Slitherine

The firing Ranges table on P48 shows ranges for canister 2MU,6MU and for roundshot 2MU,6MU,16MU.
That's fair enough - but this is the only mention of canister I can find in the rules, apart from the heading of the Medium Range factor table!

What is the difference (in rule terms, I know the difference in reality) between Roundshot and Canister fire?

Is it simply that the rules assume all fire at <6Mu will be canister, or ball where situation makes it more suitable - so no difference in game terms? If so, why put the separate ranges in the table and sow doubt?

The authors assume the battery officers will pick the right rounds to fire.

The effect is hugely different. Close range fire is more dice and better to hit and more serious consequences. So it accurately represents the whiff of cannister.

Yeah - OK, then, that's fine (I had pretty much reached that conclusion myself), but...
why not just show the table as

Artillery Canister 2MU, 6MU, n/a
Artillery roundshot n/a, n/a, 16MU (as is shown for Rockets!)

or even as just a single line for
Artillery 2MU, 6MU, 16MU. *
*type of round is factored into dice allowance.

Why confuse the issue by mentioning canister which does not come up anywhere else in the rules? It's just asking for more questions on the forum!

One could argue it's not even necessary to show Howitzers separately, as they are still a form of artillery and use the same range bands!

Caratacus wrote:Why confuse the issue by mentioning canister which does not come up anywhere else in the rules? It's just asking for more questions on the forum!

Agreed. I suspect they started with different ideas then didn't clean up before print. C'est la editor.

Why confuse the issue by mentioning canister which does not come up anywhere else in the rules? It's just asking for more questions on the forum!

One could argue it's not even necessary to show Howitzers separately, as they are still a form of artillery and use the same range bands!

We were't deliberately trying to confuse people, we wanted to get across the point that medium range is the range at which artillery would be firing canister so that player can understand why you don't get a bonus for deep target at that range, nor do you get a deduction for firing at extended lines.