Brian Rock Posted November 5, 1999 Share Posted November 5, 1999 Brigade Combat Team is the undisputed champion here - but then it was programmed by an artillery Captain. Everyone who likes to fiddle with arty should get that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tss Posted November 5, 1999 Share Posted November 5, 1999 During the Tali-Ihantala battle in Karelian Isthmus in Summer '44 a Finnish artillery 2nd Lieutenant (I can't remember his name) stopped a major Soviet armored assault in two minutes. He directed the fire of _all_ Finnish guns and mortars (I can't remember the actual number of artillery pieces, maybe a little over a hundred) that were in the range against the Soviet assembly point. Nobody attacked that day or the next day. And as for inexperienced artillery observers. When I was in the coastal artillery I witnessed a case where an opistoupseerioppilas (I don't know the corresponding U.S. rank, he was in military school studying to be an active junior officer) fired a live 130 mm shell a full kilometer out of the safety sector. At the range of 10 km. With about 30 degree wide sector and the target area was in the middle of it. I don't know how he managed to do it. -Tommi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOS was 71331 Posted November 5, 1999 Share Posted November 5, 1999 As I recall the procedures from my training in 1966, the FO first has to give his position accurately, then his compass direction to the target, then the distance from his position to the target. Corrections as the rounds come in are in meters left or right to get the rounds on the line from his position to the target, and then meters up (further away from the FO) or down (closer to the FO). All of the gun adjustments can be done in a few seconds, so the delays between adjustments are mostly time of flight between battery and target. The arrival time of the first round, though, depends on what the guns are doing when the fire mission arrives. They may be shooting at a more important target somewhere else. I do remember an army cartoon about commo security. In the first panel, some radio operator is saying "there's some artillery fire coming down about two hundred yards to my left." In the second panel, there's an artillery battery and the caption "right two hundred; fire for effect." It couldn't work hat way, but the cartoon still cracks me up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JonS Posted November 5, 1999 Share Posted November 5, 1999 Tommi My guess is he picked the wrong opening grid. It's easy enough to do, especially on flat, featureless terrain. Not usually by THAT much though ... Brian I think Robs' point is that he wants to fiddle about with this game, but the way arty is handled gags a bit. JonS ------------------ Quo Fas et Vino du Femme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Deans Posted November 6, 1999 Share Posted November 6, 1999 "stopped a major Soviet armored assault in two minutes" I guarantee you that the target was a registered target that all the available guns and mortars had the data for. Yes fire can be brought to bear very quickly (minutes) if the all the factors are in place. "Fire on Target 231 (or whatever)..." So 30 or 40 sec to lay the weapons, assuming the data is at hand, and 30 or 40 sec TOF in a perfect world would get you that "instant" response. MOst countries use some form of "target with the highest priority" We call it Final Protective Fire. If not otherwise engaged, the weapons are laid on this target. At the call of the FOO, the weapons will fire this target in seconds (plus time of flight of course). Rob Deans PS. What is 71331? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Rock Posted November 6, 1999 Share Posted November 6, 1999 JonS: I understood that, and understand his concerns. My comment wasn't directed at Rob; it would be rather pointeless, as he already said he had and liked BCT. It was directed at wargamers who are interested in artillery. My point was that everyone who likes to fiddle with arty should get that game - which, curiously, is precisely what I wrote the first time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted November 6, 1999 Share Posted November 6, 1999 How do I delete my post? [This message has been edited by ChrisB (edited 11-05-99).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingtiger Posted November 6, 1999 Share Posted November 6, 1999 Interesting Home Page of a WWII 81 mm Mortar crew member and his recounts of the Battle of the Bulge, includes a German Diary (interesting read). http://www.eagnet.com/edipage/user/joanie/index.htm Richard Kalajian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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