RangeAttackPenalty?

[stan23]

Can anybody explain this line to me to that appears in the 'gamerules' PZDAT file?
Has anybody played with it turned on? (1=On)
Greets from Virginia

[Razz1]

There are many PZDAT files

If you are referring to game rules.. range penalty for attack was modified behind the scenes in one on the patches. I believe it was 1.2.

It was increased to make units harder to route when entrenched.

[stan23]

Yes, game rules is the file I'm talking about, this line particularly
# Attack penalty per hex of range beyond 1
Does this mean mean Artillery is less effective as range increases?
Thanx for all replies

[captainjack]

I think the idea was that the effectiveness of a ranged attack is reduced at longer range. I have a suspicion that it was explained in reasonable detail one of the threads at around the time 1.2 was introduced, so a bit of searching might pay off.

The other option (possibly more fun) is to back up the original files, mod an artillery piece to create versions with ranges between 1 and 6, create a scenario with a line of artillery and some targets, fire away and use control+L to check results. Then let us know how you get on.

[nikivdd]

With range attack penalty on, the further away the artillery unit fires at the enemy, the more less effective. The most effective way for your artillery to achieve the most favorable result, is it to be adjacent to the unit you wish to attack.

[stan23]

Thanx Nikivdd
That's the answer I suspected.
The further away the artillery is from the target, the less effective it is.
Think I'll give it a try.
Greets from Virginia.

[stan23]

Oh and BTW Nikivdd
Sealion is freaking AWESOME
Man I'm telling you - If you don't have it yet you are really missing out on something very cool.
Greets from Virginia

[ThvN]

Yes, game rules is the file I'm talking about, this line particularly
# Attack penalty per hex of range beyond 1
Does this mean mean Artillery is less effective as range increases?
Thanx for all replies

Hi Stan23, I've been playing around with this setting, so I can give some tips on how it works:

Stock setting is zero, but it is not on on/off switch. The value you enter will be used to modify any ranged attack strength beyond the first hex. So if you enter a 1 this value will be added to the attack! Currently I use it at -1, which means that for every hex beyond the first, the attack strength is lowered by one point. This will show up in the combat log as well, so you can check if it is working correctly.

Let's say you put it at -2:

range 1 hex, no modifier
at range 2, attack will have -2 modifier
at range 3, attack will have -4 modifier
etc. Positive values will increase the attack strength.

Two things that might be worth mentioning: This modifier influences all ranged attacks, artillery, AAA, ships. So if you have long-ranged units, the attack strength can drop down to zero, which brings me to my next point.

I discovered that even when an attack will be penalized this way (zero strength), it is still possible to fire at the target! It won't have any effect on the target, but it will waste the attack. This can easily happen with artillery firing at ships a few hexes away, because the stock Naval Attack values are very low. So I increased the attack values to prevent them dipping below 1 at max range. But if you get a range hero it might still happen.

[TSPC37730]

Thanks for the info ThvN. I'll check this out the next time I play a scenario.

[stan23]

ThvN
Thanx for the reply, thats good info to have, especially about the negative values.
I don't think a -1 would be such a bad thing, probably a little more realistic.
I'm going to give it a try
Greets from Virginia

[captainjack]

Does it cope with fractions?
This could be a way of tweaking the fine control.

I'd test it myself, but some transports aren't working in my private mod and I'm about to go investigating.

[stan23]

Just a FYI, tried -1 and didn't care for it, never really got used to it.
Felt it made my Arty too ineffective.