                                Command : FIRE

NAME
   fire - Fire artillery from sector/ship/unit on sector/ship

Level: Basic

SYNTAX
   [##:##]  Command  : fire [sect | ship | land] [<ASECT> | <ASHIP> | <AUNIT>]
[<VSECT> | <VSHIP>]

The general form for shooting at land from a sector is:
   [##:##] Command : fire sect <ASECTS> <VSECT>
Where <VSECT> is the victim sector, (the sector AT which you are shooting, not
the sector FROM which you are shooting).  ASECTS is a sector or sectors.

The general form for shooting at land from ships is:
   [##:##] Command : fire ship <ASHIPS> <VSECT>

The general form for shooting at land from units is:
   [##:##] Command : fire land <AUNITS> <VSECT>

The general form for firing at ships from land is:
   [##:##] Command : fire sect <ASECTS> <VSHIP>
Again, <VSHIP> is the victim ship number.

The general form for firing at ships from ships is:
   [##:##] Command : fire ship <ASHIPS> <VSHIP>

The general form for firing at ships from units is:
   [##:##] Command : fire land <AUNITS> <VSHIP>

If  not  specified on the command line the program will ask for the sector(s),
land unit(s), or ship(s) FROM which you are firing,  (<ASECTS>,  <AUNITS>,  or
<ASHIPS>).  It will also prompt you for targets for each sector/unit/ship fir-
ing, if you did not specify the target on the command line.

The only sector that may fire is a fortress, which must be at least  5%  effi-
cient,  have  at  least five military for a firing crew, at least one shell to
fire, and a gun big enough to reach the victim location; range is equal to  (7
* ((tech+50)/(tech+200)). If the fortress is at least 60% efficient, it gets a
+1 range bonus.  A fortress firing uses 1 shell.

Note that forts cannot fire if the NO_FORT_FIRE option is enabled.   See  info
"Options" for more info.

Any  military ship may fire as long as it has at least one crew (which must be
military, not civilians), at least one gun, at least one  shell,  and  has  at
least  60% efficiency.  A ship's gun range is its firing range,  as  shown  by
the show command, divided by two, times ((tech+50)/(tech+200).   A  ship  uses
one shell per two guns firing.

Any  land  unit may fire as long as it has at least one military, at least one
shell, and has at least 40% efficiency.  A land unit's gun range is its firing
range,   as   shown   by   the   show   command,   divided   by   two,   times
((50+tech)/(200+tech)).  A land unit uses the amount of ammo, as shown by  the
lstat  command, each time it fires.  A unit with less shells than its ammo re-
quirement will do proportionately less damage.  (See "show" for firing ranges)

Forts, land units, and non-depth-charge-equipped ships
 cannot hit submarines on the high seas.  The only way to fire on a  submarine
is to have a depth-charge-equipped ship drop a depth charge on it, costing two
shells.  (Note you can also hit subs using ASW planes or subs which have  sub-
torp capability.)

The  program  then  prints  a satisfying "Kaboom!!!" and, assuming you were in
range, inflicts damage.

Ships lose 15 mobility points for each shot fired. (If the NOMOBCOST option is
in use, ships pay no mobility for firing.)

The damages inflicted vary with efficiency of the attacker, the number of guns
fired (7 being the useful max for forts), and the armor of the  victim.   Land
sectors  take  damage  depending on their defensive strength.  Use the command
'show sector stats' to show defensive strengths.   The  higher  the  defensive
strength, the less damage the sector will take.

An illustrative example of shelling land:
   [##:##] Command : fir sect 36,18 34,18

   Kaboom!!!
   13% damage done to sector 34,18

Meanwhile,  the owner of sector 34,18 might be logged on and would perhaps see
the following:

   [15:98] Command: cen 34,18
   Sat Jul 30 16:18:01 1984
   CENSUS              del cnt
     sect      eff mob cmf cmf % * civ mil food min gmin fert oil
    34,18  i  100% 127 ... ...     200 100   23  23   31   73  18
           1 sector
   You have a telegram waiting ...

   [15:98] Command: read
   BULLETIN!       dated Sat Jul 30 16:18:02 1984
   Country #9 shelled 34,18
   Shall I burn it? y

   [15:98] Command: cen 34,18
   Sat Jul 30 16:18:26 1984
   CENSUS              del cnt
     sect      eff mob cmf cmf % * civ mil food min gmin fert oil
    34,18  i   87% 110 ... ...     175  83   20  23   31   73  18
           1 sector

Note that the shell did about 13% damage in the sector.

The player could have typed:
   [##:##] Command : fir sect #0 ?des=f 34,18

In that case, ALL forts in realm 0 would have fired on sector 34,18.

If the sector fired on is a fort with guns and shells it will fire  back  with
approximately the same damages (assuming it has the range).

Also,  any  friendly  forts, units, or ships within range of the attacker will
return fire, including those belonging to allies, if the  allies  are  at  war
with the attacker as well.

If  a ship fired on has guns and shells it will fire back AND any other ships,
units, or forts of the same nationality that are in range will  also  fire  on
you.

All return fire is split evenly over all attacking sectors/units/ships, and is
adjust by the ratio of defending things to attacking things.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Gun ranges, both on offense AND defense, are somewhat  random.
If  you have a range of 4.16, you can always shoot to 4, and have a 16% chance
of being able to fire at range 5...

SEE ALSO
   attack, assault, torpedo, Technology, relations, Damage, Combat, Ships

