We have received some e-mail and phone questions regarding

who can shoot who, and how many figures may be effected
by automatic weapons such as LMGs, assault rifles,and
SMGs. The rules below spell out in some detail how to deter-
mine who has been hit by small arms fire. The rules for auto-
matic weapons are relatively cut and dried, however the rules
governing riflemen can begin to bog play if players on either
side choose to quibble which figure is in which group of pos-
sible targets. The intent of these rules is to ease play and more
realistically depict battlefield conditions, not to inspire the
authors of legal briefs.
Rifle fire When riflemen fire any non-automatic weapon at
the enemy they must declare a specific group of enemy fig-
ures or at a general area. This grouping could be a squad
crossing a field, a group of enemy in tree line, a gun crew, a
trench. The illustration below gives an example of some tar-
geted groups. Any one figure within the targeted group can be
hit multiple times, even while the figure next to him is unaf-
fected if that is what the rolls indicate. If all figures in the tar-
geted group have the same cover modifier, roll for effect
before randomizing who was hit, this prevents wasted time
caused by randomizing a hit that caused no effect. If the fig-
ures within the area of effect have different cover modifiers
(some are prone and some standing for example) randomize
hits first, then roll for effect for each hit using that figures
specific cover modifier.
Specific Targeting No figure, except a sniper firing from
ambush or using an aimed shot, may ever select a specific tar-
get such as a squad leader or LMG gunner. This rule applies
even to non-sniper figures using an aimed shot and to snipers
firing without Ambush status or using an aimed shot. The
specific targeting rule does not prevent riflemen from firing
at lone figures, lone figures are a separate targeting group and
may be fired at normally. The rule simply prevents riflemen
from picking individuals out of the crowd.
Automatic Weapons For purposes of this rule an automatic
weapon is any weapon with a rate of fire of 3 or more dice per
action. When any automatic weapon fires, any hits should be
randomized among all figures in that weapons arc of fire. The
arc of fire for each type of automatic weapon is described
below.
Arcs of fire All automatic weapons have an arc of fire, that is
determined by the type of gun and distance to target. This arc
of fire is found by imagining a line running from the firing
weapon through the group of figures targeted. Where the line
hits the target group imagine another line perpendicular to the
first. This second line will be 3-6 long, depending on the
type of weapon firing. Finally, draw an imaginary line
between each end of the perpendicular line back to the firing
weapon. This is the arc of fire, randomize hits among all fig-
ures within this arc.
Note: The degree of the cone that comprises the arc of fire is
variable. This is because, although the base of the cone is a
constant dimension, the distance between the base and the
weapon is variable. Obviously bullets continue traveling
Easy ei ght s Bat t l egr ound Wor l d War I I
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Whos hi t
The shooters in this case have 3 separate target
groups to choose from. All three may fire at one group,
one at each group, or two at one group and the third
at another group.
beyond the arc of fire, extending outward from the cone until
stopped by terrain or until their energy is spent. But for game
purposes there is not enough volume of fire to effect figure s
out side the cone. This allows machine gunners to effect a
wider area over a shorter range, or a narrow area over a long
range. Use this same method to determine the area affected
by Raking or Spraying fire.
A machine gun may not set raking fire (or spraying fire)
through terrain that blocks line of sight. However, if line of
sight is obscured by smoke, the raking fire may be placed
through the smoke with no penalty. See the smoke rules
update for more information.
smal l ar ms updat e
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r aki ng f i r e and l os