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05. RANGED COMBAT, WEAPONS, COVER & GUNSMOKE

"It was not a battle; it was a murder." — Major General Daniel Harvey Hill, 1862

1.0 Sequence of Ranged Combat & Firing Eligibility

• [RULE-05-1.1] The Ranged Combat Phase (Phase 3): During Phase 3: Active Ranged Combat Phase , the Active Side resolves shooting for all eligible infantry regiments, dismounted cavalry, and unlimbered artillery batteries. Ranged combat is resolved unit-by-unit in an order selected by the active player.

• [RULE-05-1.2] Firing Eligibility Criteria: A unit is eligible to execute ranged fire in Phase 3 if it meets all of the following conditions:

• Did Not Move (Hold Position): It did not execute an Advance or Double-Time move in Phase 2. To fire, a unit must have chosen the "Hold Position" order. (Exception: Units that only performed a Pivot/Wheel or Formation Change may fire, but suffer a -1 to-hit penalty).

• It did not declare or participate in an Assault/Charge during Phase 2 .

• It is not currently in physical base-to-base contact with an enemy unit in Melee.

• It is not deployed in Road / March Column .

• It has a valid, unobstructed Line of Sight to an enemy unit within its forward 45^\circ arc of fire .

• It did not fire as an Opportunity Fire reaction during the opponent's preceding turn , unless it has since moved out of its smoke.

• [RULE-05-1.3] Target Nomination & Priority Rules:

• The active unit must declare a single enemy regiment, battery, or structure as its target before rolling dice.
• Target Priority: A firing unit must target the closest unengaged enemy unit (i.e., not currently locked in physical melee base-to-base contact) within its forward 45^\circ arc , with the following mandatory exceptions:
• Enfilade Opportunity: If an enemy line exposes an open flank within effective range, the firer may bypass a closer frontal target to rake the exposed flank.
• Artillery Priority: Artillery batteries may bypass forward enemy skirmish stands to target formed infantry lines, columns, or enemy artillery batteries.
• [RULE-05-1.4] Measurement Origin & Firing Arcs:
• All ranges are measured from the center-front edge of the Color Stand for infantry regiments, or the center gun tube for artillery batteries, to the closest stand of the designated target unit.
• The firing arc is strictly restricted to the 45^\circ forward cone extending outward from the front-left and front-right corners of the unit .
• [RULE-05-1.5] Enfilade & Flank Raking Fire:
• An enemy unit is in an Enfiladed / Flank Position if the firing regiment is positioned entirely behind the line projected outward at 90^\circ from the target's front corner .
• Enfilade Benefits:
• Firing down the length of an enfiladed battle line grants a +1 to-hit bonus to all shooting dice.
• The target unit is denied all Light Cover saves from frontal linear obstacles such as split-rail fences or low stone walls.

2.0 The Stand-Based Dice Pool & Master Weapon Profiles

• [RULE-05-2.1] Dice Pool Formulation:
• Infantry in Line of Battle: Rolls 1D6 per stand firing in the front rank. (A 5-stand regiment rolls 5D6).
• Infantry in Assault Column: Rolls 1D6 per front-rank stand only (typically 2D6, see ).
• Artillery Batteries (Unlimbered): Rolls 2D6 per gun section stand (a full battery of 2 stands rolls 4D6).
• Skirmish Stands: Roll 1D6 per skirmish stand.

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Master Small Arms Weapon Table

• [RULE-05-2.2] Small Arms Weapon Matrix: Base firepower is 1D6 per stand. Compare each D6 rolled against the target number. Dice meeting or exceeding the target number score Hits.

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Master Field Artillery Weapon Table

• [RULE-05-2.3] Field Artillery Matrix: Base firepower is 2D6 per gun stand. Compare each D6 against the target number.

• [RULE-05-2.4] Depressed Muzzles & Double Canister Carnage: When an artillery battery fires at an enemy within Point-Blank Range (0" - 4.0"), it is assumed the gunners are depressing their muzzles to bounce the shot off the ground and desperately loading double canisters of iron balls. In addition to the bonus dice, no cover saves are permitted against Double Canister hits. Furthermore, the target regiment suffers a -1 penalty to its resulting Discipline Check for every casualty sustained from this volley, overriding standard morale modifiers and representing the terrifying, regiment-shredding nature of this fire.

• [RULE-05-2.5] Artillery vs. Deep Formations: A regiment deployed in a deep Assault Column presents a massive vulnerability to artillery fire (bowling-alley effect). An Assault Column suffers a -1 penalty to its Cover Saves against all incoming Artillery fire (Canister, Shell, and Solid Shot).

• [RULE-05-2.6] Concentrated Battery Fire (Staff Pip Spend):

• By spending 1 Staff Pip during Phase 1 , a player may authorize up to 3 artillery sections within the same brigade to combine their firing dice into a single concentrated barrage targeting one enemy stand.
• Concentrated battery fire forces the target regiment to roll all cover saves at a -1 penalty.
• [RULE-05-2.7] Low Ammunition Rules (Optional Historical Chrome):
• If an infantry regiment or artillery battery rolls two or more natural 1s on its shooting dice pool during a single volley, it immediately receives a Low Ammo Marker.
• Units with a Low Ammo Marker suffer a -1 penalty on all future shooting dice until an unengaged turn is spent resupplying from the brigade wagon train.

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3.0 Defensive Saves, Casualties & Micro-Damage

• [RULE-05-3.1] The Cover Save Step: For every hit scored by the firing unit, the defending player rolls 1D6 Cover Save. Unsaved hits inflict physical casualties and attrition.

• [RULE-05-3.2] Master Cover Save Categories:

• Open Ground / Pasture: No Save. All scored hits become unsaved casualties.
• Light Cover (Save on 5+):
• Standing behind Split-Rail / Snake Fences .
• Deployed inside Orchards, Cornfields, or Light Woods .
• Positioned in sunken dirt tracks or behind low earthen berms.
• Target is in Skirmish Order (dispersed formation).
• Heavy Cover (Save on 4+):
• Lined behind Stone Walls .
• Deployed inside Sunken Roads or engineered Breastworks / Field Earthworks.
• Garrisoned inside Stone Farmsteads or masonry town sectors .
• [RULE-05-3.3] Casualty Stand Removal (2 Hits = 1 Stand):
• Every 2 unsaved hits inflicts the permanent removal of 1 physical stand (60–75 men) from the regiment. The owning player removes stands from the outer flanks, preserving the center Color Stand until last.
• Micro-Damage Tracking: If a unit sustains an odd number of unsaved hits (e.g., 1, 3, or 5 hits), the excess 1 hit is tracked by placing a small colored micro-dice directly behind the regiment's Color Stand. This hit carries over and will combine with future hits to remove the next stand.
• [RULE-05-3.4] Regimental Shatter Threshold:
• An infantry regiment reduced to 1 stand remaining immediately shatters. Its tactical integrity is destroyed; the final stand is permanently removed from the tabletop, and the loss is counted toward the Brigade Faltering Clock .

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4.0 Suppression: The Natural 6 Disorder Trigger

• [RULE-05-4.1] The Suppression Rule: Black powder firepower was as much psychological as it was physical. When subjected to intense fire, units must test their nerve. The volume of fire required to trigger this test depends on the distance.

The Shock Trigger (Range Dependent): * At Short Range (0–6"): A single natural 6 rolled to hit by the firing player acts as a Shock Trigger. * At Medium/Long Range (>6"): The fire is more dispersed. It requires TWO natural 6s rolled in the same volley to act as a Shock Trigger.

• [RULE-05-4.2] The Discipline Save: When a Shock Trigger occurs, the defending regiment must immediately make a Discipline Check (1D6 against their rating: Veteran 3+, Regular 4+, Green 5+). If they fail, they receive a Disorder Marker.
• Modifiers to the Discipline Save:
• Fresh (>75% stands remaining): +1
• Spent (<35% stands remaining): -1
• In Cover (Light or Heavy): +1

• Crossfire (Fired on by multiple enemy units this phase): -1

• [RULE-05-4.3] Resolution Timing & Multiple 6s: The Discipline Save is made immediately, regardless of cover saves against casualties. Rolling extra 6s beyond the required trigger does not force multiple saves; however, every 6 still counts as a valid hit for casualty purposes.

• [RULE-05-4.4] Tactical Effects of Being Disordered: A unit with a Disorder Marker suffers severe tactical restrictions:

• Movement: Cannot Double-Time; movement speed is reduced by -2.0 inches.

• Shooting: Suffers a -1 to-hit penalty on all shooting dice.
• Assaults: Cannot declare an Assault/Charge.
• Melee: Suffers a catastrophic -2 penalty on Opposed Melee Rolls . If forced to retreat from melee while already Disordered, it suffers 1 Micro-Hit via the Double Disorder rule instead of routing.
• [RULE-05-4.5] Plunging Fire & Overshoot: Combat inherently creates an area of effect. When a unit fires a volley and rolls one or more Natural 6s, check the area directly behind the target.
• Infantry Overshoot: If an infantry unit rolls one or more 6s, a secondary unit (friendly or enemy) deployed within 4.0 inches directly behind the primary target automatically suffers 1 stray hit (no cover saves allowed). A maximum of 1 overshoot hit can be inflicted per infantry volley.
• Artillery Overshoot: Artillery fire is far more penetrating. If a firing artillery battery rolls any Natural 6s, apply the following effects to the secondary unit behind the target:
• Solid Shot / Shell (>8.0"): Represents cannonballs ricocheting through the lines. The secondary unit suffers 1 automatic Unsaved Hit, representing the cannonball punching straight through the front regiment into the reserves.
• Canister (0-8.0"): Canister acts like a giant shotgun. The secondary unit suffers 1 stray hit for EVERY Natural 6 rolled by the artillery battery, as the cone of iron balls shreds the primary target and spreads into the unit behind it.

5.0 The Gunsmoke Obscuration Rules

• [RULE-05-5.1] The Smoke Bank Trigger: Whenever a stationary infantry regiment or unlimbered artillery battery executes a volley in Phase 3 (or fires an Opportunity Volley in Phase 2), place a Smoke Marker (a 1-inch tuft of gray/white polyfiber) directly against the center-front base of the firing unit.
• Open Order Exception: Units deployed in Skirmish formation (including Dismounted Cavalry) do not generate Smoke Markers when firing. Their dispersed spacing allows the black powder smoke to clear rapidly.
• [RULE-05-5.2] The Obscuration Penalty:
• Any line of sight that passes into, out of, or through a Smoke Marker at a distance greater than 6.0 inches (Short Range) suffers a -1 to-hit penalty on all shooting dice.
• This penalty applies universally to both infantry and artillery.

• It applies to the unit that generated the smoke attempting to fire out, as well as any other friendly or enemy unit attempting to fire into or through that smoke marker. Gunsmoke never restricts or penalizes movement, it only obscures vision.

• [RULE-05-5.3] Point-Blank Smoke Penetration (0–6"):

• Target units within 6.0 inches are close enough that muzzle flashes, battle flags, and closing battle lines are clearly visible. Firing at targets within 6.0" ignores all smoke penalties.
• [RULE-05-5.4] Smoke Dissipation & Clearing: Smoke is removed from the table under three specific conditions:

• Advancing Through Smoke (Instant): If the regiment executes a forward movement during Phase 2, it steps out of its own smoke bank; remove the Smoke Marker immediately.

• Holding Fire (Turn Clean-up): If a smoked unit chooses to hold its fire for an entire active phase (letting the air clear and barrels cool), the Smoke Marker is removed during Phase 5: Clean-up .

• Windy Weather Condition: If the scenario designates a "Brisk Wind" weather condition, all smoke markers on the table are removed automatically at the end of every active player's turn.

• [RULE-05-5.5] Multi-Regiment Smoke Walls: If three or more adjacent regiments in the same brigade fire from stationary positions, their individual smoke markers merge to form a continuous Smoke Wall. Line of sight through a Smoke Wall is completely blocked beyond 8.0 inches, preventing long-range artillery bombardment from targeting units behind the line.

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6.0 Friendly Fire & Intervisibility Restrictions

• [RULE-05-6.1] Strict Prohibition on Firing Through Formed Friendly Lines:
• Under no circumstances may a formed infantry line or artillery battery fire through another formed friendly unit.
• If a friendly formed unit blocks any portion of the firing arc to the intended target, the firing regiment must either nominate an unobstructed target or reduce its dice pool to include only those individual stands possessing a clear, unblocked line of sight.
• [RULE-05-6.2] Firing Through Skirmish Screens:
• A parent regiment deployed in Line of Battle is permitted to fire through its own detached Skirmish Screen .
• Screen Obstruction Penalty: The muzzle blast and visual interference of the skirmishers imposes a -1 to-hit penalty on the parent regiment's volley.
• [RULE-05-6.3] Artillery Overhead & Plunging Fire:
• Artillery batteries deployed on Level 1 or Level 2 elevated terrain may fire solid shot or shell overhead across friendly units deployed on lower ground (Level 0), provided both safety clearances are met:
• The friendly unit must be at least 6.0 inches away from the artillery gun muzzle.

• The friendly unit must be at least 4.0 inches away from the targeted enemy unit.

• Canister Safety Rule: Canister (0–6") can never be fired overhead across friendly troops.

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7.0 Master Shooting Modifiers Summary Matrix

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9.0 Designer Notes & Historical Commentary

The Lethality of Civil War Musketry & The "Smoke Blind"

Popular Civil War history often overstates the lethality of the rifled musket, imagining infantry lines dropping entire brigades at 400 yards. In actual battle, combat studies from Antietam, Gettysburg, and Chickamauga show that the vast majority of decisive firefights took place at 50-120 yards (2.0"–5.0" tabletop scale).

Why? Because after the first two regimental volleys, the battlefield became an impenetrable wall of dense, blinding black powder smoke. Officers could not see targets 100 yards away; soldiers aimed low into the sulfur clouds, firing at muzzle flashes and red battle flags. Barrels fouled with heavy lead and carbon residue, making reloading progressively harder.

The Gunsmoke Obscuration Rule elegantly recreates this historical reality without bogging the game down in chart calculations: 1. It creates a natural firepower degradation: standing in one place and firing turn after turn degrades your accuracy (-1 to-hit beyond 6"). 2. It encourages aggressive tactical movement: to deliver a truly devastating volley, an attacking commander must advance through the smoke bank to reach Short Range (0–6"), where the smoke penalty disappears and Smoothbore Buck & Ball hits on a deadly 3+. 3. It gives meaning to Artillery Positioning: placing rifled batteries on elevated ridges allows them to see over the smoke banks of the valley, providing accurate plunging fire when infantry lines are blinded below.