.TH Command MULTI-FIRE
.SY "fire [ sect | ship ] [<ASECT> | <ASHIP>] [<VSECT> | <VSHIP>]
When the multi-fire option is enabled, the syntax of the fire command
changes. It is still used to shoot up land sectors or ships. However,
you may now use multiple ships or multiple sectors to fire from. Return
fire is spread amongst all the firing sectors. You cannot fire on the
land of any nation you are not at war with. (see info relations)
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The general form for shooting at land from land is:
.EX 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.
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The general form for shooting at land from ships is:
.EX fire ship <ASHIPS> <VSECT>
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The general form for firing at ships from land is:
.EX fire sect <ASECTS> <VSHIP>
Again, <VSHIP> is the victim ship number.
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The general form for firing at ships from ships is:
.EX fire ship <ASHIPS> <VSHIP>
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If not specified on the command line
the program will ask for the sector(s) or ship(s) FROM which you are firing,
(<ASECT> or <ASHIP>).
It will also prompt you for targets for each sector/ship firing, if you
did not specify the target on the command line.
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The only sector that may fire is a fortress,
which must have at least two 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 the \*Qnumber\*U of guns,
(with a maximum of 7), times the technology factor,
(which has a maximum of 1. see \*Qinfo technology\*U).
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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.
If the ship can fire more than one gun and <NUMBER> was not
specified on the command line the program will ask how many
you wish to fire.
See \*Qinfo ship-types\*U for ship gun ranges.
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Forts and non-depth-charge-equipped ships
 cannot hit submarines on the high seas.
The only way to attack a submarine is to have a depth-charge-equipped
ship drop a depth charge on it, costing two shells.
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The program then prints a satisfying \*QKaboom!!!\*U and,
assuming you were in range, inflicts damage.
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Ships lose mobility points equal to 1/2 the cosrt they would
pay to move 1 sector for each shot fired.
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The damages inflicted vary with efficiency of the attacker,
the size of the guns
(battleship guns are four times as big as patrol boat guns),
the number of guns fired, and the armor of the victim.
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An illustrative example of shelling land:
.EX fir sect 34,18 36,18
.NF
Kaboom!!!
13% damage done to sector 34,18
.FI
Meanwhile, the owner of sector 35,18 might be logged on and would
perhaps see the following:
.NF
[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 ...
.FI
.NF
[15:98] Command: read
BULLETIN!       dated Sat Jul 30 16:18:02 1984
Country #9 shelled 34,18
Shall I burn it? y
.FI
.NF
[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
.FI
Note that the shell did about 13% damage in the sector.

The player could have typed:
.EX fir sect #0 ?des=f 36,18

In that case, ALL forts in realm 0 would have fired on sector 36,18.
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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).
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Also, any friendly forts or ships within range of the attacker
that all such forts will return fire.
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If a ship fired on has guns and shells it will fire back AND
any other ships or forts of the same nationality that are in range will also
fire on you.
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All return fire is split evenly over all attacking sectors/ships, and is
adjust by the ratio of defending things to attacking things.
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As a change from the original fire command, with multi-fire enabled,
you will not return fire on your own ships.
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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...
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See also : attack, assault, torpedo, technology, relations
If the multi-fire option is not enabled, see fire
