Calliope & Xylophone Arty?

[weapon2010]

Why are these so cheap to buy?You can purchase around 10 units at 500-700

points total and literally blow your opponent off the map on the first turn.Someone said this is a bug.Is it?

[Michael Emrys]

Rocket artillery was cheap to manufacture and operate. Just the way it is. However, be aware of its limitations. It's an area saturation weapon, meaning that it isn't accurate and can't be used close to your own troops. So once your guys start to close with the enemy, it can't be used for on-call support to take out a pesky MG or whatever. But as a first turn hammer to dissuade the enemy from getting up to anything annoying, it's hard to beat.

Michael

[MikeyD]

I tried your theory just for fun. I started an otherwise random QB but purchased three Xylophone batteries for chump change. Found myself on a dawn map in a heavy rainstorm. The rocket barrage was SPECTACULAR! Turned my objective into a moonscape, I then marched my men forward over the charred bodies of their enemies. Except my forward scouts started recieving incoming fire from the treeline just outside of the beaten zone. So I didn't quite kill everyone.

Those-in-charge were asked why they were so darned cheap awhile ago. Their reasoning for pricing them so cheap, I think, was because they're so darned inaccurate. Pretty much one-shot wonders and if you're careless you could kill more of your own troops than the enemy. That's their reasoning, anyway.

I suppose they could argue that war isn't 'fair'. If you want a gentleman's agreement with your opponent not to use Xylophone or King Tiger in scenarios then go for it. Otherwise its bloody bare-knuckles fistfighting. In CMSF the Syrian get Russian heavy artillery rockets, themselves. Another moonscape-creating weapon

[Kanonier Reichmann]

O.K., I understand BFC's general reasons regarding US rocket artillery now that you've explained them.

Question...Why doesn't the same argument apply to German Nebelwerfer rocket artillery? They are costed within the game at what seems 'normal' prices. The discrepancy doesn't make any sense.

Regards

KR

[Michael Emrys]

Question...Why doesn't the same argument apply to German Nebelwerfer rocket artillery? They are costed within the game at what seems 'normal' prices. The discrepancy doesn't make any sense.

I expect that at least part of the difference is the way the respective weapons are manufactured. The Nebelwerfer, although not up to the complex precision machining that goes into regular tube artillery, is still more finely and expensively crafted than the Allied item, which could almost be whipped together by a kid with an Erector Set.

Michael

[womble]

I expect that at least part of the difference is the way the respective weapons are manufactured. The Nebelwerfer, although not up to the complex precision machining that goes into regular tube artillery, is still more finely and expensively crafted than the Allied item, which could almost be whipped together by a kid with an Erector Set.

Michael

Is this reflected in tighter dispersal patterns for a battery volley? I thought rarity was about ease or otherwise of manufacture (and hence presence in a theatre), and points was meant to be a raw comparison of in-game effectiveness.

Is the NebelWerfer that much more effective than US rocket Arty?

[Michael Emrys]

I thought rarity was about ease or otherwise of manufacture (and hence presence in a theatre), and points was meant to be a raw comparison of in-game effectiveness.

Ah yeah, now that I think about it, you are mostly right. I think cost points do mostly reflect effectiveness, but rarity involves not only how many were/could be produced, but also if they were an item that is either just appearing in that theater or are in process of being withdrawn. So an old item that might have been around in large numbers the previous year might now be rare.

Just how all that impacts the cost of the Nebelwerfer escapes me.

Michael

[Vanir Ausf B]

German rocket artillery is roughly an order of magnitude more expensive than US rocket artillery.

US rockets are 4.5 times more cost efficient than US 81mm mortars.

I have yet to see any one offer a valid reason for this. The only public statement BFC has made on the subject was to the effect that as far as they are concerned when it comes to QB unit prices any number is just as valid as any other number so they won't change it. No, really.

What most people so is simply ban them in multiplayer QBs.