Tim, I get what you are saying, and maybe I am not explaining myself clearly enough. I am talking about short range (read: less drift due to decreased travel distance), compounded by concentrated fire (read: more rounds likely to hit target) in a squad-based, fluid, chaotic battlefield where most indirect fire weapons already have massive penalties (balanced out by their ability to fire indirectly).
Therefore, the existing penalties for the weapon combined with the penalties for speculative fire (pp. 57-58; Spotting), this issue of abuse should never even come into play.
OFFICIAL ANSWER
After researching this, I am confident that this is how it should work:Step 1:The F.O. must establish communications (LD Test). Failure indicates that the Action is wasted. Subsequent attempts may be made for the expenditure of 1 Action, each. Success indicates that communications have, indeed, been established, and the unit conducting speculative fire may fire once per Action per remaining AC of the F.O., including the Action during which communications were established (i.e.: If the F.O. is successful on the first Action, then all of their Actions
(3, in most cases) may be used by the firing unit, assuming that they have at least an equal number of Actions remaining).
Step 2:The firing unit conducts their Ranged Fire Actions with the following modifiers:
- The first salvo of shots is at -4 RC (in addition to any other modifiers, including the weapon).
- Subsequent shots improve by +2 RC per shot.
- If the first round is used as a "spotter round," then it does no damage (all models of the firing unit must perform this Action if it is chosen. Assume that they did nothing while the spotter round was evaluated or whatever). All subsequent shots to be preformed at +2 RC, cumulative.
Note: Firing models may only expend as many Actions as the F.O. has remaining, including the Action during which communications were established. - After all attacks have been resolved, both the F.O. and the firing unit are marked as Activated for the Turn.
Example:
A Gray Ghost (Special Ability: Forward Observer) attempts to establish communication with a squad of four Pathfinders. The Gray Ghost's LD is 14. The player rolls a 15; failure. The player decides to attempt it, again. This time, a 7 is rolled; success! The Gray Ghost has established communications, and may, now, call in fire from the Pathfinders, targeting a point to which the Gray Ghost has LOS, and upon which the Pathfinders may legally fire. The Pathfinders may each fire, twice (the number of Actions that the F.O. has remaining, including the Action during which communicatin was established). They would not be able to fire with all of their Actions, nor would they be allowed to do anything else with their remaining Actions, as they have, now, been activated. Their first shots will be at -4 RC, in addition to any other modifiers (inluding the visibility of the target as viewed by the F.O.); their second shots would be at -2 RC.
Should the decision be made to spend the first AC as a "spotter round,", their only shots, then, would be taken at +2 RC, in addition to all other modifiers.
Does this clarify it? Obviously, the firing unit cannot have been activated in the turn prior to being used in such a way, unless the expended AC's are from Wait or Ambush, in which case the AC available for firing would be limited by their remaiing AC's, too. In other words, even if the F.O. has two Actions left, the Pathfinders would not be able to fire twice unless they, too, had two Actions on Wait (they do have Ambush, afterall). If only one Actionis available (either F.O. or Pathfinders), then I would highly recommend not firing the "spotter round."
