrated to Bowmen) move through rough terrain with speed 3UD too?

[KevinD]

[Za Otlichiye]

What about Dick's other question? Can you shoot at integrated artillery rather than its paired unit despite the LOS and Target Priority rules?
(In reality, I believe the mathematics of area fire means the artillery and integrated unit should both take all the hits. But it's only a game...)

[Muz22]

In the para for Shooting Overhead on p59 it says integrated light artillery can shoot with no restriction ....
Does this relieve the integrated artillery from the Shooting Priorities?
Or does the integrated artillery have to continue to shoot at the same nearest target directly in front (etc, etc)?

I am assuming that the shooting priorities continue to apply, which may be why you don't see integrated artillery very much.

[madaxeman]

[Hazelbark]

[Mark G Fry]

I try and think of them a bit like C17th Battalion guns, and the historical image of them being used (as carroballistae) on Trajan's column (which is probably the source for their inclusion in the army lists - I suspect) shows them as being mounted on carts positioned behind (& therefore mounted above) the Legionaries they are supporting (so shooting over the legionaries).
Ming Chinese and later Korean rocket batteries or small double or triple bowed, wheeled ballista, are depicted interspersed within the ranks of the infantry they are supporting, (so shooting from within the front rank effectively), but I suspect that as with battalion guns, they were withdrawn to safety behind the fighting/firing ranks as the enemy got near.

Their main disadvantages in ADLG are:

1. they can only ever move at 2UD max, whilst the HF they are supporting can move at 3UDs outside 4 UDs of the enemy [p.29]
2. they cannot be put into Ambush [p.77]
3. they cannot make Flank Marches [p.79]
4. they cannot make a 3rd March Move [p.33]
5. all opponents except LI and LH have a +1 bonus in melee against them [p.15]
6. they do not exert a ZOC (but are affected by enemy ZOCs) [p.37]
7. they cannot initiate melee or deliberately move into support [p.42]- but the units they are supporting can move into melee, or melee support, taking them with them, or dropping them off to move independently.

Their main advantages are:
a. they shoot over (from the front base edge) of the unit they are supporting [p.59]
b. they can shoot over friendly LI/LH as long as they are 1UD away from the shooter* and the target [p.59] {*I assume this is the front edge of the unit they are shooting over}
c. they can ignore and shoot through/over enemy LI/LF [p.59]
d. they reduce all targets (except LI and LH) to '0' protection [p.58] (but they do not get the +1 for shooting at mounted troops)
e. they ignore the protection provided by Pavices and Armour (but not Fortifications) [p.58]
f. they can, like all ART, be interpenetrated by friendly foot units - in any direction - with no penalty [p.39]
g. They can also change their facing by wheeling 90 degrees on the centre point of their front base edge, equivalent to 1.5UD of movement (so worth marking that on the base edge) [p.31]. Or, they can also wheel 90 degrees from a front corner like all other units.
NB: I am not sure if the wheeling from the centre of the front base edge actually makes much difference (TBF) - especially as they cannot initiate melee.

But as Dan states, their advantage against Cataphracts, Elephants, Hvy Chariots, Foot Knights, Hvy Knights and WWgs is obvious, and can be devastating
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'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis