I attempted calling the OBA module 50 times (I will extend the number to 100 over the next days to minimise deviations, but these tests are incredibly boring, even though they are useful to assess the capabilities of the various pieces of hardware).
I managed to make contact 39 times (78%) out of 50 attempts.
Out of 39 contacts, I had battery access 29 times (74.4%), missed battery access 6 times (15.4%) and permanently lost the OBA 4 times (10.3%).
Out of 29 barrages, 6 (20.7) fell right into the intended target hex, 3 (10.3%) scattered 1 hex and still hit the target hex and the remaining 23 (69%) scattered from 2 to 9 hexes away from the intended target hex.
Putting all these numbers in a single table, this is the effectiveness data I obtained:
18,0% contact, Hit or 1-hex scatter
40,0% contact, 2+ hex scatter
12,0% contact, no access
8,0% contact, no access and lost OBA
22,0% no contact
I do not know if some ASL features have been implemented, namely:
> better contact chance for Americans, worse for Russians
> better battery access for mortars
> reduced accuracy for Russians and rockets
I am afraid discovering this will require other endless fire tests [:(]
In the end, I think I will assign the award, even though I will make some extra tests to see if something changes.
In my opinion the (scarce) effectiveness of OBA is not worth dedicating a leader to the FO role: the chances to hit something are quite low (and become even lower when C&C is used); if OBA goes far away from the target, you will have to wait a full turn before you can retry and, finally, friendly forces risk being hit by friendly OBA unless they remain so far away to be unable to exploit any damage inflicted by OBA
