Fire density penalty

[Jeff Conner]

It's not a penalty so much as a modifier. More than ten men (the number of counters is not important) modifies the lethality by ten percent per man. Less than ten men decreases the lethality by ten percent per man. So the lethality in an attack against a hex with two men is reduced to twenty percent of the total and an attack against a hex with twenty men is increased by two hundred percent. The negative modifier does not apply to sniper flagged weapons.

If you use the Alternate Fire Density rule, then the negative modifier is not reduced below fifty percent. With this rule, fire against a hex with between one and five men is fifty percent of the lethality.

Many players like to keep their leaders alone in a hex as they are pretty much immune to fire attacks. With the Alternate rule in place, this is a risky proposition and it is a better idea to stack the leader with another unit. I personally like this rule and would like to see it used more.