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The manual says artillery in support mode will support all attacks within range at half strength. But how is this handled by the engine? Do half the guns fire or do all guns fire but at half their AP strength?

Unlike anti-armor fire, all AP fire is aggregated, and totals of AP factors and Defense factors are compared (after modification by density, terrain, deployments, etc.) to determine how many hits are made. Each hit is lethal, subject to the agile equipment check.

Thus, it really doesn't matter how you look at it, whether each gun fires at half strength, or only half the guns fire.

Thank you James. And what impact has it on the enemy entrenchment level?

ORIGINAL: Telumar

Thank you James. And what impact has it on the enemy entrenchment level?

Likewise, the overall effect is halved.

Is it true that certain types of artillery do better against high entrenchment % than low entrenchment %?

ORIGINAL: desert

Is it true that certain types of artillery do better against high entrenchment % than low entrenchment %?

Larger caliber artillery is proportionately more effective at temporarily reducing the entrenchment bonus granted to the defender. This is a function of the shell weights. It is best to combine this with other higher firing rate artillery and direct ground attacks to maximize the advantage since the effects expire at the end of the combat.

Shouldn't artillery actually reduce the entrenchment level until the units dig in again?

ORIGINAL: desert

Shouldn't artillery actually reduce the entrenchment level until the units dig in again?

Only if the units take losses will their deployment levels be affected. The bombardment reduction due to shell weights is an adjustment to the net attrition level against the defenders, which counteracts the entrenchment/deployment defensive multipliers that they have. If insufficient losses occur to the defenders, then their deployment status is unaffected. This is why you should combine a real attack against the hex, or have enough other higher AP tubes firing at the hex at the same time, so that you can cause enough casualties to the defenders to pop them out of their D,E, and F deployments.