Artillery


Description[edit]

Artillery is the use of war devices that can far exceed the range of conventional personal and BattleMech weapons, and is primarily used to support an additional force. Due to the highly explosive nature of artillery, most artillery weapons cause not only substantial primary damage, but also secondary damage to adjacent areas.

Types[edit]

Artillery weapons include:

Game Rules[edit]

Artillery may be fired directly or indirectly. However, artillery is most effective when fired indirectly. Artillery attacks are area-effect weapons, and so all rules that apply to such weapons also apply to artillery attacks.

Artillery damage is determined by the hex where the shot landed, and the target proximity to the bursting shell (assuming it's a conventional HE artillery shell/missile). A unit in the same hex as the impact takes face value damage of the artillery piece. All damage is applied in 5 point groups according to the CBT Cluster Table. For each hex away from the point of impact, reduce the damage received by subtracting 10 from the base damage value per hex of distance.[1]

Artillery can damage flying VTOL Combat Vehicles, as well as submarines below their respective water surface level, assuming that the unit is in the hex which was hit. Consider their damage per altitude above or below the impact site to be the same as though the unit is a hex away from the impact site equal to their height or depth.[2]

Artillery can directly attack an enemy if they come within 17 hexes and have direct line of sight of the unit firing the artillery piece with a +4 to hit modifier, with no shell flight time. Otherwise, if there is no line of sight, artillery uses indirect fire as normal.[3] [4]

There are a variety of Artillery Munitions.

References[edit]

  1. Tactical Operations p. 182-4
  2. Tactical Operations p. 182-4
  3. Tactical Operations p. 185
  4. Tactical Operations p. 179

Bibliography[edit]