Area fire cover arc

[rocketman]

I read an article on infantry tactics in la Bocage Normande and fequently they would area fire on long stretches of hedges to facilitate the advance of other troops. I find that area fire in CMBN is directed too much at a certain point, even if it is an entire sqaud laying down the area fire. Since the purpose is suppression and making the enemy keep his head down I would like to cover a wider area at the same time - hence introducing the area fire cover arc. What do you think? Would you use it if available?

Edit: Maybe cover arc isn't the best of names, maybe linear target for infantry is more like it.

[Michael Emrys]

Maybe cover arc isn't the best of names, maybe linear target for infantry is more like it.

Yeah, it might be worth trying. I just wonder what changes would have to be made so that the firepower won't be too diluted by spreading it around that way.

BTW, a workaround in the meanwhile is to split your squads into teams and give each one a slightly different target.

Michael

[YankeeDog]

This is an idea that has been batted around since early CMx1 days... I have long thought the Area Fire order could use some refinement, though nowadays I think the system used for indirect artillery fine (with point-area-line options) may be a better basis for an expanded area fire system than the cover arc.

As noted, with squads it's not such a huge deal because you can just split teams and cover a bigger area per turn this way. And with vehicles you can use small moves and pauses to shift aim. It's really MG teams that get the shaft -- there's no practical way to have them target more than one action spot in a turn with area fire.

[womble]

I read an article on infantry tactics in la Bocage Normande and fequently they would area fire on long stretches of hedges to facilitate the advance of other troops. I find that area fire in CMBN is directed too much at a certain point, even if it is an entire sqaud laying down the area fire. Since the purpose is suppression and making the enemy keep his head down I would like to cover a wider area at the same time - hence introducing the area fire cover arc. What do you think? Would you use it if available?

Edit: Maybe cover arc isn't the best of names, maybe linear target for infantry is more like it.

As I understand it, area fire spread itself into the APs adjacent to the targetted spot. So putting your squads' target points three apart gets you 9 spots of coverage for a three squad platoon. I prefer splitting my teams for the Americans at least, and having the teams fire at alternate action spots, which covers 19 spots wide with at least some area fire, with teams' 'splash' overlapping. Assuming I don't have any info on where the enemy are hiding behind the opposite cover, at least.

[YankeeDog]

Yes; if you want to hit a stretch of linear cover like a bocage row with area fire, as with the Area Fire order as it is right now, American Rifle Squads are among the easiest to do this with -- they split into three teams with fairly similar firepower capability, so you can hit three action spots/turn with one squad even without resorting to plotting small move orders so you can change targets within the turn. Since there is some "splash" into adjacent action spots, this means you can cover a line of 3-9 action spots (24-72m) with area fire from an American Rifle Squad per one-minute turn, depending on your desired level of concentration of fire. Not too shabby, and not too ridiculous in terms of the amount of micromanaging, either -- one split command, then three Area Fire plots, and you're good to go.

But I think it's a problem that other infantry units really get the shaft compared to the American Rifle Squad in this area. Really, A belt-fed MG on a tripod mount should be perfect for this job, but in CM they really suck at it since they can only target one action spot/turn. The small moves to change target trick is not a good option for MMG/HMG teams, because of the setup/breakdown time involved.

Overall, next major update of the UI, I think some sort of revamp of the Area Fire system to make it more "fair" and realistically represent the capability of various infantry teams is in order.

Finally, I would note that while I wrote the above comments in the context of WEGO, I think it's also a problem for RT because switching target every 10-20 seconds to do sweeping fire with an MG is just too much micromanagement for RT -- usually, you have to much else to worry about to devote this much of your attention to commanding a single unit in RT.

[rocketman]

As I understand it, area fire spread itself into the APs adjacent to the targetted spot.

Maybe I have not paid attention enought, but to me it seems to be hitting the same AP, at least in graphics. Maybe it spreads more than that, but isn't visible - but then how do you know for sure?

[Michael Emrys]

Maybe I have not paid attention enought, but to me it seems to be hitting the same AP, at least in graphics. Maybe it spreads more than that, but isn't visible - but then how do you know for sure?

I have to tentatively agree with that. I have placed the camera behind a target unit and watched the trajectory of incoming fire, and it does look to just sweep across the one AS. But the way to definitively test this would be to set up several units in adjacent ASs and fire at the center one, then check to see how many and which units receiving the fire suffer casualties or become suppressed.

Michael

[womble]

I can't recall the provenance, beyond "this forum somewhere", of the statement that area fire hits more than one AP, but I think I saw someone who ought to know say it's so.

Ah, and the testing I did on friendly fire suppression... If bullet "splash" is landing on the AP next to a unit, there's a reduced amount of suppression. So maybe the fire isn't spread, but the suppression effect covers a broader area.

[Michael Emrys]

I can't recall the provenance, beyond "this forum somewhere", of the statement that area fire hits more than one AP, but I think I saw someone who ought to know say it's so.

Yeah, I remember reading the same thing at least two or three months ago. It was one of the playtesters IIRC, but I don't recall which one.

Michael

[rocketman]

My guess is that units that are next to the AP getting area fire and get suppressed are green/regular units while crack/elite doesn't. However, I want my area fire to also have the chance of causing casualities and suppression to all kinds of units, in a wider range.