Glubokii Boy Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Hello ! How many FO-teams would be normal, realistic for a german infantry battalion to have ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergei Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 None. Forward Observers don't belong to infantry but artillery. As to how many FO teams would be attached, that should vary depending on battalion frontage and terrain, ie. how well can one team cover it, how many artillery batteries, battalions or regiments are supporting the infantry battalion, and is it defending or attacking. So it depends on the mission. I think normally you'd see just one, though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glubokii Boy Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 OK, thanks... On a large (hilly, mountainus) map with 2 german companies (+ some battalion support- weapons) deployed in defensive possition...This battalion have no priority to recive any extra support from regiment, division... Would 1 FO be the max number or could possibly 2 be used and still be somewhat realistic ? On this map 1 FO can not cover the entire section of the front... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glubokii Boy Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 Hello again... Or would none FO-team be the most realistic if the battalion had to rely on its organic mortar support only ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baneman Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 As I recently discovered, if you buy the mortars which are organic to the battalion, one of the HQ's in the mortar company has an inherent Forward Observer - who functions perfectly. So you don't need to buy a separate team Edit: Sorry, should have mentioned this is Axis ( I can't remember the exact formation, I'll dig some more ) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glubokii Boy Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 As I recently discovered, if you buy the mortars which are organic to the battalion, one of the HQ's in the mortar company has an inherent Forward Observer - who functions perfectly. So you don't need to buy a separate team Edit: Sorry, should have mentioned this is Axis ( I can't remember the exact formation, I'll dig some more ) Hello Baneman... I'm not really sure i understand what you mean...I have looked at the different TOEs in the editor and i can't find any 'seperate mortar company' in any of the battalions...The battalions i can find have 3 rifle companies and 1 heavy weapon company (with a mix of support weapons)...No full mortar company ? By "one of the HQ's in the mortar company has an inherent Forward Observer - who functions perfectly. So you don't need to buy a separate team"... Do you really mean a FO-team (with binoculars as floating incon)? it's not just an ordinary HQ-team (with a flag as floating incon)... I know that all HQs can call for artillery support (up to a certain level atleast) but the dedicated FO-teams will have shorter respons time (if i'm not misstaking)... The reason for my original question is that i have set up a 'training ground' to play 2 player hotseat aginst myself...to practice my tactics and and experience how the spotting works and what effect the weapons are having on different targets.. The training ground is a large mountainus map with a depleted german infantry battalion (1 full company + 2 additional platoons from the second company and some battalion support weapons) defending against a US infantry battalion... I have possitioned all the troops from both sides as best i can in the setup-face as i would have placed them in a full battle...To start with though i will only play parts of the battle at any time to practice. Right now i'm practicing attacking with 1 US riflecompany with asigned supportweapons (attacking the part of the mapp that i have asigned to that company and defending with the part of the germans that i have asigned to defend that part of the front...I will play this part of the map a few times to try and improve both my attack and defence with lessons learned the last time...Then do the same with an other part of the front and finally do the whole battalion attack (perhaps with some armour support)... The reason for this post is that i have found that the germans are in a big disadvantage in the light, medium indirect firesupport part of the fight... The US 60mm mortars (especially when firing directly ...they very quickly place rounds on target)are very effectivly destroying/suppresing my defensive possitions (not dug-in). I'm having a bit of a problem countering this as the germans...They only have a few mortars and they are not as responsive (when fireing indirect...)... My thinking was that maybe i should give the germans some FO-teams to shorten their responstime...but i don't want to do it if its totaly unrealistic... So...how many FO-teams would be good in this setup ? 0...because i only have the battalions organic artillery support (no attached artillery units from regiment or division). 1...A pretty 'normal' number for a battalion (atleast if they have higher artillery support) 2...Because of the difficult terrain... Any suggestions apprisiated...Thanks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baneman Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Yes, the Heavy Weapons Company's mortars - their HQ has an inherent FO. It does not have a Binocular Icon, it's still an HQ flag, but one of the men in it is listed as "Forward Observer" ( in the bottom left green text ) - and appears to have the same reduced response time as a dedicated FO team. My testing was not precise as I merely noticed in a game and used him, but that HQ definitely had shorter response times compared with other HQ units. I'd check in the game files, but sadly, with Windows 7, I can't take screenshots ( they're just black ) and I haven't installed Fraps or something similar as yet. How realistic it is to have an FO team, I can't tell, I'm not that well read on TO&E's ( of either side ), but I wouldn't imagine one team to be beyond realistic for a reduced Battalion/ reinforced Company. But even without a dedicated FO team, if you're defending, a couple of TRP's seems eminently reasonable. And with TRP's, I found that "normal" HQ's had a 3 minute response time and the "FO-HQ" had a 2 minute response time 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glubokii Boy Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 Thanks Baneman...I will defenetally look closer at this ! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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