Artillery

[KiwiJoe]

This is just an idea... I wouldnt want BTS to waste time on it when they have more importants things to do.

Artillery: Currently you purchase say an american 105mm spotter with 100 rounds. I find that I'm now pretty good at measuring and counting crater holes. So I can count the 100 holes and know that my opponent is outta rounds. I was thinking, for realism, you could buy a generic foo and then buy rounds for him. So you would buy a vet foo for say 60 points with no rounds, then say 105mm rounds would cost 2 points each. So to get a spotter with 62 105mm rounds would cost 184 points (60 + 2 x 62). Then you would never know how much fire that spotter can call in.

[Guest Michael emrys]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by KiwiJoe:

This is just an idea... I wouldnt want BTS to waste time on it when they have more importants things to do.

Artillery: Currently you purchase say an american 105mm spotter with 100 rounds. I find that I'm now pretty good at measuring and counting crater holes. So I can count the 100 holes and know that my opponent is outta rounds. I was thinking, for realism, you could buy a generic foo and then buy rounds for him. So you would buy a vet foo for say 60 points with no rounds, then say 105mm rounds would cost 2 points each. So to get a spotter with 62 105mm rounds would cost 184 points (60 + 2 x 62). Then you would never know how much fire that spotter can call in.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think I kinda like this, but I don't think it's quite there yet. What I would like to see is the difference between having a dedicated battery and having to put a request into a general pool. This would have more to do with access time than with ammo load, but that could be modeled too, I suppose.

One thing I would definitely like to see for both on- and off-board artillery is for the player to specify the number of rounds fired in the mission. Redlegs correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that standard practice?

Michael

[Kanonier Reichmann]

I can't believe someone is prepared to count the number of bleedin' shellholes to try & work out if more artillery is on its way. YIKES! How much time do you guys spend on each turn?

Regards

Jim R.

[Guest Michael emrys]

Varies a lot, but counting the time I spend going over and over the replay with a magnifying glass while writing notes...oh, let's say an hour to an hour and a half on each turn. Of course, if it's a case where not much is really happening, as little as a half-hour, maybe even less.

Michael

[GAZ NZ]

U will have to count fast with a 5 minute timer on tcp/ip.

hehe interesting idea.

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Lo there do i see my father, Lo there do i see my Mother,and my sisters and my brothers,

Lo there do i see the line of my people back to the beginning,

Thou they do call to me, they bid me take my place among them, In the halls of Valhalla where the brave may live forever....

[Von Brizee]

WOW.

I usually dont spend more than 5 minutes or so

[KiwiJoe]

It takes about a min or less to count 60 odd craters and factor in tree bursts. Not really practical with the small stuff but you can take a guess at when 150-200 rounds have fallen.

[mikeadams]

I use a built-in function of the game. Simply place your most valuable unit in the open and wait to see if it gets blown away: if it doesn't then your opponent is out of ammo. Slight modifications will work for minefields, bazookas etc.

[ntg84]

Once all your good units and M7's and 76mm AT guns are destroyed or shocked or your infantry is broken you can tell they are out

[Juju]

KiwiJoe, I like the idea. There would have to be a max limit, though, To keep players from saving points by buying only one spotter, and burying him in ammo (i.e. forget that second spotter, he's worth 30 rounds.

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Der ver zwei peanuts, valking down der Strasse, and von vas...assaulted! peanut. Ho-ho-ho-ho.

[Hans]

Answering the question

The FO sends back a request for fire or what is commonly known as a call for fire.

Requests a type of mission (adjust, fire for effect, etc)and the location

He describes the target (four trucks and 50 men in a tree line)

Requests a method of engagement (VT in effect)

The Fire direction officer or NCO at the fire direction center issues a fire order (3 rounds TI) (3 rounds HE with TI fuse from each tube)

The FO requests and FDC grants, this can be overridden by the FA chain of command or in certain situation by the superior maneuver commander.

The FO can always call for a repeat or restart the mission or more rarely after hearing the effects on the target the FDO can order additional fire.

[Guest ACTOR]

Mikeadams...TOO FUNNY! LOL

So I guess that's what I have been doing all those times. I wish I had known about that feature before I started playing.

[Supertanker]

I can see it now:

"I know what you're thinking. Did he fire 35 shots, or only 34? To tell you the truth, in all the confusion I kind of lost track myself. But seeing how this radio ties into a 155mmVT battery, one of the most powerful artillery batteries in the game, and would blow your butt *clean* away, you have to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, Fritz, do ya?"

Joking aside, I don't think this idea works on a practical basis. It assumes that you know how many observers there are and what kind of batteries they control, and by the time you have cleared the FOW enough to know that, you have probably enjoyed the impact of all the artillery already.

There was an episode of Magnum PI where Tom Selleck was trying to figure out how many rounds a guy shooting at him had left. He started out thinking the guy had one left in a six-shot revolver. But he could have a .45 automatic, in which case he has two more. Or he could have a double-stacked 9mm, giving him eight or ten more. Or he could have two guns, or reloaded. Oh, forget it.

I've played enough now that I do have a rough idea if there is any artillery left from a particular observer, especially on large maps where they tend to be spread out, with each one covering a certain region. I can tell if there will be lots of little explosions, or just a few big ones.

Also, don't forget to count the airbursts during the replays, since they don't leave craters.

[PvK]

It seems to me another gamey trick would be to notice when an off-map barrage ends during the middle of a turn. Is there any way this would happen unless the battery was out of ammo?

It would be nice if the number of rounds could be specified.

Also, I've mentioned this before in other threads, but I'd really like to be able to specify single shots (or small arms bursts) for area fire and smoke, and order more than one per turn. Usually, I don't want a unit to fire area fire for the entire turn all at one spot, but often I'd like to just fire single rounds here and there for surpression or harrassment or "recon by fire," or to lay a well-placed smokescreen instead of jamming too many rounds into one spot (and likely getting killed while my unit is preoccupied firing smoke or just keeping facing a smoke target after ammo is expended).

PvK