Firing once and twice...is it that easy to count?

Kijug

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For this discussion, assume a Good Order squad is firing. Ignore FP modifiers, LOS, DRMs, MP/MF, etc. Just plain "how many times can a squad fire".

I'm writing a program to play around with ASL data (long story) but I'm trying to determine if a squad has "two fires" capability or
if it is more complicated than that. I.e., can my program merely count 0, 1, 2, or does the "type of fire" matter?

So in the Prep Fire Phase, a squad can:
1a. Squad fires Inherent FP ("one")
1b. Squad fires SW ("two")
-- or --
2a. Squad fires SW ("one")
2b. Squad fires Inherent FP ("two")
-- or --
3a. Squad fires SW ("one")
3b. Squad fires SW ("two")
-- or --
4a. Squad fires Inherent FP and SW together ("one" + "two")
4b. Squad fires SW#1 and SW#2 together ("one" + "two")

I think with the Prep Fire Phase, this counting scheme works fine. At this point after two fires the squad can not fire again...at all. Correct?

I think the Advancing Fire Phase has options mostly identical to the Prep Fire Phase as above...correct? Albeit if the squad isn't an Opp Firer he fires at 1/2 FP.

The real trick, then, is with MPh/Defensive First Fire and/or DFPh. So let's try this.

MPh/Defensive First Fire
1a. Squad fires Inherent FP ("one/First Fire")
1b. Squad fires SW ("two/Final Fire")
-- or --
2a. Squad fires SW ("one/First Fire")
2b. Squad fires Inherent FP ("two/Final Fire")
-- or --
3a. Squad fires SW ("one/First Fire")
3b. Squad fires SW ("two/Final Fire")
-- or --
4a. Squad fires Inherent FP and SW together ("one/First Fire" + "two/Final Fire")
4b. Squad fires SW#1 and SW#2 together ("one/First Fire" + "two/Final Fire")
-- or --
5a. Squad fires Inherent FP ("one/First Fire")
5b. Squad fires Inherent FP ("two/Final Fire")

It's the #5 condition that is unique to MPh/DFF. The 5b condition fires at 1/2 FP. All other "second fires" fire at full FP.

>>> And, knowing it is MPh, a "third/FPF" fire exists and all usable MG must be used.
This is where my counting gets messed up. I have to "know" the status of the unit and phase.

Defensive Fire Phase (squad hasn't fired yet)
This acts like Prep Fire and there is no option #5 like in DFF...correct?

Is my strange "one-two" firing count make sense? I'm trying to think of a combo where a squad fires Inherent FP, then SW, but then fires his "second Inherent FP at 1/2". But I think that is only during DFF #5 above...and is considered a "third fire".

Comments? Or strange replies?

P.S. Good luck to all you at ASLOK. I'm just poking around with SASL for now.
 

jrv

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I'm having trouble understanding some of this. During the PFPh a SW with ROF can potentially fire for any number of times. During the enemy MPh a friendly squad may theoretically fire as many times as the enemy OB can spend MF or MP. If the enemy OB consists of a MMC and a SMC it's possible that a friendly squad could shoot sixteen times, and maybe more.

If I were programming something like this I would probably not try to base behavior on count and instead use a state machine to track the current state of the unit, especially for DFF.

JR
 

mgmasl

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Only once on the same location or same moving stack..
Squad has IFP and a SW posible use per turn.. or Two SW.. Half squad has IFP or ONE SW per turn.. during Enemy Movement Phase /Defensive Fire Phase there are more options to fire because Subsequent First Fire and Final Protection Fire.
 

von Marwitz

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Final Protective Fire is an interesting thing in many respects.

It can be possibly dangerous for SW because a unit may be forced to use Sustained Fire which increases the risk of Malfunction/Breakage (A8.31).

Against units with low morale, it can be a tactic to force them to use mandatory FPF. An example would be to "configure" and trigger a Japanese Banzai Charge in a way, that the defenders will already have Final Fired when (another) Japanese unit enters its Location. The US unit with a Morale of 6 will likely break or pin, increasing the odds for the Japanese in CC or might despatch of the US unit for Failure to Rout.

The same way, FPF can drive the attacker nuts in another way. If the unit using FPF has a high morale, then the risk of breaking due to the MC for using FPF might well be exceeded by the benefits. Imagine a Japanese 448 squad with a 9-1 Leader. It will have an effective morale of 10, so the chances of being harmed by a MC due to conducting FPF are not that large. But this one squad+leader might fire repeatedly and with decent chances wreak havoc single-handedly standing like a rock in the flood.

von Marwitz
 

Kijug

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I'm having trouble understanding some of this. During the PFPh a SW with ROF can potentially fire for any number of times. During the enemy MPh a friendly squad may theoretically fire as many times as the enemy OB can spend MF or MP. If the enemy OB consists of a MMC and a SMC it's possible that a friendly squad could shoot sixteen times, and maybe more.

If I were programming something like this I would probably not try to base behavior on count and instead use a state machine to track the current state of the unit, especially for DFF.

JR
Thanks y'all...I know a little confusing.
I'll look into the state machine...that might work better.
 

jrv

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Thanks y'all...I know a little confusing.
I'll look into the state machine...that might work better.
Among other problems the state machine solves, it makes it easier to handle cowering. If a cower-capable squad fires a MG alone in the PFPh and cowers, it it is marked with a Prep counter and can't fire its inherent in the PFPh. You have to rejigger the whole two-count thing if you're doing it by count. In one of the recent threads there was a mention of a defensive fire flow chart somewhere out on the web. I don't know if there are similar charts for PFPh, DFPh and AFPh, but you will effectively have to create one for each to plan your states. You don't say what you are doing this for, but given that certain actions are potentially infinite (ROF), you probably need to cut your recursion when the probability is below some threshold.

JR
 
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