Unable to fire at range 0

[RetLT]

I have noticed that units with an MG in their final weapons slot such as Kangaroos and Italian tankettes will not fire at targets that are at range 0. I was just wondering if this is a bug or by design.

[Mobhack]

Its always been that way, since SSI allowed entry into the same hex as an enemy back in SP1 days - probably one of the later patches to it. Previous to that, you could not enter a hex with an enemy unit in it (though sometimes you could, if you moved multiple hexes and that took you into one that had been hidden. But if the enemy was located, there was no way into that hex until the enemy was a wreck.)

Slot 4 has always been weird - its meant to be for hull-mounted weapons. My guess is that the code that does bearings allocation for a fixed weapon aborts at range 0, since range 0 never occurred in the original game.

I have also noticed that if I try to fire one weapon at an enemy in the same hex, then all weapons will fire - but usually not the slot 4 one.

Now on our to-do list to fix, if it is fixable.

[RetLT]

Thank for the explanation.

I have also had this happen with AFVs that were damaged and down to only the #4 slot weapon so it probably is a coding issue.

[Mobhack]

The slot 4 weapon cannot fire at things outside the front arc, as its the bow gun. (Exception - AAA weapons now do fire 360 degrees, due to a code change in the latest patch).

When disabled, the hull cannot turn to face the target any more, so the unit is unable to fire at enemies outside its frontal arc.

[Steves308]

I have found if you rotate the vehicle around in the hex, eventually it will be able to fire the slot 4 weapon. My experience seems to show that if you face vehicle in the direction of your starting lines, then the slot 4 weapons will fire at a target in the same hex. I'm not sure this is 100% or not, just seems to work for me most of the time. Though by facing your front towards your lines, your rear ends up pointing towards the enemy lines, and that does seem to wake up the enemy's hidden AT guns... ;^)

Steve