Z Fire

[scorpio_rocks]

Area fire is, as you rightly say, not used by the AI.

AFAIK it uses the same ammo as firing the weapon in direct fire. ANY weapon may fire at a hex they can see. Some weapons (tripod HMGs, MMGs, etc) can create a beaten zone and fire to area outside their line of site but reachable by a bullet - ie to the range of the weapon through smoke or light cover but not through hills, buildings, etc.

Area fire is a valid real world tactic, but can become overused and "gamey" in PBEM so is often limited by "house" rules.

[Gelainey]

"Z" fire seems to be only HE. This makes sense as just blazing away with AP into a 50 metre area and expecting a useful result is really beyond it. I find Z fire to be most useful when one of my armoured units has been assaulted (hopefully unsuccessfully!) yet the enemy infantry remains unseen. I simply blast away at a few likely spots and hope for the best. I don't find Z fire to be especially more effective than ordinary unobserved fire in this scenario.

[jivemi]

Originally Posted by scorpio_rocks

ANY weapon may fire at a hex they can see. Some weapons (tripod HMGs, MMGs, etc) can create a beaten zone and fire to area outside their line of site but reachable by a bullet - ie to the range of the weapon through smoke or light cover but not through hills, buildings, etc.

Area fire is a valid real world tactic, but can become overused and "gamey" in PBEM so is often limited by "house" rules.

If I'm not mistaken you can z-fire through one hex of smoke or a building into the hex beyond. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks.