Fire Discipline

Fire discipline is an extremely important part of A l'Ombre des Aigles. Given that the rules use ammo limitations it is in the best interests of the player to save that ammo for the most advantageous moments. This was true of the commanders of the time, and like those commanders, fire discipline will take that control away. Fire discipline is rolled for under the following circumstances... Anytime you attempt to move an infantry unit forward within 4" of a facing enemy infantry unit. Anytime your infantry unit takes fire that can be returned Anytime you attempt to do anything in a Firefight other than fire. Note: Doing nothing is something other than firing. To determine the range at which defending infantry will fire on a charge. In this instance, roll at each inch increment starting at 4" until you fail. To check fire discipline, roll the Class Dice and cross-reference the results with the situation.

	FIRE DISCIPLINE CHART
DICE ROLL	SITUATION
10+ 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2-	NORMAL IN SMOKE FIREFIGHT free free free free 1" fire fire free 2" fire FF 1" fire 4" fire FF 2" fire 1" FF FF 4" fire 2" FF FF 1" FF 4" FF FF 2" FF 4" FF FF 4" FF 4" FF FF
	Range only matters during approach fire.

Firefights

Once units began firing during the Napoléonic Wars it was difficult to get them to do anything but stand there and shoot. A firefight represents the break down of that control. Units enter firefight status by failing Fire Discipline and as the result of an attempted charge. Not all units involved in the shooting need be in firefight status. If a unit enters firefight status by failing Fire Discipline that does not mean the unit that triggered it is. The firefight result on the charge table is for both, or all, units.

Mechanics of Firing

Once it is decided that a unit is to fire, roll 1d10 and apply any appropriate modifiers. Cross-reference the modified die result with the number of stands (3 infantry castings) or tubes (artillery) on the chart below. The resulting number is the casualties inflicted. The number given is in casualty steps. Each casualty step is in 20 men increments. Three casualty steps are equal to one casting casualty. Casting casualties are worth 1 CW point each, which is deducted from the unit’s initial combat worthiness value, yielding a new value. Morale therefore operates on a "sliding scale." "Soft" casualties may be recovered. Elite units that do not move, are not fired upon and are 12" away from enemy units can recover 3 "soft" losses per active initiative; Line units, 2; Conscript units, 1. Units in the same brigade may pool their fire (one roll for the firing units) when range, morale status, target’s cover are all equal. CW within the firing units should be averaged. Identical numbers and non-arithmetic progression in some columns/rows are results of averaging.

FIRE COMBAT CHART

ROLL 1D10 PLUS MODS

INF/CAV STANDS 15+ 14 13 10-12 7-9 4-6 3 2 1 0 ARTY TUBES

half 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 3 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 0 4 3 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 6 4 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 8 5 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 10 6 9 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 12 7 10 9 9 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 8 11 10 10 9 9 8 8 7 7 6 9 12 11 11 10 10 9 9 8 8 7

RANGE/EFFECT
MUSKET	RIFLED MUSKET
Close Action 1" +2 Short 2" NE Medium 4" -3 Long 5" -6 Extreme 6" -9	Close Action 1" +2 Short 2" NE Medium 4" -3 Long 6" -6 Extreme 8" -9
12# FIELD GUNS	8, 9 & AUSTRIAN 12#
Cannister 6" +7 Short, Ball 12" NE Long 18" -2 Extreme 40" -9	Cannister 5" +6 Short, Ball 10" NE Long 14" -2 Extreme 30" -9
6# FLD GUNS & 7# HOW	3, 4, & AUSTRIAN 6#
Cannister 4" +5 Short, Ball 8" NE Long 12" -2 Extreme 28" -9	Cannister 3" +3 Short, Ball 6" NE Long 12" -2 Extreme 19" -9
3# AUSTRIAN FIELD GUNS
Cannister 3" +3 Short, Ball 6" NE Long 9" -3 Extreme 15" -9

OTHER FIRE MODIFIERS
SMALL ARMS	ARTILLERY
Add'l ammo point +1 Scrounging ammo -3 Initial Volly +2	4 AP ROF +2 3 AP ROF +1 1 AP ROF -1 Initial Fire +1 Ricochet Fire -2
FIRER MOVING	MORALE
Infantry over half -1 Btn guns under half -1 Btn guns over half NA	Shaken -2 Disordered -4 Rout/Broken NA
TERRAIN/COVER	TARGET
Sparse Cover -1 Light Cover -3 Medium Cover -5 Heavy Cover -8 In Smoke -2	Flank +5 Square +5 Closed Column +3 Open order troops in cover -5 Country Battery (ball) -7 Country Battery (cannister) -4
DEF. FIRE RANGES
INFANTRY 4" ARTILLERY SHT

Ammunition

Units in A l'Ombre des Aigles carry a limited amount of ammunition (AP’s). Artillery batteries have both canister AP’s and Ball AP’s. The number of AP’s for artillery can be found in the National Appendices. Infantry has 8 AP’s. Multiple AP’s may be used in any give fire. Artillery may expend up to 4 AP’s per fire and infantry up to 2. A roll of "boxcars" carries a special penalty. Roll 2d6 to determine the severity of the penalty. The player rolls separately for each unit participating in the fire to determine the severity of the penalty. On a roll of 11 - 12, the unit loses an additional AP. On a roll of 7 - 10, the unit loses two additional AP’s. On a roll of 2 - 6, the unit loses three additional AP’s Replenishment of infantry ammunition occurs when the affected unit remained 10 or mere inches away from any enemy unit for one full game turn. Artillery requires 4 consecutive game turns to replenish ammunition once it is 10 or more inches away from any enemy units. Suspend the "Boxcars" rule for units scrounging for ammunition among the wounded and dead. Scrounging units have l AP per segment. That is why they have the -5 modifier to their fire. They cannot muster the fire volume of a supplied" unit.

In Smoke

Units are considered In Smoke the moment they fire. Units may get "out of smoke" by either not firing, or moving. Infantry In Smoke may fire no more than 1 AP.

Ricochet Fire

Ricochet fire is conducted on any unit that is in direct line of fire of the battery and within 5" of the original target. Only ball may be used for ricochet fire. Cannister stops at the original target.

Fire At And In Town

In order to fire on troops in town, the firing unit must see them. If the target unit is in a single block farm, they can be seen if they are within 1-inch of the edge. If the target is in a multi-block town they may be seen if within 1/2-inch of the edge. In either case, ricochet fire extends through the entire block. Firing artillery at the edge of a town to get ricochet effects on hiden units is acceptable, but the hiden units should be removed from the board so the attacker won't know what block to fire on. The cover provided by the town is up to whoever sets up the scenario.

Copyright @ 1992 by Dan Brown. All rights reserved.