Artillery Questions

[mbtanker]

How many turns does artillery land (not the delay but length of the fire mission)? Does it vary by caliber or available ammo? I fired one mission with 105mm and that seemed to be all I could do. I think I was in radio range (although not positive now that I think of it). Is there a set number of missions per unit or is it a variable based on ammo?

Thanks.

[Erik Rutins]

It lasts for six phases (three turns) and then has to cool down for six phases (three turns) before it can be called on again. If you hover the mouse over the artillery in the Spot Indirect sub-menu, it will tell you in a tooltip how many phases of fire or cooldown are remaining. Artillery will not run out of ammo, but you can only call it in if you have a HQ "in contact" with a forward observer (the green lit radio icon indicates this).

Regards,

- Erik

[mbtanker]

Ah!! Cool, thanks.

[mbtanker]

Sorry, I just realised this was all in the manual. [8|] Although I wasn't sure about any variation by caliber or arty/mortar.

[Laryngoscope]

With respect to "to-hit" and penetration data vs range for arty, how does one determine the distance from the off-board arty to the bombardment point? Does this happen during fire-plan sighting (I don't think so - seems the most logical place to put it tho) Where is the arty placed exactly? How far off-board? This has direct bearing on the 105 and 150mm German and respective Russian pieces.

I notice the sheaf areas are often rectangles with the long axis parallel to the direction of the arty piece? So not only do we need to know distance, we also need to know direction of the off-board piece [:D]

[Erik Rutins]

Laryngoscope,

ORIGINAL: Laryngoscope
With respect to "to-hit" and penetration data vs range for arty, how does one determine the distance from the off-board arty to the bombardment point? Does this happen during fire-plan sighting (I don't think so - seems the most logical place to put it tho) Where is the arty placed exactly? How far off-board? This has direct bearing on the 105 and 150mm German and respective Russian pieces. I notice the sheaf areas are often rectangles with the long axis parallel to the direction of the arty piece? So not only do we need to know distance, we also need to know direction of the off-board piece [:D]

The distance off-map is irrelevant for Panzer Command. Arty defined as "off map" and available in the scenario are assumed to be at their optimal range. Any off-map coordinate is fine, but the location of the coordinate will determine the direction the fire actually comes from.

Regards,

- Erik

[Laryngoscope]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins
The distance off-map is irrelevant for Panzer Command. Arty defined as "off map" and available in the scenario are assumed to be at their optimal range. Any off-map coordinate is fine, but the location of the coordinate will determine the direction the fire actually comes from.

Regards,

- Erik

Thanks Eric,

Since my last post I notice that arty pieces have negative co-ordinate (x,y) positions in the scenario XML files. Given the bug that I found here would it be reasonable to suggest that *ANY* unit given a negative (off board) co-ordinate will act like artillery?

Ok now you're well again [:)] can I ask a few quick ones:

If I am calling down arty on top of some enemy tanks what penetration value will be used as it is distance based in the tables? Is it the best value as you seem to indicate?

What do you think of the 50% time cool down rule for the larger guns? was this historically accurate over these engagement times (20 - 40 minutes)?

What about mortars did they historically need to cool down as well?

Cheers

[trikky]

I have not yet had a chance to deploy more than one arty unit, is it possible to call multiple fire missions, one for each battery deployed or do all batteries fir on the spotted location?

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Laryngoscope
Since my last post I notice that arty pieces have negative co-ordinate (x,y) positions in the scenario XML files. Given the bug that I found here would it be reasonable to suggest that *ANY* unit given a negative (off board) co-ordinate will act like artillery?

Well, it looks like it might but I was certainly surprised to see that. I would not rely on that working by design since it looks like an unintended consequence. Planes are also placed off-map but do not behave exactly like artillery.

If I am calling down arty on top of some enemy tanks what penetration value will be used as it is distance based in the tables? Is it the best value as you seem to indicate?

Actually, it's a separate value - I have to check if that's in the XML files or not, but it goes by caliber:

Up to 39mm = Pen .5
40-59mm = Pen 1
60-79mm = Pen 1.5
80-99mm = Pen 2
100-119mm = Pen 2.5
120-139mm = Pen 3
140-159mm = Pen 4

What do you think of the 50% time cool down rule for the larger guns? was this historically accurate over these engagement times (20 - 40 minutes)? What about mortars did they historically need to cool down as well?

This abstraction models more than the guns physically cooling down. Artillery generally had many demands on their time during a combat operation and were not always available or reachable when you wanted them. The end result is a combination of priorities, communications, fog of war and chaos to keep artillery use to reasonable levels for this scale.

Regards,

- Erik

[Erik Rutins]

Trikky,

ORIGINAL: trikky
I have not yet had a chance to deploy more than one arty unit, is it possible to call multiple fire missions, one for each battery deployed or do all batteries fir on the spotted location?

Yes, absolutely. You can target each battery separately.

Regards,

- Erik

[Mobius]

If anyone wants to find out about British artillery here is a great site.
Some ideas might be of use.
 
http://members.tripod.com/%7enigelef/