# How far away should I aim my cannon then?



## Indoctrinator (Jun 6, 2008)

Hi all,

I've just started collect a dwarf army having heard some great things about 8th and had a demo game down my local GW.

I'm planning on using a couple of cannons and in my practise game the store guy recommended aiming the cannon 6" in front of my target. It missed every time it shot.

I've been giving it some thought at whether 8 inches or six inches is in fact the optimal distance. How far away should I be aiming?

I understand there is a bit of variation if i'm targeting a unit with ranks or a single larger model.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

A very rough work-up.

Assuming you do not misfire your cannon ball will end up 2", 4", 6", 8", or 10" closer to the unit than your aiming point. The ball will then bounce 0", 2", 4", 6", 8", or 10" forward.

Obviously the ideal shot will land in front and bounce over the whole unit; however, failing that you wish to hit at least one model.

If you choose *6"* as your aiming point then the shot will start 4", 2", 0" -2" or -4" from the front of the unit.

Assuming 4 ranks of 20mm bases only the last of these will overshoot.

Adding in the bounce 9 of the 30 non-misfires will fail to hit the unit at all.

If you choose *8"* as your aiming point then the shot will start 6", 4", 2" 0" or -2" from the front of the unit.

Assuming 4 ranks of 20mm bases none of these will overshoot.so the starting point appears better.

Adding in the bounce 6 of the 30 non-misfires will fail to hit the unit at all, so the path appears better.

If you choose *10"* as your aiming point then the shot will start 8", 6", 4" 2" or 0" from the front of the unit.

Assuming 4 ranks of 20mm bases none of these will overshoot so the starting point still appears good.

However, adding in the bounce 10 of the 30 non-misfires will fail to hit the unit at all., so the path appears worse than 8".

As the distribution of start and length is approximately bell-shaped the remaining aim points are similarly worse.

Therefore for a 4 rank 20mm based target unit 8" is best.

Hopefully this will help with working out where to aim for different sized units.


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## Indoctrinator (Jun 6, 2008)

Thanks a lot for your help  much appreciated!


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