Are 1st turn Rocket Barrages Useless??

[OGF Keller]

Just played a few scenarios where had some Stalin Organs and my disposal, and, as the scenario briefing advised, used them in preparatory barrages.

Well, the random pattern of rocktet falling, though it made for an awesome sight and sound, seemed pretty useless as a tactical weapon.

And forget about doing it close in!! The infantry will get spooked and it takes them two turns at least to clean their diapers and get a move on.

I dunno...anybody have thoughts on this one?

[Vergeltungswaffe]

Pre-planned is the only way I use Soviet rockets. The scatter is so bad, you want to make sure your troops are well separated from the targetted area. The effect can vary widely, from nothing to devastation, but I think, on average, they do good damage.

If there is a large distance to cover, I often delay the barrage a few turns, so that I can close in fairly soon after it lifts, for maximum benefit.

[YankeeDog]

It's a fine art to how close you put your infantry to the target of the rocket barrage. Too close, and the barrage may cause as much damage to your forces as it does to your enemy's. Too far, and the enemy may have largely recovered from the effects of the barrage.

In my expereince, it is better to risk a few casualties to your own troops in exchange for being able to hit the objective soon after the barrage. Note that I said a few casualties. . .

Mounted troops are a great asset here - you can move them quickly forward into jumping-off points immediately after the barrage is over.

[demoss]

I've taken out a PaK 43 with a preplanned rocket barrage. Enough said.

[Guest Mike]

Last time I used the pre-planned artilery feature I put a 6 turn delay on it.

It caught a platoon of h/track borne infantry reinforcements advancing with 1 blask ko-ing a h/track.

And who knows what else - I'll see in the AAR what the spotter has been creited with.

[Lumbergh]

In a QB a few weeks ago I had a rocket spotter, so I laid them down on the area "around" the victory flags.

When I got up to the flags there a couple of KO'd Marders, which, it turns out, were nailed by said rocket spotter.

Good enough for me.

[Slappy]

They're a gamble, and a fairly expensive one. If I get them in a scenario, I use them with glee. I generally don't buy them myself. I'd rather have the 2.5 81mm spotters or 1.5 120mm I could get for the points. That way I know what I'm killing.

[Ex Bellator]

I almost always use them if attacking over open terrain. Typically I'll buy a pair of spotters using the biggest caliber I can find (300mm is often quite cheap). Also make sure the spotters are of as low quality as you can get as it saves a fair amount and doesn't affect accuracy of prep barrages.

Concentrate both spotters on the same flank you are planning to attack down (not in the middle of the map or sepearated). Use them to blast a wide corridor on that flank clear of AT guns and mortars. With a bit of luck you'll catch some trenches with infantry as well. Throw in smoke later and smash into the survivors, then turn and attack across towards any objectives.

This concentration seems to have helped me in several QB PBEm games, and if the terrain is open your options are limited anyway so why not try to blast them out early? I think one spotter by themselves relies on too much luck, but a pair firing big rockets at a similar point will almost always do significant damage, even vehicles are vulnerable.

[ January 08, 2003, 12:18 PM: Message edited by: Rex_Bellator ]

[jwxspoon]

In QB's, I use rocket spotters for the prebombardment in conjunction with a couple of TRP's. In a recent large QB I used multiple 300mm Rocket spotters and a pair of trp's to kill over 18 vehicles in the first turn.

jw