Jump to content

mortars


Recommended Posts

i need to better understand the "mortars" in CMFI.

a) in the pbem-reply i can see my mortars "light" when the shell flies in the sky (i mean from i can follow it form the start to the target); i need to understand if my opponent can see that "mortar shell light" too .. in other words, if he cannot "see/spot" my mortar team on the map, can he "see" my mortat shell flying in the sky ?

that's important because if i can see it, he can imagine where my mortar team is positioned and fire back at them (with his mortars)

B) it seems that moving around the map you can "hear" the typical "sound" of the enemy mortar shell starting, even if you are not spotting any enemy unit, is that correct ?

and well ... new at this fantastic game ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my experience, soldiers see shells when they are in sight.

I do watch enemy shells and try to figure where they came from. You would have to be pretty dedicated to try to pinpoint the location of the enemy mortar well enough to fire back at it if you can't actually see it's location already.

GaJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

it seems that moving around the map you can "hear" the typical "sound" of the enemy mortar shell starting, even if you are not spotting any enemy unit, is that correct ?

Yes, especially in the earliest iterations of the game I could sound locate mortars, guns, even MGs well enough to kill them or at least force them to pack up and move. Now, for some reason, I don't seem to be able to locate them quite that precisely. I don't know whether the code has been altered to increase the fog of war or I simply don't hear that well any more. I can still work out a pretty good idea combined with terrain analysis.

Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

B) it seems that moving around the map you can "hear" the typical "sound" of the enemy mortar shell starting, even if you are not spotting any enemy unit, is that correct ?

It isn't. Taking fire from an unspotted unit, you only hear the sounds of the rounds passing by your troops or flying into the air.

Yes, especially in the earliest iterations of the game I could sound locate mortars, guns, even MGs well enough to kill them or at least force them to pack up and move. Now, for some reason, I don't seem to be able to locate them quite that precisely. I don't know whether the code has been altered to increase the fog of war or I simply don't hear that well any more. I can still work out a pretty good idea combined with terrain analysis.

You shouldn't be able to do this until the unit is actually spotted, according the manual (in the section about difficulty settings). What you can hear are the rounds in flight. Now, with that being said, I'm not sure how that connects with sound contacts being a thing in CMBN.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It isn't. Taking fire from an unspotted unit, you only hear the sounds of the rounds passing by your troops or flying into the air.

Well, but if i move my cursor on the opponent side of the map, i can "hear" the starting shells and i never spotted the mortar team (sorry i had a problem with the "quote") ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, but if i move my cursor on the opponent side of the map, i can "hear" the starting shells and i never spotted the mortar team (sorry i had a problem with the "quote") ...

Hmm, some testing shows that this is happening to me as well. Wonder if it is a bug or unintentional behavior?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i need to better understand the "mortars" in CMFI.

a) in the pbem-reply i can see my mortars "light" when the shell flies in the sky (i mean from i can follow it form the start to the target); i need to understand if my opponent can see that "mortar shell light" too .. in other words, if he cannot "see/spot" my mortar team on the map, can he "see" my mortat shell flying in the sky ?

that's important because if i can see it, he can imagine where my mortar team is positioned and fire back at them (with his mortars)

IIRC, I reassured myself that the enemy cannot see your mortar "tracers" by doing a quick hotseat test. I've certainly never seen any enemy mortar tracers incoming, and that's a lot of 60mm shells not-glowing... You see the terminal trace of offmap arty, but not on-map.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You shouldn't be able to do this until the unit is actually spotted, according the manual (in the section about difficulty settings).

At the Veteran level it was certainly possible to move the camera around while replaying the turn until the loudest muzzle blast was heard, at which point you knew you were in the close vicinity.

Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

seamountanda,

Welcome aboard!

If you read any number of accounts by infantry veterans, you'll find that they learned to distinguish the Toonk! of a mortar's being fired and to hit the deck immediately. Here's an example. The high frequency ringing doesn't carry over a distance, but the bass note does.

Nor do incoming mortar rounds sound like incoming field artillery fire, as Hollywood would lead you to believe. The accounts I've read indicate a hard to detect fluttering sound

Regards,

John Kettler

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Michael Emrys,

I fear you're a war too late. As you can quite clearly see in the Radar portion of British Artillery linked below, radar was used for countermortar work in WW II. Of course, unlike the Firefinder, there was no way to get counterfire out while the enemy's rounds were still en route. Still, pretty impressive!

http://nigelef.tripod.com/tgtacqcb.htm

Regards,

John Kettler

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...