Hi guys,
Just watched a video on YouTube and saw the high elves shooting for about 4 or 5 rows behind each other.

Anyone find that you can only shoot from behind one person a bit unrealistic / annoying in SBG?

That's what volley fire was used for in the old rules but I find it strange that they don't allow it with the new rules

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This sort of shooting is what the volley fire rule was built to represent. Also the sbg game is never on the same scale as the real battles, so for the sake of scaling, the rules represent this moment rather well.

Theoretically, yes its annoying. But its extremely unlikely that you will ever have enough archers to form more than one rank.

One interesting tactic you could try, is having the front rank Lie Down. That then clears the Line of Sight for the 3rd rank, and they can now fire "over the shoulder" of the 2nd rank. You will need to judge your timing carefully, as your 1st rank will be vulnerable if you do not stand them up in time before they are charged.

This would rarely be a useful tactic though, as you would typically want your archers on the flanks or in terrain features (ruins, woods, hills) from which they can snipe at the enemy. You would only really use it in situations when you want all your archers behind your main battle line / shield wall. e.g. to protect them from cavalry and monsters or enemy archers, or to hold chokepoints like the gap between two buildings or ruins.

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Or to protect them from a phalanx, especially elves.

Maybe, if there is another hobbit rulebook released, they will re-design volley-fire?

I reckon that there will be a volley fire reintroduction/redesign by the time Battle of the Five Armies is in the films, considering that it is the only massive, grand, hugely impressive battle in the Hobbit.

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Or maybe just a scenario specific rule if theyre really lazy...

Volley fire will not be making a re-appearance in SBG. I can assure everyone of that. When I was at WHW for the ToS I spoke to Adam (who wrote the rules) and asked why it was taken out, he said it was the first thing to go because it didnt make the game feel skirmishy.

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...you can shoot past as many of your men as you care to. As long as the target is not obstructed by any of the friendly models.

Yeah that too. Just stagger the formation so your archers are firing between the warriors in front, then close up the ranks.

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You can do it with Evil models - just have ItW rolls. The reason it isn't there any more (and never will be) is because it discourages the SKIRMISH part of the skirmish game If you want ranks of archers firing like this, play WotR, which is designed for it

EDIT: Meant to add - if realism is your thing, that style of shooting isn;t your best bet. 2) Longbows are generally fired in an arching trajectory. 2) They've trained hundreds-thousands of years to fight in that style, whereas other forces haven't.

Also, Napoleonic troops couldn't fire their muskets in three ranks because of the danger of hitting their own mates. I imagine bows wouldn't be that much different.

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