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Posts: 465
Joined: 10/10/2001
From: Austin, TX
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If you look in the encyclopedia, on the information page for each unit, there is a entry next to the weapons list labeled: ACC. This is the accuracy rating for the weapon and the number of hexes away that the weapon has a 50% base chance to hit. I consider this optimal range.
The answer is a bit more complicated than that, though. Someone mentioned on one thread that it appears more difficult to spot a unit that has it's range set low -- like 0, 1 or 2, than when it is set farther out. (I haven't tested this myself, but I'll take the word of the old hands on things like that.) There is also the problem of giving away your position by op firing at targets when you stand little chance of hitting or damaging them.
For scouts and snipers I tend to set really low ranges, like 0 or 1, unless I have a particular area I want them to cover that's wider (like a clearing in the woods). I may set the lead squad in a moving infantry formation to range 2, while the other squads are set to 0, 1 0r 2, depending on the terrain. The rear squad(s) I'll set to 0 or 1, because they're the reserve and (I hope) will see few enemy that the others haven't seen. Stationary, the max is about 3 with support (like MG teams) set to overlap the closer infantry setting. I vary this for terrain, what the formation mission is, etc. If I'm trying to ambush some light armor, for example, everyone may be set to 1 so I don't give away my position until the enemy is right up to me.
AT weapons get longer ranges -- again, adjusted for the terrain and mission -- but even then I tend to keep them short so the lead armor gets close enough that I can have a chance to take them out with one shot.
Tanks, TDs, etc. are a different story. On the move I'll set them around 5 or so. They may draw fire from farther away, but if they are moving through terrain LOS obsticles, they aren't likely to get a good shot much farther away than that. Stationary, the armor can target way out there -- to about 10 or 15, depending on the pen rating and the ACC rating of the gun. Even then, within a given formation, different vehicles in different positions relative to terrain features and such will get shorter ranges.
The thing to keep in mind is the range scall of the game. One hex is 50 yards, or about 45 meters across. This means that 10 or 11 hexes is about half a kilometer, 20 hexes is about a kilometer, and 35 hexes is about a mile. An AT gun may be able to fire at a target two kilometers away, but it isn't likely to do much more than give the crew a headache. Unless it's an 88, but that's a whole different story. Rifle effectiveness drops fast after about 100 yards or so. Although it is still possible to do some damage at that range, the odds aren't so hot, and you have more chance of giving away your position than doing any real damage.
One thing those long range shots can do for you, however, is slow the enemy down. If you actually hit something it will have at least a minor effect on the target unit's moral. Armor buttons up when hit, which reduces the chance of spotting even nearby units, and infantry will go to ground (pinned) which can slow them and reduce their chances for spotting and hitting anything as well.
This is longer than I expected.
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Setting range? - 
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