Mortar/Artillery Spotting with HQ's

[NameUsedBefore]

Exactly how is this done? I've seen people mentioning how you should place mortars and artillery spotters/launchers behind hills and just have HQ's spot for them. But I have no idea how to do this ...

[chiavarm]

As long as you have a LOS to the target area and your HQ AND your Art. unit(on map)is in within command of that HQ, then when you target that area (w/ the At. unit) you will get a yellow line indicating a valid target. If these conditions are not met then you will get a red line to the target which indicate an invalid target.

[Brent Pollock]

...but by "Art. unit(onmap)", he really means mortars & halftracks with mortars. Won't work for other weapons like infantry guns or howitzers.

[NameUsedBefore]

I don't think I'm getting this.

If the HQ has to be in command of the mortar/artillery spotter, then wouldn't it be probable that his LOS is almost exactly the same as the mortar/spotter's?

More detail...?

[Philippe]

Figure out what the maximum possible command distance is for the HQ that you are planning on using as a spotter. Position your mortar that much farther back and behind something visually impenetrable like a hill, a building, or a thick clump of trees.

Remember to bring the spotting HQ out of hiding before you try to target the mortars.

Make sure there isn't another HQ closer to the mortar unit than the spotter (i.e. keep checking to see who the mortar unit will be getting its orders from).

[NameUsedBefore]

So, do I target with the HQ... or mortar?

If the HQ has the line of sight, but the mortar doesn't, will the mortar still show a "clear" firing lane (even, let's say, if it's through a forest or something)?

[John_d]

Can HQs spot for FOs?

[JasonC]

Oldest question there is, huh?

The formula is -

mortars only, foot or halftracked.

red command line to an HQ, only the HQ with the line counts.

HQ must have LOS to the target location, and not be hiding, panicked, broken, routed.

Mortar set up, not moving or on its set-up delay clock, not pinned or worse etc.

Target with the mortar ("T"). Line sticks, orangish, and says "area fire".

You can use the LOS tool from the HQ beforehand to figure out aim points.

Will fire the full minute and keep it up unless-until given a ceasefire order of new target. It is aiming at the location not a unit, so the aim point will not shift as a target moves, as it does with direct fire.

Generally you want to stop the fire after 1 minute, because the target is probably already pinned by then. Large guns/valuable targets or 50mm/weak mortars you can fire another minute etc.

HQ LOS only matters at the time of the fire order, once the mortar is firing the HQ can move if it wants. A short covered arc to avoid giving away the HQ position by firing, is a common additional touch.

On map mortars that have not moved can also fire at a TRP (aim point within 20m), without an HQ spotter.

No other on-map weapons can fire indirect. HQs cannot spot for FOs, those spot themselves for their battery.

[John_d]

So how do you spot for mortar half-tracks in CMBO where vehicles don't get command bonuses?

[ParaBellum]

You target the mortar with the...mortar.

You will still get the "out of LOS" targetting line, but it will show "area fire" instead of the usual "out of LOS". If you target (click on) a valid (in LOS of HQ) area, the "out of LOS" line will be replaced by the orange "area fire" line.

A little screenie:

1: the HQ (must NOT be hidden) that is doing the spotting

2: the mortar in command of the HQ, LOS to target area is blocked

3: target area

HQs spotting for onboard mortars are extremely effective.

@ John_d: I haven't played CMBO since the day CMBB was released, but it's not about HQ bonuses but about spotting. So this should work for the mortar halftracks in CMBO, too.

[ December 20, 2005, 02:26 PM: Message edited by: ParaBellum ]

[John_d]

sorry, I meant that vehicles don't get HQs , nor can they take advantage of them. So how do halftracks fire?

[ParaBellum]

In CMBB and CMAK the mortar vehicles can be "in command" of a (infantry) HQ. If they are in range you get the same red line as with other (infantry) units. As I've said, I haven't played CMBO in years, I don't know if this feature was already implemented in CMBO.

[tar]

John_d: HQ spotting for vehicle-mounted mortars only works in CMBB and CMAK. In CMBO you can't do it. The only thing that works for letting vehicle-mounted mortars in CMBO fire from a hidden position is to not move them and use TRPs.

[Zalgiris 1410]

I helped someone else out on this subject on an earlier thread called: Newbie needed help w/ demo. Likes it a lot!, specifically it was with using HQs as spotters for mortats and Arty spotter teams, although Parabellum's screenie is way better and clearer than mine, good work.

[ December 23, 2005, 09:03 PM: Message edited by: Zalgiris 1410 ]

[RockinHarry]

To speed up onboard mortar targeting, I select and place the spotting HQ "rotate to" box on the to be targeted map spot in LOS and then place the commanded mortars target point right on top. Oh..I forgot...before I place the "rotate to" thingy, I had first used the HQ´s line of sight tool on the desired map spot and with positive LOS not moving the mouse cursor, finally switched to "rotate to" key command, then drop the box. Nothing spectacular, but speeds up plotting of onboard mortars in command of a spotting HQ on complex maps (large maps+dense terrain+loads of units). The HQ "marks" the target point in LOS for the mortars so to say.