Bunkers curiously resistant to artillery fire

[Rittermeister]

So, I am presently slogging my way through the Road to Montebourg campaign, and there's something that is bugging me: sandbagged MG bunkers seem to be virtually impervious to artillery strikes, or at least those of 75mm and 105mm variety. Is this working as intended? It seems . . . bizarre for a reinforced foxhole to be capable of absorbing near-direct hit after near-direct hit ad infinitum.

[Bulletpoint]

Yes, it's an issue that's been raised a couple of times. Opinions differ, but I agree with you that repeated direct hits from 75-105mm artillery should be able to destroy wooden bunkers.

By the way, I suppose you are currently at the mission "Hell in the Hedgerows"?

Edited January 23, 2016 by Bulletpoint

[RockinHarry]

Don´t think that the games log bunkers are of the "reinforced foxhole" type. They´re and should be resistant vs. direct hits from ~ 80mm mortars and similar calibres, but direct hits from 105mm and above should make them a woodpile mess quickly. So what is a near-direct hit?

[Rittermeister]

RockinHarry,

In my last game, I called down 160 or so 75mms on a single bunker, just to see what would happen. At least five shells struck the corners or edges of the bunker, but I couldn't get one dead-center on it.

 

If the wooden bunkers are not meant to model reinforced foxholes with overhead cover, what is their real-world equivalent? An above-ground simple wooden bunker seems like it would struggle to stop 30 caliber, never mind artillery.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Rittermeister

[MikeyD]

Wooden bunkers could get MUCH more complex than shown in the CM model representation. Often double-walled with filler between the walls, exterior walls embanked with soil and a substantial cover on top, often submerged into the ground to offer a limited target. The problem with wood bunkers is CM is not that they're too sturdy, its more that the model doesn't accurately represent the type of structure you're attacking

[RockinHarry]

I´d guess they´re similar to the range of wooden pillboxes shown on this page:

http://www.allworldwars.com/German Field Fortifications on the Eastern Front.html#II

 

Edited January 23, 2016 by RockinHarry

[Bulletpoint]

The problem with wooden bunkers in this game is not that they are too resistant to artillery, because after all that's what they are made for. Problem is that they are 100% immune to 75-105mm artillery, no matter how many shells actually hit them square on.

As I see it, it's part of the bigger problem with artillery, where direct hits are too weak, but distant hits are too powerful. Artillery is probably well balanced right now when taken as an average of damage dealt by a barrage, but the distribution of lethality for each shell at various ranges seems off.

Edited January 24, 2016 by Bulletpoint

[General Jack Ripper]

So, I am presently slogging my way through the Road to Montebourg campaign, and there's something that is bugging me: sandbagged MG bunkers seem to be virtually impervious to artillery strikes, or at least those of 75mm and 105mm variety. Is this working as intended? It seems . . . bizarre for a reinforced foxhole to be capable of absorbing near-direct hit after near-direct hit ad infinitum.

Could you post a few screenshots?