Only units armed with missile weapons may engage in this type of combat. All green circle symbol units (whether or not they have a white border) have missile weapons.
A unit with missile weapons battling an enemy unit more than 1 hex away is said to conduct Ranged Combat (fire) at that enemy unit (the ‘target unit’). In Ranged Combat, the target unit must be within both range and line of sight of the firing unit.
• Ranged Combat may not be used against an adjacent enemy unit.
• A unit adjacent to an enemy unit may not fire on another, more distant, enemy unit. If it chooses to battle in this case, the unit must Close Combat an adjacent enemy unit.
• A target unit may not Battle Back after a Ranged Combat attack (see Battle Back).
• A target unit may not Evade a Ranged Combat attack.
EXAMPLE OF RANGED COMBAT: All Roman units are ordered. The light bow unit fires at a range of three hexes, while the light cavalry and light infantry units have a range of two. The light slinger unit may not fire because its LOS is blocked by friendly units. Assuming none of the units have moved, they would each get two dice to use in Ranged Combat. If any of these units had moved they would roll one die in Ranged Combat. The auxilia unit may not fire, because it is adjacent to an enemy unit. It could close combat the enemy cavalry unit before or after any of the other unit’s ranged fire. Or, if the enemy cavalry unit is destroyed or retreated by the other units’ ranged fire, and the auxilia unit has not attacked in close combat, it could then possibly use ranged fire.
Ranged Combat (Fire) Procedure
1. Announce firing unit
2. Check Range
3. Check Line of Sight
4. Determine terrain battle dice reduction
5. Resolve Battle
6. Score Hits
7. Apply Retreats
1. Announce Firing Unit:
Announce the ordered unit you want to fire with, and its target unit.
NOTE: Each Ranged Combat attack is declared and resolved one ordered unit at a time, in the sequence of your choice. You must announce and resolve one unit’s Ranged Combat entirely before beginning the next unit’s battle. Regardless of the number enemy units in range, each Ranged Combat is conducted by one eligible, ordered unit against one enemy unit in line of sight and in range. Multiple Ranged Combats against one enemy unit must be made and resolved one at a time.
2. Check Range:
verify that your target is within range. The range is the distance between the firing unit and the target unit, measured in hexes. When counting the range in hexes, include the target unit’s hex, but not the firing unit’s hex.
| RANGED WEAPON UNIT | RANGE |
| Light Infantry, Light Cavalry, Auxilia | 2 hexes |
| Light Bow Infantry and Light Slinger Infantry | 3 hexes |
| Light Bow Cavalry and Light Chariot | 3 hexes |
| Light War Machine | 5 hexes |
| Heavy War Machine | 6 hexes |
3. Check Line of Sight:
Verify that your target is within line of sight. A unit must be able to ‘see’ the enemy unit it wants to fire at. This is known as having ‘line of sight’.
Imagine a line drawn from the center of the hex containing the firing unit to the center of the hex containing the target unit.
This line of sight is blocked only if a hex (or part of a hex) between the battling unit and the target hex contains an obstruction.
Obstructions include a unit or leader (regardless if friend or foe), some terrain features and the edge of the battlefield. The terrain in the target unit’s hex does not block line of sight.
If the imaginary line runs along the edge of one or more hexes that contain obstructions, line of sight is not blocked unless the obstructions are on both sides of the line.
4. Determine terrain battle dice reduction (if any):
Reduce the number of battle dice rolled accordingly. Terrain battle dice reductions are described in the section on Terrain.
5. Resolve Battle:
roll battle dice and resolve resulting dice rolls.
The number of dice rolled depends upon whether or not the unit held its position (did not move) before firing. If the unit did not move prior to firing it may use 2 dice in Ranged Combat; if it moved, it may only use 1 die.
Exceptions:
• An Auxilia unit that moves two hexes cannot use Ranged Combat.
• A Light or Heavy war machine unit that moves cannot use Ranged Combat.
• A light chariot unit may always use 2 dice in Ranged Combat, whether it moves or not.
6. Score Hits on Units:
In Ranged Combat, the unit firing scores 1 hit for each dice symbol rolled that matches the unit type targeted.
- A green circle will score one hit on units with a green circle symbol (with or without a white border).
- A blue triangle will score one hit on units with a blue triangle symbol (with or without a white border).
- A red square will score one hit on units with a red square symbol. A flag does not cause a hit, but may cause the unit to retreat (see Retreat).
A flag does not score a hit but may cause the unit to retreat (see Retreat).
If the attacking unit rolls a leader symbol (leaders affect Close Combat but not Ranged Combat), sword symbol, or a unit symbol that does not match the target unit, the Ranged Combat has missed its target and has no effect.
Effect of Range Combat hits on Units: For each hit scored, 1 block is removed from the target unit. When the last block in the opponent’s unit is removed, you collect a Victory Banner block. If a player rolls more hits than the number of pieces in the enemy unit, these additional hits have no effect.
Hits on Leaders: see Leader Casualty Checks.
7. Apply Retreats:
See Retreat Section