I have just re-read Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' wargames rules and have come to the conclusion that I like the idea that all Artillery Units can fire each turn before any other type of Unit can move or engage in combat.
I also like the very simple system for artillery not to quite hit what it is aiming at. This, coupled with the possibility that getting too close to an enemy Unit that your own artillery is firing at could result in a 'blue-on-blue' incident, makes it quite an interesting mechanism. I am therefore seriously thinking of incorporating this mechanism in the next draft of my INTERBELLUM wargames rules.
I also like the very simple system for artillery not to quite hit what it is aiming at. This, coupled with the possibility that getting too close to an enemy Unit that your own artillery is firing at could result in a 'blue-on-blue' incident, makes it quite an interesting mechanism. I am therefore seriously thinking of incorporating this mechanism in the next draft of my INTERBELLUM wargames rules.
I like the idea from 2 pov,
ReplyDeletea) it 'feels' like a preliminary bombardment to soften the enemy up before an attack
b) it is very traditional. I've just been re-reading Little Wars and the rule there was that guns had to fire before any troops moved, "no exceptions". I was cleaning up computer files and came across a copy of Column, Line & Square, a US 60's vintage game once widely played and it also had a rule that artillery fire came first except for "held cannister".