Artillery quality

[su27]

How can I compare different artillery units? Is german 150mm howitzer better than italian 152mm? Is 210mm howitzer better than 210mm mortar or 21cm rocket?
What parameters like KILL, PEN, WARHEAD, HEAT, APCR in the weapon info screen mean?
I couldn't find such information in this forum.

[Jim1954]

Consult the imbedded manual that is in the main SPWAW folder. You will need to have Adobe installed to view it as it is in .pdf format.
Actually there is quite a lot of good stuff in there. I printed a copy out. Easier to do in game checks on things.

[Voriax]

Hello su27

Ok...you compare arty by checking their ammunition amount, warhead size, HE kill value, also HE penetration value. higher is better. THen you have to consider the firing rate and unit cost. Usually if the arty units are of similar calibre, like that 150mm and 152mm you mentioned, the differences are very small. As for howitzer versus mortar versus rocket.. Rocket launchers are quite devastating - if they hit. They fire their ammunition in a single salvo and with large scatter but if they hit the huge warhead is devastating. If you really want to use them stock up with ammo trucks/dumps so you can reload. Mortars on the other hand are much more accurate and are good in suppressing point targets like enemy gun positions.
Howitzers are more of a general-purpose weapons. And if that howitzer is on-map unit you can keep it supplied with an ammo truck and can use it as direct-fire weapon.

And those parameters. KILL is the maximum number of casualties this weapon can cause with one shot. Very rarely achieved, if ever. PEN means the max armour penetration this weapon has for a given ammo type (HE, AP, HEAT and APCR). WARHEAD is the size of the round. It determines the splash damage to adjacent hexes and the chances to cause system damage/brew up when an AP round penetrates. HEAT is High Explosive Anti Tank round, or a shaped charge round if that is more familiar. This round has the benefit that the penetration value doesn't drop when the distance increases, but due to the crude nature of WW2 shaped charge rounds there is a certain random variable included that may cause very low pen values or even a dud. APCR is Armour Piercing Composite Rigid ammunition. A dense penetrator, usually tungsten, surrounded by a lighter metal jacket. Such round has high initial velocity and high penetration but it loses speed/accuracy faster than normal AP so after a certain distance it is poorer performer than AP.

This should do for starters

Voriax