Hi again loyal reader, and thanks for sticking with me. In this post I’m going to talk about artillery, and why it isn’t a big thing in ACP164 – at least right now. Is this going to change? Maybe.
First, I’m sorry that it’s been a couple of weeks since my last post. I’m probably not alone in being a bit affected by current developments. As a child of the Cold War, I am profoundly upset to see the current moves to subvert NATO – and by proxy the western world order. While imperfect, it’s an arrangement that has worked for nearly 80 years. Perhaps it’s worth remembering that, in designing the ILR, Steve Gallacci drew on his experience in the US Military.
The God of War
In this episode, I’m going to talk about Artillery in the Albedoverse, and present rules for employing artillery in ACP164.
Artillery refers to both the genre of ranged weapons that launch munitions beyond the range of infantry firearms, and to the critters who crew those weapons. The evolution of artillery is a fascinating topic. It traces a line between the rock-throwing machines used by the Romans to breach castle walls and cruise missiles which can deliver a nuclear strike with pinpoint accuracy from thousands of miles away.
It’s also outside the scope of this discussion, mostly because of canon reasons (no pun intended).
Let me explain, and apologies in advance for a rather long article!
What I wrote earlier
In the ACP164 Source Book, (on page 39) I wrote:
Artillery
Indirect fire artillery is not common in the Albedo universe, at least not in the tube or rocket artillery sense. This is because there has never been a war
that required bombardment to achieve an objective. If you consider what drove the development of the bombard – the need to breach castle walls – it is clear that this evolutionary thread has no real place in Albedo. If critters need to get High Explosive to a spot far away, they will use a missile or grenade launcher; or call in air support.
The Albedoverse posits that critters were awakened at pretty much the same time, with ready access to advanced technology and the tools with which to create it. So, when I wrote that epic prose, it seemed to me that because the development of armed conflict occurred pretty late on the Albedo timeline (invented by the ILR!) it made sense to have avoided all the intermediate steps and moved straight to ortillery and nukes.
And that’s why in the introduction to the rulebook, we say the same thing:
Indirect fire is present in Albedo, but it is primarily employed to deny resources to the enemy (i.e. “Nuke the planet from orbit”) or as an area effect weapon. Orbital Artillery or “Ortillery” is very accurate but has an immense blast radius. It is the tactical equivalent of using a B-52 strike to kill a guy on a bicycle.
Of course, this is a giant cop-out. Honestly, I think there was a time crunch, and I just didn’t want to think about it, particularly. It’s hard to come up with unique concepts for things… In my defence, I would note that:
- Artillery isn’t mentioned in the comics as such.
- ACP164 is a skirmish game, and as such Artillery is mostly useful as an objective marker.
- We don’t have any suitable miniatures.
What I should have written
The counter-argument to this is that military commanders are always looking for ways to stop their critters from being shot at inopportune times, and it’s frankly infeasible that they wouldn’t devise some technology to help. It’s pretty compelling. You don’t really need miniatures to represent off board artillery – just blast markers, which we have already.
Finally, the comics tend to focus on personal interaction at the expense of military matters, which is understandable, if slightly annoying from our perspective.
Weapons
The rules below separate weapons into two classes: On-board, and off-board indirect fire weapons.
On-Board Weapons
For our purposes, on-board weapons include:
- Portable Missile Launcher
- Auto Grenade Launcher
- Rifle Grenade
- Mortars
- Mini-Drone
- Vehicle weapons
In this context, mortars are included as company level assets. The simplest sort of modern weapon imaginable, a mortar has no moving parts, and can be quickly manufactured, making it an easily accessible weapon for low tech level worlds and HomeGuard units – mortars are surpisingly accurate in the hands of a skilled operator.
Mortars on board would typically only be deployed in defensive scenarios – they take time to set up and zero in, and the fighting in a typical scenario will be over before the setup is complete.
The mini drones are a new concept to the game, they represent a one shot drone with an explosive charge that is guided to within sight of the target by an operator, then uses onboard AI to complete it’s mission. Mini-drones are relatively low-speed compared to a missile, but are more accurate. It can target vehicles or infantry as usual, and can also target other drones.
Vehicle weapons firing indirect are already covered in the rules, at section 3.8. These rules extend and supercede that section.
Off board weapons
In this context, off-board weapons include:
- Mortars
- Air Support
- Drones
- “Artillery”
Mortars now include larger calibre weapons, either vehicle mounted or towed.
Air Support represents aircraft, aerodynes or space fighters being used in an air to ground role.
Drones in this context don’t appear on the board – they are high altitude vehicles used to rain fiery death to the ground. They have a longer loiter time than Air Support, but limited ammunition. They can also be used to spot for other offboard assets.
Artillery can represent gun tubes, large missiles, rockets or even ortillery – space-based weapons.
The critical thing is that, apart from mortars, these assets are usually allocated at a much higher level than the types of action featured in ACP164. If you’ve got an air strike allocated, it probably means that Battalion thinks you are in serious trouble.
To represent that, even if you have paid the points for off-board artillery, there’s a chance that it won’t be there when you need it. This is a recurring theme in ACP, because life isn’t fair!
Finally, there is a reliable counter to air attacks, which is the trusty portable missile launcher (PML). This weapon has a dual use anti-armour/anti-flyer round, which is heat-seeking and capable of intercepting vehicles very reliably. The gunner selects the target, and the weapon determines which fusing method to use dynamically, at which point it is ‘fire and forget.’
Indirect Fire Rules
These rules are adapted from the standard GAMER ruleset, where they appear as section 3.21.
3.24 Indirect Fire (Optional)
Indirect fire is divided into two types. They include fire from weapons located on the board, and fire from weapons located off the board.
3.24.1 On-Board Indirect Fire
When requesting fire from an on-board asset, such as a mortar, PML or AGL, the team calling for the fire must be able to trace a command radius from itself to the supporting weapons team. This means that the team must be within the command radius of the squad leader; the squad leader must be
within the command radius of the platoon leader; and the weapon team also must be within the command radius of the platoon
leader.
In addition, the team leader calling the indirect fire must have line of sight to the intended location of the round, or have access to data from a drone that has line of sight.
Sequence: The team leader spends his activation calling for indirect fire. The player selects at that time where he would like the shell to land.
(During this activation, the leader is not directing his men’s fire, so they apply the leader-not-present column shift.)
On the mortar team’s next activation, the team fires the shell. When the “reroll and reshuffle” card is drawn from the Activation Deck, the shot is resolved in the same manner described in Section 3.8 for grenades using the Accuracy of the team leader who called for the fire. The only difference is that on-board weapons and other indirect fire weapons triple the scatter distance shown in the little numbers in the hit indicator section of the Action Card.
The HE Size columns in the weapon tables in Section 6 determine the radius of effect.
A mortar may fire more than one shell before the first round lands. When the “reroll and reshuffle” card is drawn all shells that are in the air are resolved
in the order they were fired.
There is no maximum range for mortars. There is a minimum range of six inches; mortars may not shoot at targets that are closer than six inches.
On-board mortar teams may selfspot. If they can see the intended target, they may fire a round without another team leader spotting for them.
Table 3.21.1: Indirect Fire Scatter Distance Summary
Weapon
Hand Grenades
Rifle Grenades
Mini-Drones
AFV Guns
On-Board Mortars/PML/AGL
Air Strike – Smart Weapons
Drones
Air Strike – Dumb Weapons
Off-Board Indirect Fire
Scatter Multiplier
x1
x2
x2
x2
x3
x2
x3
x4
x6
Point Cost
Included in unit cost
Included in unit cost
2 (includes two figures and side arms)
Included in unit cost
Included in unit cost (Support Platoon)
5
4
3
4
3.21.2 Off-Board Indirect Fire
Off-board indirect fire is resolved in exactly the same manner as on board indirect fire – with one exception: the scatter distance indicated on the card is
multiplied by six for any off-board weapons. All off-board indirect fire uses the large HE template to resolve effects.
3.21.3 Availability of Off-Board Indirect Fire
Off-board assets are purchased before play begins, using points as outlined in section 5.3 of the rules. However, having spent the points does not guarantee that support will be available. Whenever a fire mission is called in, draw a card. If the d10 number is odd, the asset is unavailable. If the number is even, calculate the results as above.
3.21.3 Forward Observers
Forward observers are critters specially trained to call for ortillery, artillery and air support fire. A forward observer party is typically two figures, one with a radio or datapad. If either figure is incapacitated, the remaining figure can perform forward observer duties without restriction.
While team leaders and squad leaders may call for on-board indirect fire, only forward observers and platoon leaders (or above) may call for off-board indirect fire.
3.21.4 Drones
Drones are a form of robot, which in this context is designed to fly. They are used to perform tasks which can’t easily be done by critters on the ground, like performing reconnaissance and delivering ordnance outside the range of infantry weapons. There are two sorts of drone available: Mini drones and offboard drones.
3.21.4.1 Mini Drones
Mini drones are deployed by a unit on the board using their normal action. Following deployment, a miniature is deployed on the board to represent the drone, which then activates and moves like a vehicle, using it’s own activation dice. While the drone is airborne, the operator can draw line of sight on anything that the drone can ‘see’.
The drone operator can use an action to use the drone to strike a target. Use a small blast marker to resolve damage. After that, the drone is removed from play.
On each activation of the mini-drone, draw a card. If the result is ‘out of ammo’ the drone has enountered an issue and goes out of control. Drone teams can only deploy one mini-drone per game.
Mini-drones may be targeted like any other vehicle. Their small size and agility does make them hard to hit.
3.21.4.2 Drones
Drones are armed autonomous aerial vehicles that are tasked with reconnaissance and delivery of explosive ordnance on targets. They can be launched from starships as part of a landing fleet, by catapult from the back of a vehicle, or by taking off from a runway like a normal airplane. A drone tasking can last multiple activations, but will only deliver one shot per activation, using the medium blast template and the rules for smart weapons attack presented at 3.21.6 (below)
Alternatively, the commander can opt not to have the drone attack. In this case they are able to draw line of sight on any unit not in overhead cover, using the drone’s onboard sensors. This lasts until the droné next activation.
Each time the drone is activated, draw a card. If the result of the d10 is 1-5, or an ‘out of ammo’ result is drawn, then the drone has been retasked and is no longer available.
3.21.5 Air Strikes – Dumb Weapons
An air strike with dumb weapons represents an opportunity to deliver a lot of firepower along a line, very quickly. Pilots do not like to revisit a target unless there’s no option, and in any case, often expend the bulk of their ordnance in a single strike. But the air strike is a risky gambit. Even with computer navigation, there’s a lot of uncertainty about where the ordnance will actually land because of weather, hostile threat environment and a whole range of uncontrolled variables.
Sequence:
- Determine IP. When an air strike is declared, the commander draws a line across the board which represents the desired line of attack – you can use a piece of coloured string to indicate the line. Use another marker to indicate the interdiction point (IP) of the attack – that is the point of the line with the target you are trying to hit.
- Determine Drift Line. Draw a card. If the d10 number is even, the airstrike is available. Draw another card. If the d10 number is between 4-6, the line is good, and you can go ahead and resolve the attack. If the number is less than 4, the attack has drifted left of the line. If the number is more than 6 the attack has drifted right. In each case, draw another card and move the line left or right by that d10’s number of inches before resolving the attack. Move the IP to the same position on the new line.
- Resolve attack. An air strike may deliver between one and five munitions along the line of attack – draw a card and use the d10 number divided by 2, rounding up. Calculate the landing point for each of the munitions using the scatter die from the IP just like an artillery round, and use the large blast template.
3.21.6 Air Strikes – Smart Weapons
An air strike with smart weapons represents using an air vehicle to deliver standoff munitions. This represents a much lower risk to the delivery vehicle, but produces less devastation during the turn. On the plus side, it is more accurate than a dumb weapons strike.
Sequence:
- An activated commander with line of sight on the desired target marks the target using a laser beam, then calls in the strike. They cannot do anything else this activation.
- Determine whether the strike is actually going to happen by drawing a card. If the d10 is odd, or the card is ‘out of ammo’ then the strike has been called off and nothing happens.
- If the strike is going ahead, resolve like an artillery strike.
- If an ‘out of ammo’ card is drawn when resolving the attack, no further smart attacks can be made.
3.21.7 Portable Missile Launchers against Aerial Assets
An activated PML team may use a reaction shot to interrupt enemy dumb air strikes, and mini-drones as outlined in section 1.12 of the rules.
When firing against an incoming dumb air strike, resolve the missile attack after the actual line of attack is determined but before resolving the attack.
Smart attacks and Drones typically fly at high altitude, or further away than a PML can reach.
3.22 Effect of Cover and Terrain on Artillery Fire
This section should be read in conjunction with section 4.4.6 of the rulebook.
A primary characteristic of artillery is that it is plunging fire. It typically comes from above the target, thus ignores all forms of cover that do not provide overhead protection. Heavy cover such as a bunker or armoured vehicle is tested for penetration as normal.
However, since most artillery weapons are configured to explode either on or near the ground, dense foliage can affect their operation by making them explode prematurely. This reduces their penetration by two steps.
Summary
In this article, I’ve discussed the role and utility of artillery in ACP164 games, as well as discussing how it fits into the canon – and I definitely meant to use the pun that time.
I’ve also presented rules for resolving off-board atillery strikes, based on the GAMER standards. Thanks to John Surdu for creating these rules!
Finally, I have presented methods for using drones, as well as standoff air weapons and dumb bombs in a simulated air strike.
As always, I really welcome your feedback and comments. Next time, I’ll give you some unit cards for these assets, and maybe a surprise!
Presumably you could (with a little modification) use the drone rules to represent security drones in a riot/terrorist scenario? Armed with a non-lethal weapon (equivalent of tear gas for example) or with a single shot carbine/shotgun rather than explosive?
Hi Stephen, thanks for commenting! I usually never know whether someone has read my post or not. I think what you are proposing is perfectly valid. We haven’t discussed chemical weapons particularly – I don’t think they are canon at all, but Tear Gas is quite likely.
I would treat the gas round like smoke, using the rules at 3.8.7.
Having been both pepper sprayed and tear gassed (once, memorably, on the same day!) I can attest that CS is quite a lot more powerful than pepper spray, which is in the rule book. I’d suggest giving it an HTH value of 4, but no PEN.
If the miniature has a gas mask, the gas has no effect…
Still have to ‘be in time, mask in 9’!!