Newbie can't hit broad side of a barn

[FroBodine]

Hi - I'm brand new to Squad Battles, and just got Red Victory. Great, great game so far.

I am still playing boot camp #1, assault the ridge, and just cannot hit anything. I fire and fire and fire, but I rarely see any effect. I hardly ever even see the hit icon on my target with a zero in it. It looks like my fire is completely ineffective.

Yet, the enemy AI fires and ALWAYS either gets a hit icon, often with 1 or 2 damage on me. But, the AI always gets at least the hit icon with a zero. I don't even get that except a couple times during the whole scenario.

Is this just how it is when attacking fortified positions? I have yet to play any other scenario because I wanted to at least get a minor victory on this one. Yes, I've read the other thread about this mission, and have been trying those tactics. And, yes I've read the Grunt School article.

My concern is more just the fact that I can't hit the broad side of a barn, even when I'm 1-4 hexes away from the enemy.

I at least want to beat a couple boot camp scenarios before diving into PBEM.

Thanks!
-=Jeff