Off map indirect fire tests on wire and mines

[noob]

I ran some tests on the effectiveness of off map indirect fire on wire and mines and the results were as follows:

All the artillery settings were point target / guns - all tubes / mission - heavy / duration - maximum / effect - general.

Axis 120mm heavy mortar and Allies 107mm heavy mortar / 105 mm medium howitzer can destroy wire but not mines.

Axis 150mm heavy howitzer and Allied 155mm heavy howitzer can destroy wire and mines, the destroyed mine field is denoted by the red sign changing to a green one with a white cross on it.

I haven't tested any of the over 200mm calibre howitzers / rockets but i'm assuming the effects will be similar to the 150 / 155mm calibre guns.

[womble]

For completeness's sake: did you try multiple batteries of the 'medium' stuff (either in parallel or in series) against mines? It occurs to me that it's possible that one battery's allocation might not be enough to change the field's status, but more might.

[Erwin]

Did you make charts showing how many rounds/how long a barrage had what effect etc? That would be very useful.

[noob]

For completeness's sake: did you try multiple batteries of the 'medium' stuff (either in parallel or in series) against mines? It occurs to me that it's possible that one battery's allocation might not be enough to change the field's status, but more might.

I tested your suggestion and it's all down to the calibre of the weapon, all the 75 and 81mm calibre weapons had no effect on wire or mines, the amount of tubes in action or the fire pattern made no difference.

[noob]

Did you make charts showing how many rounds/how long a barrage had what effect etc? That would be very useful.

Destroying a wire strip depends on one shell making a direct hit so its a judgement call, the more shells used the more chance of the one hit you need, however mines are more unpredictabe, all i can say is that to knockout a minefield you need multiple hits, but there doesnt seem to be a set amount of hits to destroy a minefield so again its a case of the more shells you use the more chance you have of destroying it.

[womble]

I tested your suggestion and it's all down to the calibre of the weapon, all the 75 and 81mm calibre weapons had no effect on wire or mines, the amount of tubes in action or the fire pattern made no difference.

Sorry, that's not what I was asking. I get that it's just the number of rounds impacting the target that's going to be the deciding factor. I was just wondering whether you'd ever used more than one battery's worth (100-odd rounds?) of the lighter stuff. It's of purely academic interest, since I can't imagine using even one "Maximum" mission to temper a mine field.

[Sgt Schultz]

Thanks for the testing.

My tests all involved linear missions to clear paths through approx 100 meters of minefield. It looks like point targets and smaller linears are the way to go.

-

[c3k]

How does this compare to WWI tables of fire for 75mm used to clear wire entanglements? (Shell fragments are what clear the barbled wire.)

[noob]

Sorry, that's not what I was asking. I get that it's just the number of rounds impacting the target that's going to be the deciding factor. I was just wondering whether you'd ever used more than one battery's worth (100-odd rounds?) of the lighter stuff. It's of purely academic interest, since I can't imagine using even one "Maximum" mission to temper a mine field.

If you see what i wrote i said the amount of tubes (guns) doesnt matter (i tested with multiple batteris on one target), its the calibre of the shell, and as for whether its a good thing using artillery to clear mines is down to the tactical situation, im playing a game at the moment where there are limited river crossings and they are all mined, so a 155mm arty point or linear barrage set to heavy / maximum would definately clear it, which is better than using it on infantry.