Heavy field guns.

Guys,
after reading through these posts it looks like everyone has a different idea/interpretation of the barrage weapons rules (pp.60-61 of the rule book). Let me clarify:
1. Firing is done by unit.
2. Read the rule...in step 4 you get one roll to hit for each target under the template....not one roll to hit for each gun in the firing battery.
3.Look at the second paragraph under barrage weapons on page 60. If a weapon has the barrage special rule then the entire unit must fire as barrage. No direct fire over open sights where each gun gets a shot. The exception to this is the anti-tripod gun which has a special "either/or rule that lets it barrage or direct fire. Of course those are units of 1 gun anyway.
4.The value of the multiple gun battery is reflected in the power roll, not the roll to hit. So a battery of three heavy field guns with Barrage 3 and power +4 would be as follows.....3x3=9 but template is limited to 4 so you wind up with a barrage 4 template and a +5 bonus to the damage roll that adds to the base power of +4....yes that adds up to +9 power assuming you hit. This gives you an excellent chance of getting a penetrating hit, but if you do, it is still just one roll on the crit chart.
5. Keep in mind that you still only get one "to hit" roll for each target under the template. This roll is at the target's base DEF plus cover from terrain the target is in (but not intervening).

So this means that against a tripod in the open, a heavy field gun battery still only gets 1 roll to hit needing a 6 or higher (tripod DEF is 6).
3 guns in battery=1 roll needing 6+
2 guns in battery=1 roll needing 6+
1 gun in battery=1 roll needing 6+

If you actually hit, (50% chance if you do the math), then you get to roll to penetrate the armor. This is where the power bonus from multiple guns barraging really comes into play. Back to our 3 gun heavy artillery battery, you have a base modifier of +4 Power plus and extra +5 power from the barrage template carryover. An assault tripod has armor=11, so you get 1 roll with a net +9 modifier to equal or exceed the 11 armor. That means you would get a crit on any roll but a 1.

However, even if you do score a penetrating hit, the roll is still a straight line 1D10 roll on the chart with no modifiers so you still only have a 20% chance of destroying the tripod.

So yes, artillery is powerful and can score penetrating hits, but essentially their damage is limited since they have a lot riding on the single roll to hit for the battery plus even if they penetrate, the crit roll can't be modified.

Now, if you have a unit of 3 MKIII tanks, that is 9 rolls to hit the target. So you will get 4 or 5 hits. Each hit must roll to penetrate with a +2 power, so much reduced chances for each hit to penetrate, but if you do get multiple penetrations, the single die roll that you get on the crit chart gets that +1 for each additional hit after the first, making it more likely that you will kill the tripod. So, artillery is important but it is not the best tool in the toolbox in isolation. It is fantastic as part of a combined arms team.

The rules as written actually work pretty well when they are played correctly. Therein lies the root of many of the issues with the game. So many people learned the game by word of mouth and not by continued reference to the rulebooks (I think Advanced Squad Leader or Flames of War) and as a result have not learned some things correctly. This is greatly compounded by the fact that the rules are not exactly super cohesive and sometimes things are scattered in places you wouldn't think to look for them unless you knew they were there.

Not at all Drew, I share the same opinion as you. I made the walk through post mainly because different people will misinterpret different parts of the rules on this, and when that affects their enjoyment of the game as well as their opinion regarding the integrity of the game. My hopes are that by laying out stuff in my post it will help people understand any errors that they had so they can start to do things correctly. One realization that I have come to grips on is that the current rules as written are the current and near future state. They aren't that bad, but need the TLC and support via Q&A and FAQs to pull together the cohesive understanding. The currently printed rulebooks are the common denominator that binds current and potential future players together including many who will never post on the forum or go to a gaming convention. We need to make sure the current rules as written are understood well by as many people as possible if we are going to keep players and draw new ones. Nothing turns off new players and existing players like having the rules change every time they go somewhere different to play. It is just frustrating. Even more so when you have a gaming circle and that entire circle has learned an incorrect understanding.

I understand your thoughts here on the rules as written for heavy artillery.  But with the rules as written light artillery and the mobile howitzers do not get any advantage for more than one gun firing. These guns only have a one inch barrage rating so three guns firing still have the same hit chance and the same fire power rating with a mini 3 inch template. 

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I also prefer the way the artillery works in FOW. The AQMF rules seem odd for the reasons you state...small template and for me round template. To be honest, they could have just dispensed with the current template as it normally means you will get one or maybe a second (if bases are touching) unit under the template regardless of what is shooting.  My gut tells me that the round template design goes back to Ernie's roots at Games Workshop, which used a similar sized template for a few things. It might be as simple as that.

Thanks, very helpful!

Given those ranges, what's the Martian response? Sorry if you've covered this in your other thread.