tricky ballistics and a good scout around

[costard]

I searched Tricky Ballistics in BO and came up with scratch, so here we go - a hymn to the game.

You learn from experience to get down at ground level to do the "scout" - with the number pad it is a trip, one of the really good bits of the game. Much, oh so much better than walking over that same ground. And you're not being shot at.

You're scouting for - good covered lines of advance,

observation points (both for you and the enemy, these depending on what you know of the starting conditions for the map) , avenues of attack (long clear lanes for mg's, light mortars, etc). In most maps, as the attacker, you're then left with a choice of "choke points", areas that must be gained to your progress in the battle. The defender can (and probably should) plan for these same choke points (a TRP on the probable patch of trees, mines and wire, covering mortars (for tree bursts, especially) and mg's in trenches with good reverse slope protection. This position becomes sought after by the defender - the ballistics of the artillery shell make the likelyhood of a hit low. Tank guns, in particular, fire fairly low, flat arcs, so its at least good against armour. A squad pinned in impervious cover recovers from the pin quicker, too. Mortars of course have the high trajectory ballistic arc - good for getting into trenches.

The tricky part goes something like this.

I love the german 155mm field gun. There, admitted it. "Bang for your buck" aside, it throws a big, heavy shell on a fairly curved trajectory. Taking the gun on the attack can be quite a risk if you haven't seen the map, and often I've found myself having to compromise on the placement of the gun to achieve some degree of cover for its crew. (Else its taken out by his mortars in two).

I've found that by placing the aiming point on a high point of the ground along the path of the shell, I can get more than the occasional miss to skim on further and fall where I want it. I took out a mate's MG bunker once, skimmed the shell through the firing slit.

Thus, it is possible to use the gun to good effect against a reverse slope defense, with the application of tricky ballistics and a good scout around.