Mark IV Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 A minor pecadillo- or maybe a sudden awareness... Bringing my HTs over a rise, I plotted MG area fire on a house and hedge in a holler that looked unfriendly. I ordered a couple of squads to move down into the house area, as the "recon by fire" might smoke out any nasties. The squads started out right next to the HTs (I mean, 5m) and worked straight down the valley, into the house, and directly into the area fire, which continued unabated. Commendable modeling of grazing fire, no doubt- I lost 4 troops and had 2 squads panicked and broken, all to my own HTs (the suspect area turned out to be unoccupied). There doesn't seem to be a way to schedule covering fire which recognizes friendly forces- you'd think that the HT gunner would think "hmm, those guys were right here a minute ago, they're wearing the same uniform I am, I watched them walk down a straight line down the hill into that house, perhaps I'll lighten up for a bit". I'd like the TacAI to be smart enough to recognize its own troops and cease area fire when my guys hit the zone (DIRECT- indirect fire is a different story). Otherwise, I have to wait a full minute's turn before advancing on foot, thus losing the effect of any suppression I may have caused. Keep in mind that walking into your own mortar/artillery fire is an entirely different, and painful, subject- this is about direct fire at 125m. The gunner should have laid off when he saw his own guys enter the area. Comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiJoe Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 You can see the line of fire of the ht's when u plot the fire mission (push (shift+P). Thus plot your infantry movement to avoid that line... you must have walked your infantry directly into the ht's line of fire which isnt a good move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark IV Posted July 17, 2000 Author Share Posted July 17, 2000 Right, expected that. But: Why would the HT keep shooting when he can see his own guys? How else can you lay suppressive MG on a house (etc.) right up til you run inside, and then STOP, within the space of a single turn? The Area fire command could use a tweak for timing, as units assigned area fire continue to blaze away for the entire turn, often consuming all their ammo. If it's too much for the TacAI to decide when to stop firing for fear of hitting its own men, it should be relatively easy to specify a duration for the AF (shoot at that building for 30 seconds then quit). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott Clinton Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>How else can you lay suppressive MG on house (etc.) right up til you run inside, and then STOP, within the space of a single turn?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> AFAIK, you can't. You have to time the assualt to happen at the start of a turn, the same turn in which you plot the area fire to stop. If there is a better method I don't know of it and would love to hear it. ------------------ Please note: The above is solely the opinion of 'The Grumbling Grognard' and reflects no one else's views but his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisl Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 I do it all the time, but avoid running through the LOF. It also helps to have any vehicles providing covering fire unbuttoned. I don't seem to lose many, if any to my own fire. Don't try this at night, unless the assault troops are leaving from right next to the cover fire troops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntelWeenie Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 From my PLDC (Primary Leadership Development Course) days: I remember several of our "facilitators" (they facilitated our learning on our own )telling us NEVER have covering fire on your axis of advance. Adjust your positions/routes of advance to avoid overlap. Considering other possible scenarios in CM where this sort of thing could happen, I agree that a unit assigned an area fire target should be able to cease fire IF they see friendlies entering the targeted area. After all, the current TacAI will cancel area fire to engage a threat. Ah, the list grows ever longer for v1.04! ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark IV Posted July 17, 2000 Author Share Posted July 17, 2000 Situation was dawn, overcast, HT unbuttoned (and low on ammo). There were no threats present. Advancing squads began from 5m either side of the offending HT. They did not move precisely on the axis of covering fire (even I'm not that stupid), but in order to reach the objective house they had to turn on a new axis and enter it. The more I think about it, timed Area Fire would handle several CM situations that seem a little awkward. Mortars spring to mind- especially smoke. I might want a little smoke somewhere, but right now they dump the whole smoke load-out before the 60 seconds is up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntelWeenie Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 Sorry, I wasn't trying to imply stupidity on anyone's part (except the MG gunners in your HT's, maybe ). That part was minly for the neophytes out there. Have you tried using the pause command in conjuction with the targeting? I'm game-less (at "work") right now, can't try it. If it works, it would at least allow for "timing" smoke, etc. ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreasyPig Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 Mark Ive done the very same thing as well. I have begun using a seudo timed method that Im really not good at yet but its a trade off. When I begin an area fire with some AFV or Arty I put my troops on the "MOVE" command for a short distance and the "FAST" on the remaining. However, I usually don't have my last waypoint in the objective itself. Hopefully, when the turn ends my guys will have just arrived out side the objective. On the next turn I cease the cover fire and move in. This brings up something Ive noticed. There is always a SOME delay in movement commands BUT a cease fire command always seems instant or really quick. Anyone else seen this? Just an observation. GP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark IV Posted July 17, 2000 Author Share Posted July 17, 2000 Sorry, wasn't being defensive. I often do stupid things. It makes opponents easier to find. And after all, this is a thread about machine-gunning my own troops. I have also come up with workarounds, like issuing a minor Move command to mortar (and other) units to get them to shoot a little, but cease area-firing before a turn ends. But that's gamey and can expose them to nasties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SF Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 The more I think about it, timed Area Fire would handle several CM situations that seem a little awkward. Mortars spring to mind- especially smoke. I might want a little smoke somewhere, but right now they dump the whole smoke load-out before the 60 seconds is up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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