In a recent game against Dwarfs, my Gutter Runners infiltrated the enemy lines to attack a hill that, not surprisingly, was crammed with cannons. The Dwarf artillery was busy laying a heavy barrage on my advancing furry horde. During the Dwarf shooting phase one more gun materialized out of thin air, right in front of my surprised Gutter Runners. It was the classic Dwarvish Invisible Cannon ploy. At this point a strange thing happened; my ninja-rats reacted in a most unexpected way and started to laugh maliciously at the Dwarf crew.
You see, the gun had appeared too close to them to be of any threat. As many experienced players know, in Warhammer the safest place to be if you don't want to get hit by a cannon, is sitting right in front of its muzzle! How is this possible? Well, if the crew wants to hit a target that is very close, they will level the gun and the player will declare 0 inches. The problem is then that the minimum distance the cannonball can travel before hitting the ground is 2", so if you are standing in front of the cannon and inside those two inches you are perfectly safe (yes, I've heard of Runes of Immolation, but that's not the point!).
In reality, let's say during the Napoleonic period, a regiment a few meters in front of a cannon would surely not have been as confident as my Gutter Runners. This was because as well as solid cannonballs, these guns could be loaded with different kinds of ammunition, some of which were specifically designed to deal with massed troops very close to the artillery piece. Names like grapeshot or canister instilled fear in veteran soldiers, as that kind of ammunition consisted of a load of metal balls, nails, and various other small metal projectiles. When fired, this saturated a wide cone-shaped area in front of the gun wiht deadly shards of metal. The range was quite short, because those little projectiles quickly lose energy in flight, but at point blank range the effects were horrifying.
Many kinds of 'special ammunition' have been developed throughout history. In this article I have tried to represent some of them in Warhammer, to make the game a bit more realistic and to avoid silly situations like the one involving my Gutter Runners and the Dwarfs. Now it's the Dwarf crew's turn to laugh...
All war machines are equipped with an unlimited supply of the special ammunition specified below (and when I say Dwarf Cannons I do not mean Organ Guns or Flame Cannons, but just the normal, plain, old cannon!). The crew of the war machine can decide which ammunition to use at the beginning of each shooting phase, and must declare this before rolling any dice. If the player does not say anything and rolls the dice, assume that normal ammunition has been employed.
Full charge As normal
Half charge The crew decides to employ a smaller charge of powder to reduce the chances of a destructive malfunction. Their shots will be less effective, but they are almost sure of not blowing up their cannon.
Maximum range you may guess: half normal.
Strength 7, D3 Wounds, no save.
Distances rolled on Artillery dice: halved (e.g. if you roll an 8, the ball travels/bounces 4").
+1 to rolls on the Misfire table.
Grapeshot Seeing the enemy are a bit too close for comfort, the crew loads a deadly canister full of copper coins, nails, etc...
Roll the Artillery dice. If it's a Misfire, roll normally on the table. If it is any other result, ignore the dice and place the flame template straight in front of the gun. All models under the template (even if only grazed by it) suffer a Strength 4 hit (1 Wound, -2 save modifier).
Chained shot Invented for naval warfare, this ammunition consists of two cannonballs linked by a chain, capable if inflicting horrible damage on massed regiments of troops as well as on large creatures.
Hits two models-wide column in the affected unit (instead of the normal single model-wide column).
Maximum range you may guess: Halved
Strength 6, D6+1 Wounds, no save
Distances rolled on Artillery dice: Halved
-1 to rolls on the misfire table.
Catapults and Mortars
Single rock/explosive normal
Multiple rocks/shrapnel These projectiles split/explode during their descending trajectory, showering the unfortunate troops below with a terrible rain of death.
Position template as normal, all models beneath (even if only grazed by it) suffer a Strength 4 hit (1 Wound, -2 save modifier)
Incendiary These missiles are made of a concoction of highly flammable that ignite on impact and transform the area hit into a blazing inferno.
As normal, but S4, 1 Wound, -1save modifier.
In addition the unit is moved backwards until it is completely out of the template. If it hits a wood or a building, on a 4+ the item of scenery becomes impassable terrain for the rest of the battle and troops occupying it must move out of it by the quickest possible route.
Gruesome (Catapults only) Sometimes a regiment has to endure the shocking experience of being hit by the remains of former comrades or civilians slaughtered by the enemy and transformed into grisly projectiles.
As normal, but only the model under the center hole of the template is hit, suffering a Strength 5 hit (1 Wound, -2 save modifier). The unit has to take a Panic test, regardless of casualties suffered. If they roll a 2 for the Panic test , the unit will Hate all of the enemy army for the rest of the battle.
Normal bolt As normal.
Reinforced Bolt All bolt throwers carry a reserve of heavy bolts, with bands of iron and sharp blades riveted along the shaft.
Range: Halved
Strength 6, D3+1 Wounds , no save.
Aiming Device One of the many works of the genius Leonardo of Miragliano was the development of optics applied to targeting devices for artillery.
The crew can choose not to shoot in order to aim more carefully at one target in sight (declare which unit the are aiming at). If the target is still in sight in the next shooting phase , they can choose to fire at it with a +2 bonus on the roll to hit , to fire at a different target with no bonuses to hit, or to spend another phase aiming at another target.