Blackcat Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 The revisions to the artillery in 1.21 has certainly generated some discussion and rather than confuse issues even more in the "Artillery Absurdity" thread I thought I'd seek enlightenment in a new one. I visited a friend over the weekend and watched him play several turns of the assault on the chemical works mission in the Marines campaign under 1.21 and witnessed something I have not seen before, a "reverse creeping barrage" from the AI. The facts of the matter are simple enough. Shortly after the off the AI brought down artillery (actually, based on the size of the explosions I would guess it was mortar fire) on my friend's Stryker force on his right flank. Naturally enough to et out of the kill zone he moved his units forward, but not too far as he had no idea at that stage of what was in front him. The AI then shortened its range so the rounds started to land just behind the rear of the new positions. My friend moved forward again and again the artillery shortened its range. This continued, in effect the AI was driving my friends forces forward faster than he wanted to go and after a short while the inevitable happened - he was hit by ATGM (RPG?) fire causing him to halt and then losing two further Strykers to the artillery. At which point the ladies called us through to dinner and so I don't know how it panned out. The key point for me was the degree of accuracy of the Syrian Mortar fire. My friend moved and the AI's rounds followed him, very closely - they didn't undershoot - almost immediately. The chances of the AI plan being scripted and my friend co-incidentally moving to match are, I think, extremely remote. Has anyone else experienced such "intelligent" behaviour from the AI? I have read that it is possible to plot a creeping barrage, though I have never had need to try it but for the AI to run a dynamic creeping barrage where the speed of change is dictated by the moves of the human player seems pretty damn impressive to me. Of course it could have been pure coincidence but that does seem unlikely. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomm Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 Perhaps this is a result of the changes to the "Adjust Mission" functionality that are mentioned in the patch notes. Best regards, Thomm 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrspawn Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 The revisions to the artillery in 1.21 has certainly generated some discussion and rather than confuse issues even more in the "Artillery Absurdity" thread I thought I'd seek enlightenment in a new one. . The sort of extreme precision and speed of the syrian artillery is something I have also encountered.. but only in the USMC campaign. It's quite annoying to be honest. What you're describing sounds like a heavy point fire mission directed on a moving vehicle by an expert FO. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeDog Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I love the fact that there are currently two threads at the top of the forum, one complaining about how slow, inaccurate, and unresponsive Syrian artillery is, and the other one complaining about how fast, accurate, and responsive it is. Could be a bug, but could also be that the Syrians just had a good-quality spotter, with good LOS to the vehicle as it moved. Light artillery like medium mortars can make small (i.e., couple hundred meters or so) adjustments in aim pretty much on the fly. So as long as the Stryker wasn't moving too far, too fast, it's not all that surprising to me that the mortar fire was able to adjust and follow. The Germans were actually notorious for the exact trick you describe in WWII -- dropping mortar fire just behind an attacking enemy, and pushing them forward into an ambush. If the Germans could pull it off with 1940s-era spotting, comm. and fire control technology, I see no reason why the Syrians couldn't do it today. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackcat Posted November 16, 2009 Author Share Posted November 16, 2009 I certainly wasn't complaining about the behaviour of the Syrian Artillery, I actually was quite impressed by what seemed to be going on. Having read the responses to my question (thank you, chaps), I now realise that what I saw only appeared to be intelligent tactics and it was actually the result of a particular vehicle being targeted. Pity really. Nevermind, I am still a newcomer to the game and have lots to learn. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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