Red Thunder

[Mark11]

Hi, I have had Red Thunder since it was first released and love the game. I have noticed in 'Red Hordes' that although the Soviets have artillery support all of the units are 'denied' artillery support. I played again as the Germans and they were lashed by artillery and smoke allowing Soviet units to cross the river almost untouched. Has anyone else noticed this or am I missing something very obvious? If anyone is able to help I would be very grateful.

[Warts 'n' all]

I have only just bought Red Thunder, and yes, I've noticed exactly the same thing. I can't work out how this happens at all.

[c3k]

If it's the battle I think it is, there is an FO behind the camera start position. Every single other unit is laid out in FRONT of the camera. Hit "V" to flip the camera. Or, pick any unit, find the Reg't HQ, then start scrolling though your units. The FO can call in the arty.

Ken

[Warts 'n' all]

Nice try, but sadly, it didn't work. There are three Russian set-up zones in this battle, two of which are empty, which seems strange in itself. The Reg't HQ arrives as a reinforcement but is still denied access to the 122mm arty. And there is no FO at all even if you run the mission through to the very end.

[Splinty]

You are supposed to call in the arty on the very first turn. It's there to simulate the Katyusha fire on the German lines right before the infantry assault. I think you can get the senior HQ unit to make the call. If you try to use it after the first turn it's denied to all. It's been awhile since I played that one, but if I remember right that's how it meant to be done.

[Warts 'n' all]

@c3k It turns out that the situation that you so perfectly described is from "Crossing the River" the first mission from the Hammers Flank" campaign, so even if it didn't help me with this battle, it will still come in handy when I start that campaign.

@Splinty The arty in this battle is denied to ALL of the Russian officers at the start, as the OP said. Like him I was baffled because the AI called in artillery against me when I played as the Axis. I opened up the scenario designer and checked, and no FO was listed for the Russians, so I'm not sure how the AI calls it in. Anyway I just added an FO section and renamed the battle. Then gave Jerry a beating.. haha 

[George MC]

ike him I was baffled because the AI called in artillery against me when I played as the Axis. I opened up the scenario designer and checked, and no FO was listed for the Russians, so I'm not sure how the AI calls it in. Anyway I just added an FO section and renamed the battle. Then gave Jerry a beating.. haha 

AI Plan fire orders. Plotted for the first turn.

As others have mentioned the arty is meant to be used as preliminary bombardment before the attack goes in.

[Pete Wenman]

Red Hordes is one of mine. The lack of a Red Army FO is a device to give the AI some help when it plays either side.

For the AI as attacker it gets the benefit of a preliminary smoke bombardment. When the AI is on defence it needs all the help it can get in this scenario and so the arty is not available to the player when attacking. This mission is primarily designed to be played as German vs the AI. Playing it the other way round should see the player getting a very easy win. 

I'd be interested to hear hows those that have played as the Red Army vs the AI have enjoyed this one. Maybe the AI puts up a better fight than I thought.

P

[Warts 'n' all]

Thanks for the explanation Pete. It is a great battle. And to be fair, it does state in your briefing that this battle is best played as the Germans vs the AI. When you're as rubbish at the game as myself you need all the help you can get when attacking, hence my sharing of the OP's bafflement that we were denied the arty support. I enjoyed playing my slightly re-jigged version but, will certainly give your original a go sometime in the future.