Pausing fire

[Sven]

Just like it's possible to delay a move, it should be possible to delay an "open fire" command.

[Sergei]

What I'd like to have, is a "fire burst" command, which would tell the unit to fire something like three to five rounds to my designated target, then cease. Especially for mortars and artillery. Maybe you could define it in increments of (for instance) three, like "fire 3...6...9...12 50mm shells to that trench".

[Sergei]

Also, I think on-board mortars need to have some fire delays, at least when someone else is doing the spotting for them.

[Other Means]

to delay a mortar firing, give it a rotate order with the area fire order. it will rotate, then rotate back & start firing.

if you want to fire some shells then stop, give it a tiny movment order. maybe with a delay.

i agree there should be settings for volume of fire. i.e. fire n rounds, harassing fire into an area, fire n rounds/min, etc.

but while we're waiting this finagles it.

[Bergerbitz]

Doesn't the Pause command tell the unit to hold off firing until X amount of time? Or does the Pause command just refer to holding off movement for a set period?

I'm embarrassed to say, but I've never really fiddled around with mortar management.

[Sergei]

"Pause" only applies to command delays, and you get command delays only with movement, not targetting, commands.

[Bergerbitz]

Ah...that's what I figured. Thanks Sergei!

I'd have to say I like the fire burst command idea as well. I can see it working very well for on-board mortars.

Now I wonder if arty spotters specified how many rounds they needed in a specific location, or if they just relayed coordinates to the gunners and that was it?

[Sven]

I'm not just talking about mortars, even infantry/AT fire should be possible to delay.

[Sergei]

Originally posted by Bergerbitz:

Now I wonder if arty spotters specified how many rounds they needed in a specific location, or if they just relayed coordinates to the gunners and that was it?

At least in Finnish artillery it was the practise to deal in standardized units of fire. A great description of Finnish Artillery practises can be found in The Finnish Winter War site.

The "unit of fire" is a unit of measurement, which is used both to simplify munitions logistics, restrict munitions consumption and to keep the rate of fire in such limits that it won't wear down the barrel too much. So the Finnish "Tuliannos" could also be translated as "required supply rate".

(All weapons, artillery pieces, small arms etc., have a set "unit of fire")

In Finnish artillery, the "unit of fire" was set according to the caliber. These were as follows:

75 mm - 76 mm 100 shells/gun

105 mm - 122 mm 60 shells/gun

152 mm - 155 mm 40 shells/gun

Thus, as an example, an artillery battalion firing a "fire strike" (12 guns firing into a 100 m x 100 m area) expends 1/10 unit of fire. If it fires a "half fire strike", the expenditure is 1/20 unit of fire.

[Bergerbitz]

Originally posted by Sven:

I'm not just talking about mortars, even infantry/AT fire should be possible to delay.

Er, yeah...I was kind of caught up in my own experiences with wishing for better mortar and arty management. Sorry.

But for infantry and AT guns, I've always used varying cover arc lengths. I set the unit's cover arc length (with a 180 degree field) depending on the most effective distance for the weapon(s) they have so ammo doesn't get wasted on distant targets. If I need some overwatch help, I lenghten the arc.

Of course, it's a bit of a workaround and isn't perfect. It also doesn't directly address the delaying fire issue...hmmm...

I like that rotate idea that Other Means has. I wonder how fast an AT gun can turn under fire? Prolly not too fast, I'd bet.

Oh, thanks for the arty response Sergei!

[Baron von Beergut]

Yea, would be nice to limit firing especially with limited ammo units such as say, a 150mm Inf Gun. May only have 13 rounds and you only want to pump say two at a target and not keep firing as much as it can for the turn.

Also it would be nice to turn off MG's on tanks with limited MG ammo until you really need it. Like in Steel Panthers you could click on and off various weapons in a unit.

[['nzn]]

Give yer mortars fire command than give them move command to a couple of meters aside an hit pause (~30sec). They will fire a little then interrupt and walk a little. Hope this helps someone

[ September 05, 2003, 08:00 PM: Message edited by: ['nzn] ]

[lcm1947]

I agreed with all of the above. Last night I had a gun shoot it's entire supply of ammo at a knocked out enemy gun. Was I mad. Anyway, I think there should be some control over what a unit is told to fire or at least could be told but not that you would have to tell them each time. That would sure get old. anyway doesn't seem unrealistic to me and would certainly add to the game as far as I'm concerned.

[Andrew H.]

I think that this would be a good command for all troops using area fire, including infantry. Sometimes you just want them to fire a couple of rounds into a suspected area, and then wait to see if anything pops up.

I think it would be a little unrealistic for most direct fire situations, though - especially those involving infantry.