Artillery Adjustment Problem or Me?

[Zebulon]

A rudimentary search of the 90,000+ (wow!) postings did not yield an answer to my question(s).

Events:

1. Target artillery strike, 2 minutes estimated for arrival.

2. Artillery falls on unhappy soldiers, soldiers flee from trees to woods.

3. Plot artillery shift with green line to woods, 1 minute delay estimated.

4. Change mind, move artillery plot elsewhere before hitting "Go!", blue line, 3 minute delay.

5. Don't like 3 min delay, move back to original plan, 4 minute delay.

6. All subsequnet shifts have 4 minute delay, still before pressing "Go!".

My questions are:

1. Why did my first blue shift estimate more time than the first time I called on the artillery (3 minutes instead of 2)?

2. Why did subsequent orders to shift (all done in one orders phase) jump to 4 minute estimates?

Comment:

To add on to all the other "It would be nice" requests, I feel it would be nice to be able to shift an artillery strike, and if you don't like the estimate, shift back to the original strike with no delay (of course within the same orders phase only). Perhaps that is too much power in the player's hands, but maybe not?

[Lorak]

Basically a one miniute delay is the norm for adjusting fire. When you moved your target father away, basically you canceled your first fire mission and called in another one. So even switching back to your original target you would be calling in a brand new request. Thats the reason for the time diffrence.

I don't think this needs to be changed. Just make note of this. From now on you know to keep it close and readjust. If you move far it will be canceled. If you made the mistake of using the target line to see if you had LOS, just make sure to use the LOS tool next time.

Lorak

[Guest Michael emrys]

Yes, this is the official line. It's always struck me as a little bit bogus though. In a turn-based game like CM, the orders phase occurs outside game time. If I can switch targetting orders at will without penalty for on-board units, it seems arbitrary not to be able to do it for off-board units as well.

And before anybody brings up the time factor for plotting off-board artillery, yes I agree that should be factored in once a target has been decided on and you hit Go. But I think you should get to experiment a little before you have to commit to a final target.

If for some reason you find that unbearable, then to be consistent, you should also have some kind of penalty for retargetting on-board units as well ("For crissake Sarge, which one do you want me to shoot at?").

Michael

[Lorak]

Michael,

I understand what your saying. I just have never found it a problem. Using the LOS tool you know if you can bring fire on the target or not. So how hard is it to not actualy move your target until you've made your mind up?

Lorak

[Ben Galanti]

I think AFV guns get a penelty for retergetting during an order phase. I know that tanks 'dial in' targets, and as such have a higher chance to hit the more they shoot. I always assumed that if you cancel the tanks fire ordeer, you loose that 'dialing in', even if you retarget the same unit.

That being said, an undo feature would be nice on occasion.

[Guest Michael emrys]

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

Michael,

I understand what your saying. I just have never found it a problem. Using the LOS tool you know if you can bring fire on the target or not. So how hard is it to not actualy move your target until you've made your mind up?

Lorak<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, it's not a big problem for me in the sense that it happens all the time. In fact, I habitually use the LOS tool first and only if I have an idea of what I want to do hit the T key. However, on one occasion I was in a hurry and targetted a unit only to discover that I was only going to get area fire on it whereas there was a more lucrative target I could hit pinpoint. I naturally switched targets and discovered it was going to take 4 minutes for the shells to arrive. This really rankled because I felt the rationale for it was defective.

To recapitulate, it's not that there isn't a way to address the problem, the suggestion you make is a valid one, it's that the problem shouldn't be there in the first place.

Michael

[Seanachai]

Hmm, I won't weigh in here on the discussion, except to say that I have occassionaly made an improper choice as regards retargeting, and felt sorrow and lamentation. One point for the original poster to note is that green line means a very slight adjustment, both in terms of area and time, and blue line, I believe, means a longer adjustment in terms of both. If you're looking to experiment, and get a result you don't like before committing to it, then hit the space bar and it reverts to whatever your firing pattern was before. I still make errors, but knowing this has saved me in any number of situations, let alone artillery adjustment.

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