Help with understanding artillery direct support?

[GBS]

Say I have ordered a Btn to attack an objective. The Btn has a Mortor unit attached. It's organic Regmnt. has a couple of artty units defending and on call. The Division also has some artty units defending and on call. Explain what effect ticking the Direct Artillery Support box has on each of the artty units mentioned. Also what would happen if not ticked?

If I never used the direct support box for any attack, who would the artty units shoot at?

Additionally, don't artty require direction by observers? Is that simulated somehow in determining who the artty units focus on or shoot at?

[jimcarravall]

ORIGINAL: GBS


Say I have ordered a Btn to attack an objective. The Btn has a Mortor unit attached. It's organic Regmnt. has a couple of artty units defending and on call. The Division also has some artty units defending and on call. Explain what effect ticking the Direct Artillery Support box has on each of the artty units mentioned. Also what would happen if not ticked?

If I never used the direct support box for any attack, who would the artty units shoot at?

Additionally, don't artty require direction by observers? Is that simulated somehow in determining who the artty units focus on or shoot at?

Direct support restricts artillery assigned to the attacking force commander to bombardment of the attack objective.

If you ordered a battalion attack, the mortar unit controlled by the battalion commander would bombard targets to aid units assigned to attack.

If you wanted to also use the regimental artillery to support the attack, you can either issue the attack order at the regimental level, or task the artillery to support the attack by selecting the attacking unit and using <control> <left click> or the unit selection box <left click> <drag> to function as part of the attacking task group and then issuing the attack order to the selected units.

In effect, by forming a task group, you assign a priority target for all those units in the group.

There's still a chance the regimental artillery would support the attack, but only if the on-map boss determines that's a priority target for the regimental assets.

[dazkaz15]

There is a good article here on it from Bletchly-Geek
tm.asp?m=3286717
It's still a bit quirky at the moment though, and Dave never got back to me on whether he wanted to support the large number of units I attached to the attack, for direct fire support so I usually micro manage the artillery during an attack.
The biggest problem with attaching it is you have no over-ride once it is attached, because if you try to call for fire directly you instantly detach it from the formation which 99% of the time causes it completely break down, and turn into a normal move to the objective instead of an assault.
It is also not very good at putting in a preliminary bombardment, on the approach.
For these reasons I don't use this order in my games.