CnC Die Use Still Confounds Some Players
It would appear still, that some people "do not get it" when it comes to the CnC dice and the use of "bands" of hexes measured to the target for firing and combat penalties/bonuses. Simple as the Hex Command series is, it would appear that some people still don't get it and our thinking is they may be OVERTHINKING how HC works. The level of math involved in Hex Command is essentially 4th grade level, if at all, which essentially means there AINT no math except adding 1+1 or subtracting 1 from 1. So, here is the "last word" on how the die and range bands work, along with how units rally when in commander sphere.
Let's take the last one first:
When units rout they are moved 3 hexes back and a yellow marker replaces all their hit markers. When a commander moves to get within sphere of a routed unit, on the turn after the unit routs not the same turn it routs, the unit is back to normal and 1 red hit is applied. Units that rout to within commander sphere in the same turn STILL DO NOT RALLY and DO NOT STOP MOVING until NEXT turn if the commander gets to within sphere of them; units that rout past a commander do not stop their initial rout movement and at the top of their next activation, they move a rout move before being able to be rallied.
Remember this option: when units rout from melee however they should be almost useless for the rest of the battle and removed from the game. The WINNER of a melee may already be nearly useless too so no special rule needs to be applied to the winner of a melee. Truth is units should NOT be able to rally from being routed due to melee. When units rout from melee this essentially means they are gone until at least the next day if more than a one day battle.
Counting Range Bands and Combat Bonus/Penalty Use
For musket fire, each range band is 2 hexes. For artillery, range bands are 4 hexes. The progression is as follows: First Band: automatic hit Second: Blue (Color) Third: Red (Code) Fourth: Star (Code'n Color) Fifth (for rifled muskets): Star (Code'n Color)
Each bonus pulls in the requirement, each penalty pushes out the requirement e.g. if the to-hit was Red, a 1 combat bonus pulls it in to Blue; a 2 combat bonus pulls it in to being automatic. 2 is the maximum bonus possible in all cases. A firing unit gets 1 combat penalty for each red hit it has. Each level of cover a unit is in is 1 combat penalty when being fired at.
Artillery fire canister at automatic range HOWEVER heavy artillery have an additional 2 hexes for canister range. This causes 2 hits on the target (3 for heavy artillery). When using the incremental hit damage (you don't need to use IH concept) each Howitzer in a battery at canister ranges causes an additional IH; if you dont use IH ANY howitzers in a battery cause and additional red hit. Combat penalties obviously cause this automatic hit range to be pushed out so if a battery has a red hit for instance, instead of the canister being an automatic hit the unit must roll Blue. Obviously if there is an officer in sphere the unit goes back to automatic again.
A Cavalry Incident
One player declared his cavalry is moving head on at an artillery battery. When he asked if all combat was simultaneous the answer is yes. So, his point was that therefore the cavalry should be able to fire at the artillery when the artillery fires canister at the cavalry. This is not the case. Why? Because the cavalry does not fire, like any other unit in the game, unless it does so before it moves or AFTER it moves that is, when it is moving it STOPS moving and fires. IF however, a unit is going to get into melee with a target, there is no way it can STOP to fire, then proceed to engage in melee with a target; once a unit stops, it is DONE for the turn.
Therefore, in any case like this not just because the unit is cavalry, one MIGHT be able to say "well, then, firing is NOT simultaneous in these rules." We have a different opinion. Clearly, the cavalry cannot discharge from the saddle either pistols or carbines at the artillery crew until it gets into the artillery crew for melee, which obviously means the artillery crew FIRES CANNISTER at the cavalry and IF anyone survives (it IS possible) only THEN can they fire at the crews.
However, the canister will cause damage to the cavalry and thus when it fires, it now fires with combat penalties so its damage wont be automatic on the crews. See?
Canister fire from Artillery with Damage
Artillery that has any damage indicators and firing with any penalties, does'nt NOT get a hit because canister does not miss. What happens is the level of artillery damage reduces the red hits to a minimum of ONE red hit in all cases for firing canister from artillery batteries that have any damage.
Should you have ANY questions about these mechanics do not hesitate to contact us.