GRANDE TACTIQUE

General Discussion

Infantry and artillery can fire on enemy units if they can see them and they are basically to their front.  Infantry can only fire at units in contact.  By firing on enemy units, you can make eager units shaken and shaken units routed; a shaken infantry that fires on the enemy also risks becomeing routed itself, however.  Firing by shaken units, by infantry in square, and by long-range artillery is less effective; firing by artillery at vulnerable targets (at squares or at units it is able to hit with enfilade fire) is more effective.

 

Returning fire

Artillery and infantry who are fired at automatically return fire (they are marked with a Firing marker) if they would be eligible to fire at the unit that is firing at them.  They only perform firing attacks on their own turn, however.

 

Automatically ceasing to fire

Any unit marked with a Firing marker automatically (and for free) has that Firing marker removed if, at the start of either side’s Firing Phase, it no longer has a valid target.

• Note: this means that if your shaken opponents flee from your firing in their turn, your PIP phase takes place before the next Firing Phase, so the Firing markers will still be on your units and will have to be removed (at a cost of 1 PIP each) before doing anything else with them.

• Units in a state of Firing may find their only valid target has fled before they come to fire on it, but in this case they retain their Firing marker.

 

Valid Targets

• Infantry must be in base contact (not necessarily edge-to-edge or lined up) with the target to fire at it – there is no “distance” shooting for infantry.

• For both infantry and artillery, a target is valid if both the following are true:

  • The target is at least partly within a 45° arc of the firing unit's front corners (see Firing Arc Diagram).

  • The firing unit can draw lines from each of the front corners to any two of the target’s corners, or to the middle of its front edge, without running into other units.  

    • Exception: artillery on a hill can fire over the heads of friendly units more than 2” away from the target, and it can always hit enemy units in range who are on a hill or near slope.

• Choice of target: If you have more than one valid target, you can pick which one to fire at.

• When to choose target: You do not need to specify targets for firing units in advance of the moment they fire.  (This is in contrast to charging, where you do have to specify the target of the charge when you spend a PIP to charge.)

• Artillery cannot fire into woods; if firing into a BUA, it must be able to hit a part of the BUA itself, not just the unit occupying the BUA (which may stick out).  

 

Firing Modifiers

-1 if shaken

-1 if in square

-1 long-range artillery (more than 7”, less than 12”)

+1 artillery firing at square

+1 artillery firing at a target in contact, if any part of the target is to its front.

+1 if artillery attacking and able to draw a line from a front corner to both rear corners of target (enfilade or fire from the rear)

 

Firing procedure 

• Only the attacking player’s units resolve firing in a Firing Phase.

• Cavalry cannot fire.  Silenced artillery cannot fire.  Routed troops cannot fire.  Shaken units can fire but they do so at -1. 

• In order to fire, infantry or artillery must be in a state of firing at the start of the Firing Phase, being so marked with a Firing marker.  This can be because 

  • they were already firing last turn; 

  • their general spent a PIP this turn to make them start firing;

  • they started firing in reaction to an enemy attack.

• Everybody in a state of Firing must fire if they have a target. 

  • Notably, this includes shaken infantry, which may flee if they lose a firing attack (see below).  Note that you can spend a PIP to make them stop firing before the Firing Phase to avoid risking this. 

• The same target can be attacked twice or more in the same firing phrase: roll separately for each attacking unit.

  • The attacker chooses the order in which firing is resolved.

  • Calculate from the state of the defender at the time the firing is resolved, not from the state of the defender at the start of the firing phrase.  

    • Note: this means that multiple firing attacks can have outcomes in sequence, so that the first shot might shake the  defender, the second shot rout them, etc.

• Procedure: both sides roll, higher roll (with adjustments) wins.  

• Ties have no effect. 

• There are only two occasions on which there are consequence of firing for the attacker:

  • when shaken infantry is beaten in its firing attack, it must pass a morale check or flee.

  • any attacker beaten by artillery in contact flees, if the unit beaten by the artillery is even partially within the firing arc of the artillery.

• Firing against routed units has no effect, but they are valid targets.

 

Firing Results

1. An eager defender who is beaten becomes shaken.

2. A shaken infantry defender who is beaten must pass morale check or flee.

3. A shaken infantry attacker who is beaten must pass morale check or flee.

4. A shaken cavalry defender who is beaten automatically flees. 

5. Artillery who are shaken become silenced when fired on and beaten by artillery; there is no effect when shaken artillery are fired on and beaten by infantry.

6. Grapeshot: Anyone (attacker or defender) beaten by artillery in contact flees and becomes routed, if the unit beaten by the artillery is even partially within the firing arc of the artillery.