Warts 'n' all

Well, this is embarrassing, but I just checked my setup commands and in fact -- everybody WAS hidden, except for a few designated lookouts. Not only that, but all infantry units had target arcs to keep them from firing. Thus the German free-for-all small arms fire prior to the arty coming in. Why on earth didn't I notice that during the video production? Jeez... I guess it's because I was only clicking on HQ units to highlight formations and I always put cover arcs (usually 50m) on my HQs to help keep them safe.
I'll have to let folks know in Part 2. It's been a couple of months since I played those first turns and I guess when I loaded up the replay  prior to doing the video, I got it in my head that my guys were open to fire since the Germans spotted them so readily.  It was just because they were green, I guess.
From now on, I'll have to load up the command phase saves and review my moves closely before make my commentary on the video replay.

About artillery - When setting up your missions you want your FO or HQ to be able to see as much of the target as possible. For example, when calling in a Linear mission you don't want only to see both ends of the line, you want to see most of it's length. And, most importantly, you wan't to be able as much of the surrounding area too, as has been mentioned in other threads.
It can be frustrating, when spotting rounds go astray, e.g. land off map, in thick woodland, or even behind your spotter. But, that is a fair reflection of spotting problems in WW2, just cancel the mission, and move your FO or HQ to a better position.

In my experience this is usually (though not always) due to infantry posture--as I understand it, the Target tool will show you LOS from that unit *from its current height* as if it were at that position. But infantry heights change during play based on their posture. Often, especially early in the game, you'll be measuring from an infantry unit that is safely behind the lines and standing or kneeling. But if you crawl (Slow) them into that position, they'll be lower down, and possibly able to see. It can happen in reverse if your unit is currently down on their bellies but you expect them to be kneeling when they get there--e.g. if they're going to end up behind a wall. 
I agree about drawing multiple fake waypoints to check LOS. Getting down to camera level 1 and walking the battlefield before the game to see what you can see from various spots can also be helpful (keeping in mind that this doesn't get you as low down as infantry; I think it approximates an average vehicle height?)

There are many threads on artillery targeting but it's worth mentioning, if you haven't seen it already @JPFisher55, you can target places out of view if you have a TRP there (or within 50m), or if you're doing it before the game starts. You can even target a spot out of sight, then put a 15-minute delay on it. If you find after the game starts that you don't want to hit that spot, you can cancel the fire mission.

Bonjour
Thank you for your answers
exact Bullet point I had not seen this like this !!!
Yes Hister, when you live on the battlefield just look down to find traces
Here is besides the discovery of this week made in Chambois lost by the Poles, I made the demining man come Wednesday

"Don't shoot your comrades in the back, you dolt! Aim where I'm pointing."

Those guys seem about as reluctant to perform "buddy aid" as my men.

Their posters were fun too, but that's probably for another thread. 

The 4.0 Engine Manual page 75 states that the support mission may eventually cancelled.  However I have never seen a fire mission cancelled when the spotter was KIA.  I had one mission fire for the remainder of the game (45 minutes)after the spotter was KIA.  It is now my SOP when a spotter gets into trouble and starts taking fire I cancel the mission rather than risk losing control of the tubes if the spotter end up KIA. 
Now that I think of it the situation I described above was for off map artillery.  I wonder how on map mortars would react to a spotter being KIA?  I can't remember if they automatically cancel or not......... To the test map..........
 
@Ivanov    This. +1.
The UI can be a little bit misleading.  It will allow you to plot a Target line (indirect or direct) however it does not indicate the quality of the Target line.  Just that the Target line is good enough to in theory be possible.  I have learned the hard way to evaluate the Target line and to be skeptical if said line passes between very many obstacles.  The spotting rounds for artillery are likely to fall behind some of these obstacles and not be observed by the spotter.        

2  PIAT round Corps !!!
i see an other obstacle

If a spotting round is fired with significant error, then the next round and the one after do not have significant corrections toward the intended target, cancel the mission.  The FO is not seeing the spotting rounds.  Basically, if spotting rounds are not correcting and you let the mission continue, you are saying go ahead and try fire for effect with error.

Green experience spotters can call in accurate fire support on a target.  However a green spotter takes longer to FFE than more experienced spotters.  The experience of the tubes will also effect the FFE times.  I think the spotter, in your case, did not have a good line of sight.  The normal time spent on spotting is 2 or 3 minutes.  If the spotting went on for 10 minutes it sounds like the spotter was having problems and could not see to adjust.  I have not tested but I think after a certain amount of time, without seeing the spotting rounds, the AI takes a guess and FFE.  I will generally cancel a mission that spots for an excessive amount of time since this is an indicator of a problem.  Then you had the bad luck of it actually landing on the spotter.  

don't worry we can wait patiently for some more screenshots.

Thanks!!! I hope it helps @joethejet.  Or maybe he has something else going on with the mortars .   

If the mortar and ammo carrier are from the same platoon and within ammo sharing distance the carrier should share the ammo.  It may not be obvious that it is being shared.  There are two different areas where the mortar ammo count will be displayed in the user interface depending on the circumstance.  If the ammo belongs to the mortar team the number of rounds will be displayed in both the Unit Information Panel (left panel) and in the Team Information Panel (center panel).  If the mortar team is sharing (getting ammo from another team/carrier) the number of rounds will only be displayed in the Team Information Panel (center panel).  Below are some screen shots of one mortar team sharing with a different mortar team. 


If the mortar team enters a vehicle or supply dump and Acquires  the ammo then the count would show in both panels. 
 
 

Hehehechrrrrr.... Thanks for that, Warts!

Bloody ‘ell!   Brilliant!

Paddy :- "Personally I like the bit where they blow up Teston Bridge. Me son-in-law saw them filleming that day. Anyways I never did like that fecking bridge, too narrow to get me Bedford across."

Yes, I agree wholehearted with that. One of the best commentating styles around.

Yeah I have a love hate relationship with any off map support. Had squad wipes more times than I can count thanks to it.
I have had a lone British Tommy already weilding a Bren and quite a bit of ammo pick up a PIAT, rockets and extra grenades before. Could barely move as well. Ended up holding down a house all by himself against some German stragglers in the CMBN-CW "Colossal Crack" scenario.

Envelope please.....
 
And the award for 'Understatement of the Year' goes to.....

I Know, I know
How in the world could I have the game this long and I just finally sat down and played this scenario vs the AI
Well in my world, that is just how it is, I cannot sit around and play these games like it is a job or truthfully would I want to, I would get bored of them if I did that.
Anyway, over the Holidays I have sat down and played a half dozen or so Scenarios I had not done yet and this is my latest one.
 
I just want to compliment the work that went into this one. Excellent design and effort and it shows.
 
Map - excellent
situation - excellent
units selected - excellent
programming the AI - excellent
Scoring the scenario- excellent
So in other words, A perfect score if I was posting it somewhere.
 
I felt this battle gave me a excellent feel for some of the challenges faced by commanders that I have read many times from different stories from this war.
I played as the German's and found myself being very cautious as to keeping my armor on the roads because  of ground conditions.
Scouting the flanks had just enough importance to make it a need but not a want to have to do.
pushing the attack was not a easy task because of the restrictions and the Ai was programmed well to throw a few surprises into the battle.
Time of battle and scoring was well done, I won the battle, but for the heck of it I went back in and stopped the battle just short of the last objective I captured and found I would have lost with that result. So it was a close result, which I love. (Normally at my skill level. Playing the AI is not a challenge ) So love it when its not a cake walk.
 
I think my favorite moment happened when I had a panther sent to support my flank scouting efforts and it was attacked by some forces along the main objective.
As the panther started to engage a Sherman at very long range and to not have success.  I had that moment of , oh my. I might be in trouble, is that a Jumbo or something. Sure enough later on. I found that to be true. I lost that panther in the duel and when I did finally clear the enemy out and had clear information on each unit. That jumbo had about 10 hits on it and had fought a valiant battle. (just a great moment to get that feel of what a jumbo might have felt like as to a unwanted challenge having to face against on the battlefield.
 

And his video editing is top notch. He frames each shot to make the most of the game.

I blow up the buildings that have balconies. That way it keeps my men from using them and it kills the enemy who may have been in there.

Romeo, oh Romeo, wherefore art....  BAM!