Offmap artillery missing target

[Warfare]

Hi, I'm relatively inexperienced at CM and I'm having problems with it on one of the road to montebourg missions. I've tried to call offmap 81mm mortars on point targets but the spotting rounds don't fall on target and then the full mission falls in a tight cluster (red circles), nowhere near the point target. Both were short heavy bombardments. One is from company co and the other was from a greyhound.

 

I don't remember this being a problem in other missions but I don't usually use point target. Is this working as intended and if not what should I do to get the battery on target?

[Grey_Fox]

47 minutes ago, Warfare said:

Hi, I'm relatively inexperienced at CM and I'm having problems with it on one of the road to montebourg missions. I've tried to call offmap 81mm mortars on point targets but the spotting rounds don't fall on target and then the full mission falls in a tight cluster (red circles), nowhere near the point target. Both were short heavy bombardments. One is from company co and the other was from a greyhound.

 

 

 

I don't remember this being a problem in other missions but I don't usually use point target. Is this working as intended and if not what should I do to get the battery on target?

 

 

 

 

Was this a fire mission called in by an FO or other officer? If so, did they have constant direct line of sight on the desired target, and on the location of the spotting rounds?

[Chibot Mk IX]

Looks like it is work as intended, but with two incorrected placed artillery mission you have a bad luck day. Artillery has a very high chance to be off with an emergency fire mission. Depends on LOS, other missions has a small chance that failed to be delivered into the intended impact zone. 

[Warfare]

1 hour ago, Grey_Fox said:

Was this a fire mission called in by an FO or other officer? If so, did they have constant direct line of sight on the desired target, and on the location of the spotting rounds?

1 by company CO, 1 from greyhound. They both had direct sight of target point both times but the FOV of both spotters was down a long road and spotting rounds fell unisghted in fields to the sides where the rest would come in later.

I thought this would just increase call in time until a good spotting rounds hit, rather than just sending the full bombardment.

[Warfare]

2 minutes ago, Chibot Mk IX said:

Looks like it is work as intended, but with two incorrected placed artillery mission you have a bad luck day. Artillery has a very high chance to be off with an emergency fire mission. Depends on LOS, other missions has a small chance that failed to be delivered into the intended impact zone. 

Ok so they will send a limited number of spotting rounds and then just send the rest no matter where they are? I

[Grey_Fox]

42 minutes ago, Warfare said:

1 by company CO, 1 from greyhound. They both had direct sight of target point both times but the FOV of both spotters was down a long road and spotting rounds fell unisghted in fields to the sides where the rest would come in later.

I thought this would just increase call in time until a good spotting rounds hit, rather than just sending the full bombardment.

Not being able to see where the spotting rounds fell meant they didn't know what adjustments to make.

Sometimes they'll go into near-infinite infinite spotting phase, other times they'll just get tired of waiting and call in the fire mission, hoping for the best.

It sucks, but these things happen. Ideally you should have tried moving the unit that was calling in the fire mission to a position where they could see the fall of the spotting rounds and the intended target, and then they would be able to make adjustments.

Edited January 2 by Grey_Fox

[Brille]

Calling for artillery in hedgerow areas is often tricky and time consuming.

Planing a fire mission just behind a hedge isnt the problem but spotting the rounds is.

Had it multiple times too that a spotter failed to adjust a mission or takes much more time to actually call it in, sometimes even very far from the intended area.

So If you see that multiple spotting rounds are far of the grit you should probably abort it and/or move the spotter to a more favorable position (If possible).

[Warfare]

Ah, that's frustrating, must be that then. I don't know arty well enough so both times I thought they would correct or were enemy spotting rounds... until the full salvo came in the middle of my own platoons. And the spotter's there patting himself on the back at the end of turn 'fire mission complete'):

Don't really know how to clear a corner with enfilading fire, long roads and bocage like this then if offmap is so incredibly unreliable. Does bombardment/mission length affect accuracy?

 

 

[Centurian52]

I've recently gotten back into WW2 after spending a while in the modern and Cold War eras, so I'm still relearning how to effectively use artillery in this era. I know WW2 artillery is less responsive, less accurate, and less reliable than modern artillery. While I tended to call in modern artillery on targets of opportunity, I usually preplan my WW2 artillery rather than relying on my FOs to call it in later, precisely because I know it will take longer to come in and be less likely to come in where I want it. Still, you can't preplan it all the time. Like other people have said, making sure your spotter can clearly see the target and the fall of the rounds is important. And choosing the most appropriate spotter will help (a trained FO is better than a regular officer, if one is available). Another important thing to remember is that, since it's so much less accurate, the "danger close" distance is a lot further away with WW2 arty than with modern arty. I also don't think of WW2 artillery as being accurate enough to be worth giving it "point target" missions most of the time, so I usually use it to plaster a large area instead.

[herr_oberst]

For WWII titles, linear is a decent guess, point (counting on some spread) is the other option I usually use with the intent to eliminate.

 

Unless I'm just trying to disincentivize someone (person or AI) away from a particular area with harassing fire.

[chuckdyke]

On 1/3/2024 at 7:19 PM, Warfare said:

Does bombardment/mission length affect accuracy?

I think once you hear fire for effect the FO's mission is complete. Before all of the mission's munitions can be wasted on spotting rounds.

[MikeyD]

I haven't tested this for a long time but when you're in your scenario you might want to check wind direction and speed (in the 'conditions' screen) before plotting your fire mission. Is the wind effect consistent enough on artillery to be able to adjust to compensate for it? I can't really remember, its been a VERY long time since looked at it.