WWPD
WWPD
WWPD
WWPD
WWPD
WWPD
WWPD
WWPD
WWPD

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Ancients: Shooting

Persian archers. Wikimedia.
"This then is how the Lacedaemonians and Thespians conducted themselves, but the Spartan Dieneces is said to have exhibited the greatest courage of all. They say that he made the following speech before they joined battle with the Medes: he had learned from a Trachinian that there were so many of the barbarians that when they shot their missiles, the sun was hidden by the multitude of their arrows. He was not at all disturbed by this and made light of the multitude of the Medes, saying that their Trachinian foreigner brought them good news. If the Medes hid the sun, they could fight them in the shade instead of in the sun. This saying and others like it, they claim, Dieneces the Lacedaemonian left behind as a memorial."

--- Herodotus 7.226

Shooting will follow rules very similar to melee combat, but with certain modifications. Shooting is less likely to be effective in completely breaking a unit, and the odds of hitting a target will depend variously upon the skill of the shooter and the formation of the defender. 

Ranged Weapons

A unit's ranged attacks will be rated by the unit's Size, the weapon's lethality, and its range.

The number of dice rolled reflects not only the rate of fire of the weapon, but also the training and doctrine of the unit.



Slings/Javelins
Bows
Superior Bows
Huge
10
12
14
Large
8
10
12
Medium
6
8
10
Small
4
6
8

Range:
  • Slings/Javelins 12"
  • Bows 24"
  • Superior Bows 24"
To-Hit

When shooting at most targets, the difficulty is based on the skill of the firing unit.

Skill 1 5+
Skill 2 4+
Skill => 3 3+

When shooting at Skimishers, however, the to-Hit threshold is based on the relative skills of both units.

  • Attacker's Skill < Defender's Skill:  5+
  • Attacker's Skill = Defender's Skill: 4+
  • Attacker's Skill > Defender's Skill: 3+

This is because we are assuming that Formed or Warband Units defend themselves with their armor, but will not break their formation in order to disperse or use the sweep of the land to defend themselves. Skirmish units, however, will use their full skill and cunning to sneak around.

The to-Hit roll is further modified by the following, potentially cumulative, factors:
  • Target is over 12" away: +1 to difficulty.
  • Target is in area terrain or behind linear terrain: +1 to difficulty.

Saves and Break Tests


Units Save in shooting following the same rules as melee combat.

Units add up the Hits they have taken at the end of the shooting phase.  If this equals or exceeds their Hit Threshold, they must make a Break Test, with the same modifiers, etc, as in the melee phase.

When they make their test, however, they are less likely to break from shooting, and are more likely to fall back.  A unit that exactly equals the number needed for its break test, or fails it by 1, Gives Ground rather than Breaks.



No comments :