Often within a combat situation, combatants will either throw or fire weapons at each other at range (i.e. while separated by several or many hexes on the combat board). This is known as ranged combat.
Ranged combat can take place at the same time as melee and close combat.
To carry out ranged combat, characters use ranged combat maneuvers.
Ranged combat attacks use either Throwing (for thrown weapons) or Shooting (for fired missile weapons) skills.
In melee combat, an attacker can almost always hit a stationery target immediately in front of him/her. In ranged combat, it is not as straightforward; so attack dice rolls for ranged combat are more difficult than those for normal melee or close combat.
Mounted characters may carry out some ranged combat maneuvers, but restrictions apply.
See also: example of ranged combat