10.0 Barrage

Artillery, ships, and aircraft use barrages to attack enemy units and facilities. Use the barrage table appropriate for the target. Although more than one unit can attack in the same barrage, only units of the same general type—artillery, naval, or air—can combine in a single barrage.

Barrages occur in the Barrage Segments of the Movement, Reaction, Combat, and Exploitation Phases. If a side’s air units are allowed to perform Hip Shoot missions (see 14.7d), these barrages are made during Movement Segments of those phases. Any number of artillery units or ships, or up to four aircraft, can participate in a single barrage.

The following general procedure is used in all types of barrages (air, artillery, and naval) and when using either of the barrage tables. Total the Barrage Strengths firing, determine the correct column on the table, expend supply per the amount listed on that column (for artillery firing only), and adjust the column per the table’s notes. Roll two dice and apply the result.

Important Note: It takes at least one point to “get on the table” (before shifts are applied). Zero-point barrages are not allowed!

10.0a Barrage Table. Use the Barrage Table to conduct barrages against enemy combat units. The primary goal is to DG them.

The targeted player picks the terrain to be used for possible shifts. He also selects which combat units in the stack absorb any resulting step losses.

Note a single division (even a multi-unit formation) never counts as more than 3 RE for possible density shifts. (Use the actual amount, if less than 3 RE.)

Play Hint: Roll three dice at once—the two “barrage” dice plus the off-colored “rounding” die (for possible “1/2” results) to speed barrage resolution and play.*

10.0b Spotter Restrictions. A “correct spotter” for a barrage is any friendly combat unit adjacent to the target hex that is not loaded on a landing craft.

• Barrage Table attacks made without a correct spotter are penalized by a 3-column shift.
• Hip Shoots (on either table) cannot be made at all unless they have a correct spotter.
• Spotting does not affect the Barrage vs. Facility Table (aside from the Hip Shoot restriction).

10.0c Barrage vs Facility Table. Use this table for a barrage against a facility- type target. The player must pre-desig- nate his specific target: Air Base or Port (or Trainbusting for that specialized air mission). No modifiers or terrain shifts apply to these barrages, and they do not need spotters. Roll a single die to determine the result.

• A) Air Base Targets A parenthesized result (“#”) means the attacking player should check all enemy planes in the hex for losses. Roll separately for each. If the roll is ≥ the (#), the air unit takes a loss. On a numbered result (“1” or “2”), reduce the Air Base by that number of levels, down to a minimum of Level 1. Note that Airstrips are never reduced.
• B) Port Targets Numbered results (“1” and “2”) generate damage; no other result has any effect. Ports accumulate damage, up to a maximum of four hits, which steadily decrease the Port’s capacity (19.0b).
• C) Trainbusting A “*” result is needed to place a Trainbusting marker in the hex; other results have no effect. These markers affect enemy rail transport and ground movement, per 14.8c. A Trainbusting marker is removed during the next enemy Clean Up Phase.

10.0d Barraging Mixed Target Hexes. Hexes will often contain targets that are affected in different ways by different barrage tables. As such, in any barrage the attacking player must announce a general target (such as “combat units” or “Port”) and apply the Barrage Points to that target only. An example would be a hex containing combat units, an Air Base, and a Port. The player can use the Barrage Table to attack the combat units or the Barrage vs. Facility Table to attack either the Port or the Air Base (but not all at once).

10.0e Barrage Limits and Phasing. Several restrictions are placed on the conduct of barrages by certain units and in certain phases.

• A) Regardless of how many different types of targets are in a hex, only one barrage per hex is allowed in each phase. (Exceptions: Anti- ship barrages and Hip Shoots.) Note a declared mission that is completely destroyed/aborted by Flak or Interception does count against this limit.
• B) A unit can only barrage once per phase and cannot split its strength between several barrages or fire at less than its printed strength.
• C) Only air and naval barrages can be performed during the Movement Phase, mainly during its Barrage Segment (the exceptions are Hip Shoots, which occur during the Movement Segment).
• D) Only artillery can barrage during the Combat Phase.
• E) All types (air, naval, and artillery) can barrage during the Reaction and Exploitation Phases.
• F) A barrage can use only a single type of barraging unit: either air, naval, or artillery.

10.1 Artillery Barrages

10.1a Artillery barrage ranges are given in hexes. These are unaffected by weather and terrain. An artillery unit with a range of ‘3’ can barrage targets from 1 to 3 hexes away.

10.1b Supply Cost. Expend combat supply to conduct an artillery barrage at the moment of the barrage. The cost is given near the top of the appropriate table; use the cost on the barrage’s initial column (before any shifts). If the SP required to fire the barrage is unavailable, do not execute the barrage. (There is no penalty—the units selected for a cancelled barrage are not considered to have fired.)

• A) Supply for a multi-unit barrage must come from the same HQ, or from the same supply dump if no HQ is used.
• B) Artillery units still use their full Barrage Strength when marked Out of Supply (assuming needed combat supply is available).
• C) Barrages can never be made using internal stocks.

Example: Two artillery battalions, within range, barrage a hex. The total Barrage Strength is 16. The firing player identifies the column on the Barrage Table (12-16). That table requires 3T to fire. The player pays 3T to execute the shot. Checking for modifiers, he finds the target hex contains 8 RE and a Level-1 Hedgehog, in close terrain. An appropriate spotter is adjacent to the target hex. The total column shift applied to the initial column is two to the right (4 right for density, one left for the hedgehog, and one left for the terrain). This gives a final table column of 25-40. The player rolls two dice and obtains an 8. The result is [1/2]. In this case, as neither of the conditions for a bracketed result apply (there is a correct spotter and the target is not in a Level-3 or greater Hedgehog), the result is treated as a regular “1/2.” The firing player rolls one die and gets a 3. The target hex does not lose any steps, but is Disorganized.

10.2 Air Barrages

An air barrage is similar to an artillery barrage, but has no supply cost. See 14.7 for more details.

10.2a Air Barrages and Phasing. Air units are placed on targets and resolve their barrages in the various Barrage Segments (except for Hip Shoots, which occur during the Movement Segments). The aircraft must return to a base and become Inactive immediately afterward (14.1c). Planes conducting a barrage are subject to Interception (14.5) and Flak (14.4) before conducting the barrage. Hip Shoots (14.7d) are governed by various special rules.

10.2b Short Range Effect. If all aircraft conducting a barrage are at or within 10 hexes of their base, they get an additional shift to the right on the regular Barrage Table. Exception: Never apply this shift to Strat Bombers.

10.2c There is no supply cost for an air barrage.

10.3 Naval Barrages

Barrages by naval units (as well as all forms of anti-ship combat) are covered in 18.3. There is no supply cost.