(Soviet) Artillery

[ComradeP]

In my random campaign thus far, Soviet artillery support, when present, has generally been composed of fairly heavy artillery. I haven't seen a scenario where the Soviets had 122mm guns/howitzers's in support, 1 where they had 152mm's that never fired, but 3 where they had 203mm B-4's. Considering that I'm facing what comes down to a battalion or so of a Rifle division in each battle, that's some pretty awesome support.

I'd suggest increasing the chance that artillery support will be medium calibre, as I've restarted a battle a number of times because the Soviets hit my setup area with a 203mm barrage. Yes, I know and agree that artillery should be deadly, but the "spawn camping" can quickly inflict quite severe losses on your core, and there are no replacements. Decreasing the chance for 82mm Katyusha support in 1941 might also be a good idea, I've played 3 battles where the Soviets had 82mm Katyusha support and it's only July, so the time when I believe only the experimental unit was around.

I'd also suggest significantly decreasing the chance elite crews will abandon their vehicles. I believe I've had about 10 tanks been "destroyed" by artillery thus far, and only 1 of them was actually hit. The others all had a hit on the turret (shrapnel, presumably) with the shell landing ~25 or more meters away, after which the crew seems to have decided that getting out of the tank to face the barrage without any protection was a good idea. This is similar to the speed with which infantry in halftracks left their vehicles in the demo after artillery hit within a 100 meter radius.

To give an impression of what can happen, this is what my setup area looked like on the orders phase of turn 3 in my current battle, with a 82mm Katyusha, a 120mm mortar and a 203mm B-4 barrage:



There were more 203mm and 120mm mortar strikes in the reaction phase. There's very little I can do to prevent casualties aside from praying the barrage doesn't hit my vehicles or strikes at a distance that will force my crews to leave their vehicles.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP
I'd suggest increasing the chance that artillery support will be medium calibre, as I've restarted a battle a number of times because the Soviets hit my setup area with a 203mm barrage.

By design they should be getting a lot more medium artillery. 76mm artillery and 82mm mortars. If you've seen only the heavy artillery in every battle, I will double-check the random campaign files to make sure things are working properly. The heavy artillery should be rare.

Decreasing the chance for 82mm Katyusha support in 1941 might also be a good idea, I've played 3 battles where the Soviets had 82mm Katyusha support and it's only July, so the time when I believe only the experimental unit was around.

Thanks, we'll check on that as well.

The Turn 1 barrage is part of the Soviet doctrine, but one we may remove if it's causing too many problems.

I'd also suggest significantly decreasing the chance elite crews will abandon their vehicles. I believe I've had about 10 tanks been "destroyed" by artillery thus far, and only 1 of them was actually hit. The others all had a hit on the turret (shrapnel, presumably) with the shell landing ~25 or more meters away, after which the crew seems to have decided that getting out of the tank to face the barrage without any protection was a good idea. This is similar to the speed with which infantry in halftracks left their vehicles in the demo after artillery hit within a 100 meter radius.

We'll check that as well.

Regards,

- Erik

[Mobius]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP
I've played 3 battles where the Soviets had 82mm Katyusha support and it's only July, so the time when I believe only the experimental unit was around.

You are right. A few 132mm might be in use but the 82mm weren't approved for service until August.

[ComradeP]

The Turn 1 barrage is part of the Soviet doctrine, but one we may remove if it's causing too many problems.

The opening barrage doesn't really bother me, even though it feels a bit odd that the barrage can be called in on the units that are visible on turn 1 as if all the artillery is pre-plotted, on call and ready to fire.

However, the same obviously goes for the Germans as both sides can point a serious amount of pain towards a certain visible unit or area on turn 1.

The difficulty I'm facing comes from the calibre of the shells and the relative frequency with which my tank crews abandon their vehicles during such a barrage.

[Mobius]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP
The difficulty I'm facing comes from the calibre of the shells and the relative frequency with which my tank crews abandon their vehicles during such a barrage.

Are the crews bailing out of undamaged tanks?

[ComradeP]

The game usually states that the turret was hit and the tank was destroyed, but it's listed as being abandoned. The majority of the enemy tanks I've "destroyed" were also abandoned, I've only seen a few that brewed up.

Considering that the turret is not directly hit, I wonder how shrapnel can destroy a tank or a blast can destroy a tank. It seems to be pretty random. A 203mm shell landed right in the middle of my 5 Panzer II's and nothing happened, the commanders didn't button up either. A moment later, a 120mm mortar shell lands 25 meters or so from a Panzer 38(t)E, and it somehow hits the turret and "destroys" the tank, forcing my crew to abandon it (as in: it's noted as being abandoned).

[Mobius]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP
The game usually states that the turret was hit and the tank was destroyed, but it's listed as being abandoned. The majority of the enemy tanks I've "destroyed" were also abandoned, I've only seen a few that brewed up.

It is hitting the turret top then. The text is just missing the 'top'. The gun and/or TC or most of the crew are being ko'd. It just didn't set off the ammo and fuel to cause the tank to burn.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP
The game usually states that the turret was hit and the tank was destroyed, but it's listed as being abandoned. The majority of the enemy tanks I've "destroyed" were also abandoned, I've only seen a few that brewed up.

Considering that the turret is not directly hit, I wonder how shrapnel can destroy a tank or a blast can destroy a tank. It seems to be pretty random. A 203mm shell landed right in the middle of my 5 Panzer II's and nothing happened, the commanders didn't button up either. A moment later, a 120mm mortar shell lands 25 meters or so from a Panzer 38(t)E, and it somehow hits the turret and "destroys" the tank, forcing my crew to abandon it (as in: it's noted as being abandoned).

As long as we're checking things for the first update, we'll check on that as well. My guess is that the issue is where the shell explosion is being displayed.

Regards,

- Erik

[ComradeP]

It is hitting the turret top then.

But how, considering that the explosion isn't anywhere near it? Maybe the problem is indeed that the shell explosion isn't displayed at the correct location like Erik said.

[Erik Rutins]

After some investigation, the Soviets should have about a 5% chance in a given battle of getting 203mm artillery support, so about one in 20 battles or about once per game year. If you've already had three battles with 203mm artillery support, then something may be broken there as while that's not impossible, it's certainly pushing the odds.

We'll investigate and make any necessary changes or tweaks for the first update.

Regards,

- Erik

[Erik Rutins]

Found the problem, it was an incorrect start date in the 76mm Artillery file. That resulted in the prevalence of other artillery types being exaggerated in the first few months of Barbarossa.

We'll get that fixed for the first update. In order to change it in your campaign though, we would need all your scenario files to make edits to the battles before October, 1941.

Regards,

- Erik

[ComradeP]

I'll just keep playing for now, it would be much more of a problem if this were the infantry division campaign, but I can handle the Soviet artillery because I have an option that the AI doesn't have: restart the battle whenever something goes badly wrong.