Art De La Guerre

[Mark G Fry]

With war wagons shooting from their long sides, please can I clarify the following:

1) the shooting range extends 1UD on either side of the long base?
[I ask this because the war wagon can only shoot at one target enemy base, per turn, that is within its long base width, even if there are 2 enemy bases facing it. So if the 1st wagon is shooting at an enemy on its right (to its front) but has a supporting war wagon on its left, the supporting wagon can in theory shoot at the enemy unit that is on the left facing the 1st war wagon. I assume?]

2) if the artillery armed war wagon has friendly light infantry (at least 1 UD in front of it & 1 UD from the target enemy unit) and that light infantry is also missile armed, it can count as shooting support for the war wagon, even though the war wagon artillery is shooting over (through) it?

3). As the long base can cover the frontage of 2 enemy units, and assuming both enemy units are the same priority, the war wagon can choose to shoot at either one?
But, is it the case with shooting, as it is with melee, that the war wagon player (if the phasing player) can select a different target to shoot at in another turn?
For example, that new target might be shot at from the other long side (that has previously not shot).
3a) If a new target comes into range on the opposite long side from one that has previously shot, and that new target is a greater threat/priority is the war wagon forced to redirect its fire at this new target?

4). Can a war wagon with artillery shoot from either long side as it can with bows, crossbows, handguns?

Many thanks, in anticipation 😀 😊
Mark

NB: this is a repost from the general forum v4 questions, as it appears that I might get answers more readily from the French & English section of players 😀 Thank you

[Za Otlichiye]

1) Remember the shooting priorities mean you can only target an enemy in the extension if there are none directly ahead.

2) That is what the rules say. Early cannon does have a flatter trajectory than ancient "artillery" so the narrative is somewhat violated.

3) The rules allow you to select which side shoots. This rule would completely redundant if target priorities overrode it, because the only time you could chose would be when enemies on both sides were equidistant, and then shooting priorities let you choose anyway. So we must assume you can always choose which side. Then the next question is whether you have to keep the same target if you switch back again. From both practical and logical considerations, the answer would be no.
There may be an experienced player who can tell us why it's important to maintain the same target with ordinary shooters. I don't see an obvious abuse.

4) That's what the rules say. Don't know the history well enough to know if that's a narrative violation.

Now back to calling each other rutabagas...

[Mark G Fry]

Many thanks Za Otlichiye, as I suspected, but good to have some confirmation.

I was unsure that as a Warwagon can choose which of its opponents to fight against in melee, it can do so the same with shooting. As there is a specific prohibition regarding changing target with shooting.

I just wanted a better understanding before I go rebasing 12 x 28mm War Wagons (from another set of rules bases) to play with them in ADLG.
Although I understand that the Hussite is one of those (increasingly rare) armies that has yet to win a competition

Cheers
Mark

[ALEXANDER]

1. The explaination above seems to be logic

but it is not clearly defined in the rules

BECAUSE warwagon do not shoot with their front
Instead the shoot with their flanks

THERERFORE
the Page 56 Target Priority
could simply mean that you have to shoot at the nearest target.

In fact it could even mean that you have to shoot at enemies in that litlle 1 UD square right and left of your front
...if that enemy is at least "most in front"

2. Warwagon cannot shoot to their front or rear...
...but they can shoot 1 UD to both sides of the front.

If 2 warwagon are side to side
touching each other with their long side

can they shoot at an enemy
in front of the neighboring warwagon?

Probably not because they would have to shoot trough their neighboring warwagon

But what if those 2 warwagon have 1 UD distance from each other and are still in a group because there is a line of 3 Li or Mediocre swordmen behind them

W...W...W
W...W...W
LiLiLiLiLi

[KevinD]

Look at the diagram on the bottom of page 57. WWg seem to treat their side as the “front” for determining the shooting arcs (and I also presume their target priority). While the text might be unclear or ambiguous I think the diagram shows exactly how you should treat them for shooting arcs.

(Or did I misunderstand what you were trying to say above?)

[ALEXANDER]

Page 57 just shows the shooting zone.
But the text on page 57 Special cases sentence 3
explain that warwagon do not shoot with their front

Therefore they never have an enemy "directly in front"
They can just have an enemy "most in front"
(In that little 1 UD square right and left to their front)

[Za Otlichiye]

I agree that it's ambiguous. The WWg rules need a bit more work in general.

[Mark G Fry]

I have read it that you treat the long sides as if they are the front for shooting definition purposes.

So the long sides have the same rules applied to them, as if they were the 'front' of other missile armed units.
Which seems reasonable & logical.

So that means that one warwagon can support another next to it, up to the normal 1UD to the side, as long as the supporting wagon has no other priority targets.

The major thing I wanted confirming was the ability of a war wagon to change its shooting target, once it had started shooting at a specific target. This obviously assumes both the existing target & the new target both offer exactly the same priority.

I suspect that there is probably a translation aspect to all this. But I understand the basic principles behind War Wagon shooting.
Thanks
Mark

[Hazelbark]