Sven Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Hello! I'm playing a scenario (PBEM (which is all I ever play), not that it matters, I think)) in Red Thunder and I see my enemy advancing across a swamp/field in plain view. I try ordering my Forward observer to open fire (with small arms, since all arty is out), but they won't and haven't for several turns. The same thing with my on-map-mortar. It still has 4 rounds left, but everything is "out of range" all of a sudden and they, too, won't open fire with small arms towards that same enemy unit in plain view. The mortar isn't knocked out, but has lost 1 man and has one lightly wounded. That, however, didn't stop it from firing rounds earlier in the game. What am I doing wrong? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_MonkeyKing Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Give save file or informative screenshots. This would make it possible to understand what is going on 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted February 9, 2021 Author Share Posted February 9, 2021 I can't right now since I'm not at home, but what other information might be lacking? It's within range with clear LOS. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornGinger Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 (edited) You could take a screen shot (you can use irfan view for this if you don't have anything that works) of the battle scene and write down the distance from the mortars to the enemy soldier and other info that could help. If your mortars and FO are nervous or worse, that can be a reason to why they don't shoot as shooting could reveale their position to the enemy troops. Edited February 9, 2021 by BornGinger 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vet 0369 Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 (edited) 20 hours ago, Sven said: Hello! I'm playing a scenario (PBEM (which is all I ever play), not that it matters, I think)) in Red Thunder and I see my enemy advancing across a swamp/field in plain view. I try ordering my Forward observer to open fire (with small arms, since all arty is out), but they won't and haven't for several turns. The same thing with my on-map-mortar. It still has 4 rounds left, but everything is "out of range" all of a sudden and they, too, won't open fire with small arms towards that same enemy unit in plain view. The mortar isn't knocked out, but has lost 1 man and has one lightly wounded. That, however, didn't stop it from firing rounds earlier in the game. What am I doing wrong? There could be any number of reasons why your FO and mortar team won’t fire, including moral factor, not being in range, no line of sight, etc. try selecting “C” and give them a “target,” “light target,” or “area” command to the icon of the enemy you want to target. If the target is reddish and black, it means something is blocking your LOS to that target. If your selected FO or mortar crew are reduced moral, broken, or pinned, etc., they might just be telling you to “bugger off, I’m not doing that.” As said previously, without more information or screen shots with the UI showing, there is very little possibility of anyone being able to help you except with a “wild-ass guess (WAG). Sometimes, and don’t ask me how I know this, one might have reduced or turned off trees (Ctl+R I think) by accident or while trying to plot movements or something, so everything looks open when there actually trees or bushes at the troop level. Again, don’t ask me how I know this after the many times during my 13 years of PBEM play during which I was pulling my hair out trying to determine why my units weren’t firing. Regarding your mortar, the enemy might be within the minimum range of the mortar. Usually 40-50m for say a 60mm mortar. Edited February 10, 2021 by Vet 0369 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony P. Posted April 21 Share Posted April 21 On 2/9/2021 at 7:38 AM, Sven said: The same thing with my on-map-mortar. It still has 4 rounds left, but everything is "out of range" all of a sudden and they, too, won't open fire with small arms towards that same enemy unit in plain view. The mortar isn't knocked out, but has lost 1 man and has one lightly wounded. That, however, didn't stop it from firing rounds earlier in the game. This is fairly necro, but I came across this thread researching just this problem, and especially these circumstances are of particular interest. I too have a mortar team with one casualty which I'm trying to get to open fire with small arms (very minor OPSEC violation here should @Andrew Kulin peruse this thread). They've fired HE shells alright, they have riflemen (relevant since the range is >200m, so no SMG fire is possible), plenty of rifle ammunition and LoS to the target with an area target order, but they're positively refusing to use their rifles. I'll have a go at trying to nail down what the issue is. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoMac Posted April 21 Share Posted April 21 (edited) Are any of the Mortar Teams setup ?..If so, then usually only one man (or none) will fire small arms at short range...However, if not setup then they generally operate as normal Infantry. Edited April 21 by JoMac 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony P. Posted April 21 Share Posted April 21 In my case it's a non deployed mortar with several riflemen who won't use their small arms. I've tried having it suffer casualties and fire their rifles, suffer casualties and having fired its HE shells and then fire their rifles, as well as both but had them suffer casualties when not deployed. Neither method seems to replicate the issue. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PEB14 Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 I think to remember that mortar teams will not fire "offensively". I mean that they will fire only through TacAI, not by player's order. But I'm absolutely not sure of that... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centurian52 Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 1 hour ago, PEB14 said: I think to remember that mortar teams will not fire "offensively". I mean that they will fire only through TacAI, not by player's order. But I'm absolutely not sure of that... They will fire on the player's orders. I use mortar teams a lot to deal with HMG teams or ATGs (or just massed infantry behind cover) without bringing in an HQ or FO as a middle man. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 28 minutes ago, Centurian52 said: They will fire on the player's orders. I use mortar teams a lot to deal with HMG teams or ATGs (or just massed infantry behind cover) without bringing in an HQ or FO as a middle man. This discussion isn't about firing mortar rounds. It's about using their handheld weapons. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centurian52 Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 1 minute ago, Sven said: This discussion isn't about firing mortar rounds. It's about using their handheld weapons. Sorry. I guess that's what I get for skimming through the bulk of the thread. In your fist post you mentioned your mortar team had four rounds left, which led me to believe you were trying to fire the mortar's HE rounds. But you can order the mortar team to fire using their carbines. You just need to pack up the mortar. The carbines still have a shorter range than rifles though, so it's possible that they still won't shoot if the enemy is too far away. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony P. Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 They do use their small arms if given an area target order, both when the mortar is deployed and firing and when it isn't (this was when I tested it in a test mission). Not so much in the actual mission where I encountered the issue. The problem is that I'm not able to narrow it down so that I can replicate it, which makes reporting it as a bug difficult. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Probus Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 Has the enemy unit surrendered? The game will let you put a target line on them but your unit will not fire small arms at them. You can tell if the unit has surrendered if the pixeltroopen have their hands up. This is probably not your problem, but this happens to me a lot so I thought I'd mention it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herr_oberst Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 FO's, when their assets are out of ammo, should flee like scared rabbits... you want the FO around in the next battle, not firing pistols at some enemy... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALBY Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 On 5/3/2024 at 8:02 PM, Probus said: Has the enemy unit surrendered? The game will let you put a target line on them but your unit will not fire small arms at them. You can tell if the unit has surrendered if the pixeltroopen have their hands up. This is probably not your problem, but this happens to me a lot so I thought I'd mention it. You ‘target’ surrendered units a lot ? I like your style Probus! Death to your enemizzies!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALBY Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 I force empty mortar teams into small arms combat in CMBS quite often (very gamey, I know) and they seem to fire as normal. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted May 6 Author Share Posted May 6 2 hours ago, ALBY said: I force empty mortar teams into small arms combat in CMBS quite often (very gamey, I know) and they seem to fire as normal. How? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony P. Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 On 5/4/2024 at 2:02 AM, Probus said: Has the enemy unit surrendered? The game will let you put a target line on them but your unit will not fire small arms at them. You can tell if the unit has surrendered if the pixeltroopen have their hands up. This is probably not your problem, but this happens to me a lot so I thought I'd mention it. Not in my case at least, no. In the instance I discovered, they'd neither fire on enemy units they'd actually spotted, nor comply with area target commands (blue, not grey). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Probus Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 1 hour ago, Anthony P. said: Not in my case at least, no. In the instance I discovered, they'd neither fire on enemy units they'd actually spotted, nor comply with area target commands (blue, not grey). You're correct. But it still let's you waste your time targeting them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centurian52 Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 5 hours ago, ALBY said: I force empty mortar teams into small arms combat in CMBS quite often (very gamey, I know) and they seem to fire as normal. Not gamey at all. From what I hear it's quite normal to use mortar teams as riflemen in real life. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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