When HE is gone, so is the WP?

[hub6actual]

Currently playing a QB as Canadians. Picked 3 each 2- gun sections of LG-1 105mm Howitzers for off-map support. Total rounds supplied were 210 HE and 60 WP. Two of the three sections have since fired all of their HE and now show EMPTY in the support queue. They should still have a total of 40 unused WP rounds, as I haven’t called up any smoke missions at all thus far. The two sections remain unselectable and inaccessible - I waited a couple of turns just to see if the status would change, but it hasn’t. Has anyone else had something like this happen?

[MikeyD]

Yup, its been like that since day 1. Mortars and artillery both. There was an explanation given for smoke disappearing awhile ago that (I think) had more to do with game engine mechanics than real world artillery practices. All I recall is its a known thing and isn't on their short list of 'things to fix'.

[A Canadian Cat]

Dang I cannot find an earlier explanation. I am certain it has been discussed before and I would like to find it to add it to my FAQ post. If anyone does find an earlier link please point me to it.

The explanation goes like this. If you have 100 HE listed and 10 smoke listed what your battery actually has is 100 sets of propellant and 100 HE shells and 10 smoke shells. Therefore your gun crews can fire 10 smoke and 90 HE or 5 smoke and 95 HE or 100 HE or any combination that totals 100.

[Howler]

As mentioned,  the artillery, air, and drone tabs are in need of 'modernization'. It's a known issue affecting all CMx2 titles. The largest number is the total number of rounds which may be further broken down by sub-total per special ordnance such as smoke (eg WP) or 'smart bombs' (eg Excalibur) depending on the circumstance.

There's only so much that can be crammed into the GUI and BFC is leery of mangling things further by providing a truly variable delay mechanism or otherwise complicating either mission calling or loadout.

What we now have works once one becomes accustomed to the sequential checkoff and the various colored circles, triangles, squares, etc. assailing the player...

[MOS:96B2P]

2 hours ago, hub6actual said:

<Snip>  off-map support. Total rounds supplied were 210 HE and 60 WP. Two of the three sections have since fired all of their HE and now show EMPTY in the support queue. They should still have a total of 40 unused WP rounds, as I haven’t called up any smoke missions at all thus far.  <Snip> 

 @IanL I have the below paraphrased in my notes which originally came from the provided link. 

http://community.battlefront.com/topic/124663-offmap-arty/?do=findComment&amp;comment=1703842

The way off map artillery rounds are counted, the top-line number (listed as HE) is really the *total* number of rounds available, and the next number (listed as Smoke) is the number *of those* that can be fired as Smoke. But anything you fire, whether HE or Smoke, counts against the top-line number of total rounds available. So if it lists 140 HE and 40 Smoke, that doesn't mean you have 180 total rounds--it means you can fire 140 total, and of that, up to 40 can be Smoke. 

[z1812]

2 hours ago, IanL said:

The explanation goes like this. If you have 100 HE listed and 10 smoke listed what your battery actually has is 100 sets of propellant and 100 HE shells and 10 smoke shells. Therefore your gun crews can fire 10 smoke and 90 HE or 5 smoke and 95 HE or 100 HE or any combination that totals 100.

Thanks for the explanation...................I always wondered about that.

[Sequoia]

I also seem to recall an elaboration on the explanation years ago that the round count wasn't the number of rounds the artillery battery had in hand but rather the amount of "tube time"  allocated to your unit from a higher headquarters for the duration of your mission.