The question of how artillery works in TacWWII came up on the Facebook group but I decided the best way to answer it was to give a detailed description here.
Let's start with the simplest case; artillery units firing at targets in their line of sight. This is what gunners call "firing over open sights". This takes place in the Direct Fire Phase, not in the Artillery Phase.
A German sIG33 battery is firing at a troop of British A13 Cruisers at just over 400 metres range (11cm).
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| A13 (left) comes under fire from a sIG33 (right) |
I would treat the 15cm sIG33 as a 100-130mm howitzer. In the 10-20cm range band that gives it fire factors of 5/5. We are shooting at a hard target so we use the number after the slash (not that it makes a difference in this case) giving a target number of 5. However the A13 is an armour class 1 target so there's a -1 die roll modifier. Personally I always think of a -1 modifier as increasing the number I need to roll to hit so our revised "N" value is now 6.
The sIG is in Defence Mode so our German player rolls to hit in Fire Phase A. He rolls his d10 and gets a 6. He's scored exactly "N" so the A13 troop is Neutralised. If he had rolled an 8 (N+2) or higher the result would have been a kill. Because the A13 was in Bold Attack and wouldn't fire until Fire Phase B, it doesn't get to shoot as Neutralised units may not do so.
It's worth noting that had the sIG been replaced by a mortar, a 12cm heavy for example, its "N" value against an armoured target would have been 10 meaning that it could only Neutralise a tank unit by rolling a straight 10 on the die.
-o0o-
Moving on to indirect artillery fire and to the last year of the war, let's assume we have a British Field Regiment of three 25pdr batteries firing from a location three kilometres off the British edge of the table.
This being a prepared assault on an enemy position, the entire Regiment has been ordered to support 2nd Bn the Devonshires.
As the Devonshires begin their approach march, the artillery delivers a programmed bombardment. Before the game (specifically before German deployment), the British player specified a target point, a duration (one game turn) and a barrage type (linear).
In the artillery phase of Game Turn 1 the fire automatically arrives on target, which happens to be a road junction where the unfortunate German player has deployed a company of dug-in Fallschirmjäger.
Because this is a linear bombardment, the area covered by the fire is 4cm x 12cm oriented parallel to the British table edge.
All three of the Jäger platoons are at least partially under the template so the British player rolls three d10s for effect.
The 25pdr is treated as a "75-90mm Field Gun" and the firing range is in the <160cm bracket so the base "N" values are 7/10 (7 against soft targets, 10 against armour). Infantry are soft targets so the target number would be 7 but it's raised to 8 because the targets are in cover.
The British player announces, "as the dice fall" and throws the three dice. Reading from left to right he gets a ten, a two and an eight.
N+2 isn't enough to destroy an infantry target so the result is that the two platoons at the ends of the company position are Neutralised. We mark them accordingly and note that we'll need a company morale test at the end of the turn. The explosion marker reminds us of the centre of the barrage area and that the company morale test will be -1 due to "under artillery fire".
Later on in the game, the British player attempts to call in fire on the single model that represents the hamlet of Valkenhorst. The Devonshires' battalion HQ is close enough to have observed a German platoon moving into the location so this is allowed.
Normally requesting fire would follow the sequence "write the request in the Orders Phase of this turn and try to send it in the Orders Transmission Phase next turn". However, because this late in the war the British are deemed to use "Sophisticated Doctrine", the request can be written and transmitted straight away.
The British player writes his request thus: "Whole Regiment to fire HE for two turns, point bombardment, target is the centre of Valkenhorst". For this scenario the British are rated Tac 6 so any roll of six or higher means the fire will arrive.
In the Artillery Phase, the British player attempts a Tac roll to see if the fire is on target. He rolls a two, which is four under the number needed to get on target. This means the fire deviates 3cm x 4 = 12cm in a random direction.
The British player curses when he sees that the deviation puts a Devonshires platoon under the bombardment marker (which is 4cm in diameter because this is a point bombardment).
The unfortunate infantry must suffer three dice (one for each battery firing) at the 25pdr's a target number of 7. The nine causes them to be Neutralised (ten would have been a kill).
Because the Devonshires requested two turns of fire, the artillery will fire again next turn but the Tac roll for accuracy will be done again, this time with a +1 to the die roll. Hopefully the accuracy will be better next time!
I hope this is helpful. I'll amend this if further info is requested.
