Art De La Guerre

[ALEXANDER]

There are 3 conditions

LH can shoot IN SUPPORT OVER another LH...
...range is measured from...the main shooting unit.

ABC
DEF

D can shoot over A if A is the main shooting unt
E can shoot over B if B is the main shooting unit
and F can shoot over C if C is the Main shooting unit

If there is just 1 target the
Player has to choose which of the 3 units A,B or C is the main shooting unit.

The other 2 unit cannot be a main shooting unit.
There overhead fire by the units behind is not allowed

So I think a support bonus of 3 is NOT possible

[ALEXANDER]

Of course, players might argue that unit D and F could shoot over B

because they are in rear corner to front corner contact
They might not have to have front edge to rear edge contact

But if unit D and F can shoot over unit B as the main shooting unit...then my example with the 2 unit of MC bow is possible too

[Mark G Fry]

[ALEXANDER]

I try to explain my point of view again

Either LC overhead shooting is just allowed, if the LC in the front is the main shooting unit

Example 6 LC (one target in front of B)

ABC
DEF

B is the main shooting unit
E can give support to B (overhead shooting)
A and C can give support
...but D and E are not allowed to give overhead support as A and C are not the main shooting unit

result LC ( minus 1 for light) ( plus 2 bonus for 3 supporting units)

OR.....

Unit D and F are allowed to give their overhead support directory to B

They are in front corner to rear corner contact with B

AND they have a line of sight with their flank
You can draw a line front both flank corner through unit B to a point of the target!!

Unit D and F do not have to shooting through or over A or C!

They can shoot with their flank edge if they are allowed to give overhead support to LC B.
The only question is whether they are allowed overhead shooting over B ...or not.

ABC
DEF

IF D and F give Overhead support to unit B and B is the main shooting unit... unit A and C could be MC bow!
There is no overhead shooting over those MC bow as units D and F shoot with their flank edges over unit B

[Ramses II]

I understand your perspective, but it is not quite correct.  The thing that is being missed is that if B is the unit shooting, D and F are both actually shooting over two units in the front rank.

So D is actually shooting over both A and B, which must both comply with the rules. 

[ALEXANDER]

Not necessarily..
You forget that LC D can shoot 360° in all directions
They could shoot with their flank edge!
For a valid line of sight those 2 left corners need to have a line to any point of the target.

This is possible WITHOUT shooting over Unit A


Example

1
....2
A
B

A is a MC bow and shoots at 1
B is a LC bow and shoots with its flank edge at unit 2

[Mark G Fry]

[Ramses II]

Alexander, while LC can shoot all round, they must also shoot at the nearest target. To do that the player must trace the shortest line to that unit.  

Referring to the block of six LC units 
ABC
DEF

this means the rear units have to trace the most direct path to the enemy target, which inevitably passes from the front edge of these units, rather than from their side edges.  

Consequently, if A and C are not suitably armed LC, they block this path. 

[ALEXANDER]

Ultimately, it's Herve's decision.

This LC overhead shooting as a Cantabrian circle is one of 2 exceptions where a unit can actually shoot further than allowed by their own range.
Integrated artillery is the other exception.

I don't know if it should be limited only to the LC behind the main shooter ...
or it should be allowed to form a big Cantabrian circle of 6 LC.

....and do all 6 LC need to have the same type of weapon or will it be allowed to mix LC bow and LC crossbow
Wargamers might use 2 LC crossbow against Foot Knight and give an additional plus 2 support with 4 LC bow

[daveallen]

This was a change in the rules from V3 to V4

In V3 LH in the second rank could only shoot in support of the unit directly in front of them if it was the main shooter.

In V4 LH in the second rank can shoot in support at the same target being fired on by the unit in front of them. Note the absence of the requirement that the unit in front of them is the main shooter.

So, take 6 LH:

ABC
DEF

As long as all three of the front rank are in range then all three of the back rank can shoot in support. Usual provisos re target priorities and same weapons apply, of course.

There is no restriction on weapons type, except that the units in the second rank can only shoot if the unit in front of them has the same weapon. Say, for instance, the main shooter was Light Artillery, the LH would still be able to support its shooting.

Dave
_________________
Putting the ink into incompetence

[Neep]

Alexander, two points:

It is tempting to think the LH must be shooting over the main unit, but the rules don't actually say that. And if you enforce that, it leads to all sorts of geometric oddities. Alternatively, all units shoot at their priority target. LH can shoot over adjacent aligned like-armed LH. One of these units is the main unit (I'd choose the artillery on the far flank ), and the rest count for the support bonus - just as in every other shooting situation - with the caveat that if shooting over, the LH cannot be the main unit.
---
I've already pointed out that measuring range from the main unit is an error. It leads the absurd results like these:

[daveallen]

This is what the rule says: