Firing at enemy ships?

[Ebbingford]

Playing latest patch and community mod, Brits AWI. Have I missed something to do with getting my shore batteries, which are naval guns, to fire at passing shipping. Have just tried in sep 1778 to set all my naval batteries in forts, Quebec, Halifax, Jamaica, etc, to fire at passing ships and found that the bombard button isn't even there
I had a captured unit in Savanah which had the bombard button and also one in New York which did. I tried to work out what was enabling the button, ie level of entrenchment, stacked with other units, inside a fort or out, and when I clicked next turn the two who could bombard now could not
What are the conditions that enable naval guns on shore to fire at enemy shipping? (Can't find anything in the manual about it)

[lodilefty]

There is no button to order a shore battery to bombard [unlike AACW]

Only naval batteries can bombard at passing ships, and must be entrenched to level 2 to do so.

I would need your saved game that shows the captured units with a bombard button to check for a potential bug...

[Ebbingford]

Yes it is only the naval batteries that I'm trying to get to fire at any passing ships. I have them entrenched to level 2 and still no "bombard passing ships" button is available, it has the disband unit one there instead.
In the attached save the coastal battery in New York can bombard but the coastal battery in Halifax can not, both entrenched to level 2.

[arsan]

Hi

As i understand it there is no button because the "bombard passing ships" order is enabled by default and you cannot order them to "not bombard".
But the big difference with AACW (what makes the button not needed on WIA) is that the only guns who can bombard ships on WIA are naval guns, specifically designed to fire on ships. It makes no sense to order them not to do their only function (they cannot fire on land targets).
The normal arty (which you can order to bombard or not on AACW) has no ship bombard capacity on WIA, so it will never fire on ships (or be fired by them) unless in support of a land combat.

Now, the strange thing would be that some units had the button.
Regards!

[Ebbingford]

Yes the button is there, look at the New York battery in my save game, it is the only coastal battery with the bombard button. None of the others have it although the battery in Savanah did have it a couple of turns earlier. Check those in Halifax and Jamaica. If bombard is the default action of naval guns how come they are not bombarding even when a fleet is visible in their coastal region?

[lodilefty]

Yes the button is there, look at the New York battery in my save game, it is the only coastal battery with the bombard button. None of the others have it although the battery in Savanah did have it a couple of turns earlier. Check those in Halifax and Jamaica. If bombard is the default action of naval guns how come they are not bombarding even when a fleet is visible in their coastal region?

The ships must move through two adjacent water regions to be 'targets'

[arsan]

And sometimes fleets manage to evade the combat (run the forts, lets say) and there is no bombarding.
I will keep and eye for those buttons you say Ebbingford.
I guess they should not be there don't they Lodi?

[lodilefty]

I confirm that the button appears

It seems to be only under certain conditions.
Unit alone = no button
Unit in Large Army = button
Unit in another [small] army = no button
Large army is merged 1 unit at a time into small army = no button


Will forward to the dev team.

Thank you!!!!!

[LUDOPEREZ]

I thought that the button always appeared.
In fact any stack to stop outside a fortification has the button after two turns

[Ebbingford]

I now have a stack with siege artillery in it, entrenched to level two, no naval guns at all, but with the bombard passing ships button.
Methinks something is not WAD
At the start of my campaign I put all naval batteries inside forts, on their own, not stacked with anything else, I also did this with all captured naval guns. The only two so far that the bombard ships button has appeared on are New York and Savanah, both captured units.

[lodilefty]

Not WAD.
A bug report is in for the dev team.

Thanks for your report!