BF weapons - minimum range and arc of fire?

[Michael Murphy]

Solo Player's view

I cannot recall the last time this came up, but I ended up playing with NO minimum range penalty for any artillery unit adjacent an enemy combat unit. I'm not an Army man (USN for me), but I'm pretty sure that most such units had an emergency fire SOP for just such occasions. Think of it this way, if the enemy is too close to bombard, then your crews had better be firing their personal weapons instead.

Given such proximity the fire result should mirror both the unit's (implied) personal DF and (printed) BF capabilities with equal opportunities for damage. The game doesn't allow for such mixing of fire types, but using the printed BF normally simulates this quite well. It's a simple and elegant mechanic that adds a touch of reality to the game.

Along with this fire comes some risk to the firing unit itself. It along with any other friendly units in the same hex ARE subject to the Friendly Fire rule as usual! Just because you have a plan for emergencies, and manage to pull it off, doesn't excuse your heroes from those "Oh Sh*t" moments that happen all too often in war.

Just my 2¢.