FO orders in CMBO/BB

[Yggdrasill]

Is there any way now, and/or will there be any way in the future, to order an FO to fire only a portion of his ammo on a target or over the course of a turn? As FOs get more experience, they tend to correct targetting more quickly, and therefore use ammo faster. It would be nice to be able to set expenditure limits.

In the same vein, I've noticed that the pause command doesn't work with FOs for firing. Any ideas why this is? It would be nice to be able to ask the FO to hold off 15 seconds etc. before letting loose, so as to give one's forces some time to move in/out of an area. But I find that, once the "countdown" is complete, it's bombs away or cancel the order and start the countdown over. Kinda silly, no?

[Sir Uber General]

You cant specify that implicitly, but you can work around the limitations by correcting fire out of the spotters LOS. Out of LOS firing takes twice as long to arrive compared to in LOS firing.

To get really funky, move your target out of LOS to slow the arrival of the barrage, but also give the spotter movement commands that take him back into LOS of the target. That way your barrage arrives delayed, but is still in a tight fall-pattern for maximum effect. To get this right takes a bit of practice!

Hope that helps ya.

[JasonC]

You already have unrealistically godlike control over the timing and size of your fire missions. In the real deal, fire missions were much larger and much less flexible than they are in CMBO. What you are asking for is a completely unrealistic level of control. Why not ask to independently target each tube, correct each one individually, and decide which second to fire each shell? You can live with half a minute lumpiness for pete's sake. The real guys had to deal with 5 minute lumpiness.

[John Kettler]

JasonC,

While you have a point, it is also true that there were several things done IRL that we in CM can't. These include: firing a specified number of rounds; specifying firing rate desired; firing mixed ammo types; firing WP (Allies only); nonFOs conducting shoots; firing "on my command" with the guns already loaded and aimed, and the all-important "Check fire!" which is not necessarily the same as scrubbing the fire mission outright. This list is not inclusive. FOs should also have the capability

to call down fire on their own positions or other

designated locations and have that fire continue with no further adjustment even if the FO team is wiped out. Sometimes it's necessary to resort to desperate measures to prevent an overrun, buy time to bring up reserves, block a defile, etc.

Regards,

John Kettler

[ June 05, 2002, 01:41 AM: Message edited by: John Kettler ]

[Yggdrasill]

Well, I appreciate all the responses.

I agree, Jason, that we do have a somewhat unrealistic level of control in certain aspects of artillery fire. On the hand, we can't do something as simple and basic as a rolling barrage, especially from a point within LOS to an *adjacent* point outside LOS.

So I wouldn't say that I am trying to have my cake and eat it too.

Thanks for all the good points.