How to avoid enemy arty fire ?

[Repsol]

Hello !
Greatful for any tips about how to best avoid enemy artillery fire
while attacking or moving...Thoose enemy barrages are by far my
biggest problem on the offensive...

Thanks ! [8D]

[MarkShot]

Some ideas:

* Move at night where LOS is greatly reduced.

* Attack at night where LOS is reduced and you have much better chance of closing to below minimum bombard range with the enemy before being seen.

* FUP behind hills and woods such that your actions take place in dead space, a LOS shadow.

* Conduct recon down roads before using them for major operations. They may turn out to be clear, blocked, or under observation. If not clear, then find another way.

* Send some fast armored units behind the lines to: cut off the enemy's SEP and the bases from the line units (starve his guns). Additionally, considering that they are likely to be deployed in the rear along roads, you may well find them. So, hammer them with your own arty.

* Move using interior lines.

* Find some other force with can be sacrificed and more threatening to the enemy and let them become an arty magnet to soak up his bombard capability.

I hope that helps.

[Repsol]

Hello, MarkShot ! [:)]

Thanks for your tips..
- I try to use the cover of darknes as much as i can but often
i feel that i don't have enough time to wait for nightfall to do the
necesary manouvering...
- I recently played the ´Battle of the roadblocks' as german and did just as you suggested...
After getting a vague intel report on an enemy field artillery battalion 2.5 km west of the frontline
at Antoniushaft-ridge i ordered 2 Pz Aufkl Bn HQ and 2nd coy to probe in that direction after nightfall
to try and get a fix on the enemy possitions...It worked very well...I found not only one but two
enemy field artillery battalions...I directed my own artillery to target thoose and since they seemed
to be undefended i ordered 2 coys of assultguns (StuGIII) to attack them also...They soon surrendered
and the enemy lost 36 M7 howitzer motor carriges (105mm)...Felt very good...I was happy [:D]....
This is something i will try often...
- I will also try to do as you said...cut the enemy supplyroads...The AI sure mess with mine whenever
i let one or a few enemy units slip past my advancing units...I guess i should keep some sort of reserv
to sweep the areas behind my frontline units for enemy intruders...
- I have thought about using a unit as sacrifical lam just as you said but haven't done it yet...I will start
testing it...

- Will using the diffrent route modes do any big difference in the likelyhood of being bombarded ?
I usually use the QUICKEST route for attacking...Will AVOIDANCE, COVERED, SAFEST make my
units less likely to be bombarded ?

- I have tried to move my foot infantry as much as possible through covered terrain (woods) but
as soon as they get out in the clear they tend to get bombarded...

[MarkShot]

As I have very limited BFTB time, so I am offering general guidelines.

I believe the default route mode when unspecified is avoidance. However, as best I can tell, avoidance primarily applies to direct fires and not being under observation. You can know you are under observation even when you see no enemy, since you are being hit by arty. I don't believe the AI in the engine will fire blind. (I, myself, might if I had a surplus of arty and knew that enemy has to be crossing a certain bridge to slow them down. Or I would fire blind at bridge garrison [entrenched] units which were there at scenario start.) I had a very nice example of the AI doing that in my COTA guide (being unseen and decimating my FUP.)

A covered route would seem to generally help, except when in woods. See pg 195. The sample modifier is 115% for indirect fire modeling the tree burst affect.

I only recently tried safest with HTTR/COTA. It seems to basically make the AI hug the map edge which looks a little gamey to me.

I would say that if a stretch of road or track is proven to be under observation but there are alternate avenues, then whatever you path choose for your units, put enough waypoints to override (short circuit) the built-in route pathing.

In regards, to sacrificial lambs ... it can be more than that. You feint with a probe from one axis of attack. These guys will get blasted and since they are probing, they should bunker down. When they do that, they should ultimately dig-in and suffer less hurt than if they continued trying to move. In the meantime, remember that the OPFOR AI will often reposition defensive units to face a perceived threat. Then, attack with your main force from a different axis. If well timed, this may negate the defender's advantage of prepared positions. Just a thought ...

[Arjuna]

The Safest route type is a combination of avoidance and covered.

AI arty do not fire blind.

[Repsol]

Hello, MarkShot...Thanks for your help !

- I did not think of the tree burst effect...makes perfect sence though...has to be considered in future planning...
- Yes, placing multiple waypoints seems to be a good idea.
- Good point about the feint attack...I will use it..