Exposure and moving the gun

Every shot gives your position away a little. The enemy's flash-spotters and sound-rangers need two or three good observations of Old Marta to triangulate her. Then their guns start hunting her, and you have to move. Moving is her only defence.

The exposure meter

The exposure meter sits at the top left of the gun yard, and in a small gun window on the map table. It tells you in plain words what the enemy has, such as "One bearing on you."

• Adds exposure: every shot, and more for big charges, firing at night and missing camouflage.
• Takes it away: time, and moving. A move to a new siding drops it back to zero.

As the enemy closes in, the words change: "They have two bearings. Move soon."

The warning signs

The radio warns you first: an enemy sound-ranging balloon is up. Then ranging shots land in the gun yard, wide at first, then creeping closer. They bracket you exactly the way you bracket them. In the yard you hear each incoming shell 3 to 5 seconds before it lands.

Relocating

Press R (LB on a gamepad) and click another surveyed siding on the map table. Then the crew goes to work.

1. Limber up30 s
2. Travel40–120 s
3. Emplace30 s

Limbering up and emplacing take about 30 seconds each. Travel takes 40 to 120 seconds, and you follow the train on the map. Once Marta is emplaced, exposure is back to zero. See The rail network and Moving Marta before they find her.

Stale solutions

From a new siding every bearing and range has changed. Pinned targets in your notebook turn stale until you work out a new solution. The firing table still applies; the geometry does not. See Ballistics and the firing table.

If they find you

A hit damages a part: the traverse turns slower, a crew member goes to the aid tent, or the crew loads more slowly. Repeated hits force Marta back to the railhead for 2 to 3 minutes of repairs, while the war carries on without you. A single hit is never game over. See Old Marta.

Tricks

• Camouflage nets. Less exposure for every shot. They take 20 seconds to rig.
• Shoot and scoot. Fire a short salvo, then move at once.
• A dummy gun. Leave a wooden dummy on an old siding to draw their fire.
• Counter-battery fire. Shoot back at the guns hunting you. See Finding enemy guns.