Rules questions - plotting fire

[Lord Cameron]

Some questions that came up:

1.) Can a ship fire its guns overtop of a friendly and/or enemy ship?

2.) Can you target a more distant hex of a ship?

3.) In the example diagram: If a 3" gun (4/8 range) on the broadside (hex "A") on the red ship is firing at the blue ship, it must target the side of the blue ship. Does it have to target the center hex "C" on the blue ship? Can it choose to shoot at hex "F"?

[pianobar]

Some questions that came up:

3.) In the example diagram: If a 3" gun (4/8 range) on the broadside (hex "A") on the red ship is firing at the blue ship, it must target the side of the blue ship. Does it have to target the center hex "C" on the blue ship? Can it choose to shoot at hex "F"?

P 13 of the Lt. Manual "Count the range in hexes to the target, starting with the hex adjacent to the attacking ship’s hex where the firing weapons are located, and follow the shortest path to the target, including the target hex."
"Type 2 Ships (3-hex): Any side-mounted weapons are located in the center hex."

In each case of your example, you're taking extra turns that aren't needed. Hexes C and F on the Blue ship are both still part of the Port side. For the Red ship, the shortest path is from the center hex straight to hex B on the Blue ship, a distance of 3, still on the Port side. For the Blue ship, the shortest most direct path is from the center hex to hex E on the Blue ship, a distance of 4, also on the Port side.

As for 1 & 2, those are covered by statements not expressly listed in the Lt. Manual so I will let the appropriate people answer them. [edit: Or at least if they are, it's too early and I'm not finding them. haha]

[Lord Cameron]

P 13 of the Lt. Manual "Count the range in hexes to the target, starting with the hex adjacent to the attacking ship’s hex where the firing weapons are located, and follow the shortest path to the target, including the target hex."
"Type 2 Ships (3-hex): Any side-mounted weapons are located in the center hex."

In each case of your example, you're taking extra turns that aren't needed.

OK, but that is not made clear in the rules, it should say "Guns must fre at the closest hex of the enemy ship"
Because they talk about Target Hex so I had a player ask, "Can I pick F as my target hex?" The blue path is the shortest route to F


Is this secret information about firing? 
I need to know if I can allow players to shoot overtop of enemy/friendly units

[pianobar]

OK, but that is not made clear in the rules, it should say "Guns must fre at the closest hex of the enemy ship"
Because they talk about Target Hex so I had a player ask, "Can I pick F as my target hex?" The blue path is the shortest route to F

Is this secret information about firing? 
I need to know if I can allow players to shoot overtop of enemy/friendly units

The rules state it must follow the shortest path. All three hexes will result in the same Port arc hit for each ship, so I'm not sure what choosing a different hex would even net you, in your example picture.

For the Red ship, the shortest path is from the center hex straight to hex B on the Blue ship, a distance of 3, still on the Port side. For the Blue ship, the shortest most direct path is from the center hex to hex E on the Blue ship, a distance of 4, also on the Port side.

Regarding the firing over the top of enemy/friendly ships, since I'm not finding it spelled out explicitly in the Lt. Rules and I am not a developer, I don't want to answer for them and have something be misunderstood. I see you've asked in the "Ask Rynchowski" section as well, so we'll leave that for them.

[Lord Cameron]

The rules state it must follow the shortest path. All three hexes will result in the same Port arc hit for each ship, so I'm not sure what choosing a different hex would even net you, in your example picture.

The difference is that a 3" gun targeting F would be 5 hexes distant, and so would be a blue die, not a green one

[pianobar]

The difference is that a 3" gun targeting F would be 5 hexes distant, and so would be a blue die, not a green one

The closer a target is the bigger the gun die can be, depending on the range bracket. You'll always want to be closer, not farther. [Edit: In the Lt. rules, anyways]

[Tonbo Karasu]

Explicitly, a 3" gun firing at Range 5 would be a green die, at range 4 would be a blue die.

[pianobar]

Lt. Manual P.20
"For example, the Pontbriand’s 138mm Gun Battery has a “6/12 Hex” notation; if the target ship is 1 to 6 hexes distant, the first Weapon Die (DYellow) is used. If the target ship is 7 to 12 hexes distant, the second Weapon Die (DBlue) is used."

[Lord Cameron]

Yeah, I just misread that section.
Nevermind....

I suppose that the only reason to choose a farther hex would be if the closer path is blocked by another ship

[Tonbo Karasu]

I believe I have the answer to question 1.

It's not in the rules, but one of the design diaries talked about LoS, and the decision to eventually not have anything blocking it, generally.

There was the discussion of the masking tactic, where any vessel adjacent to another vessel can shoose to mask it, choosing to block either LoS to it by the enemy, or LoS from it to friendly vessels.

This will add new tactics, I'm sure.

[Alius]

Yeah. Currently, it should say somewhere in the Lieutenants Manual that no ships block Line of Sight. That means you can 'fire over' another ship at one further away.