The verdict is in

[umbro]

Well my verdict, for what its worth :-)

Indirect arty vs armour: Guilty!

"Why?", you ask? Let me explain... no, let me sum up:

1) It goes against a fundamental precept of the game - "Every SP shall have its day". It is a fixed chance not based on the number of tubes involved. I fire one tube into the hex 5%, I fire 50 tubes 5%...

2) The math simply does not add up. A hex is 250mx250m, 62500msq (that's 12 football fields!). A standard AFV is roughly 7mx4m, 28msq. So a random arty round fired by map has a 1 in 2232 chance of smacking the AFV. To get to 5% you would need to fire 115 shells (and assume that any hit destroyed the vehicle 100% of the time).

3) The rule promotes ahistorical tactics. And before you ask - no this is not because Jason has destroyed five AFVs in 15 turns in our current game! As the rule stands you might as well fire off any arty you have behind enemy lines with the expectation that you can randomly knock off AFVs. Now, I know that allied bombers would empty their bomb bays randomly if need be before returning, but I don't remember any stories of the RA firing off whatever allotment of rounds they may have had so loading up the ammo carrier was easier.

If I am missing something please let me know (I know you retiring wall flowers need the prompting :-))

umbro