Matrix Games Forums

Is harassment and interdiction fire possible in COTA? That is, unobserved indirect fire, targeted at a specific point (crossroads, a narrow pass, a bridge) in the expection that enemy troops might be present at said point.
Most of what I can find in the reference manual points mostly toward observed artillery fire. Can I impact my opponet with unobserved fire, or am I just wasting ammo?

Short answer. Yes you can. Just order it to bombard the designated location. If there are enemy there, even though you can't see them, then they will get hurt. However, with so little arty ammo available I'd be cautious and judicious about it.

Because of the amount of ammo used, even with a slow bombardment you will run out sooner than you think, you'd be better off sending a scouting unit on a probe, or use the excellent LOS tool to see where you could place a unit at maximum distance  to overwatch the area. That way they will discover any units and you can bombard more directly.

A bit sleazy, but if destroying enemy is a victory condition, using a battery of medium+ arty will noticably notch up victory points in the Obj tab if it hits even a static target. Apart from interdiction, it also helps to show whether a "recent" siting is in fact still current. Mmm, maybe that'll get ironed out in the next patch

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

Because of the amount of ammo used, even with a slow bombardment you will run out sooner than you think, you'd be better off sending a scouting unit on a probe, or use the excellent LOS tool to see where you could place a unit at maximum distance  to overwatch the area. That way they will discover any units and you can bombard more directly.

Or you could use my approach and send some tanks racing to the location full speed ahead with all guns blazing to flush out your quarry! [:D]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter
Or you could use my approach and send some tanks racing to the location full speed ahead with all guns blazing to flush out your quarry! [:D]

He, that's *my* tactic ! [;)]

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

I have often used a slow steady barrage (ROF = LOW) on a key crossing point to slow down an enemy advance when I know that they must be crossing whether or not I have contact reports. For example, before the Sun goes down you have contact reports as lead elements of a enemy force begins to cross. You can reasonably assume that they will continue to cross throughout the night. Well, you know what arty does to your own troops trying to travely down a road. So, you know what it will do to the enemy. In my opinion a good investment of arty (when you don't have the strength to make a stand or your orders call for a withdrawal) to slow and disrupt the enemy advance. Also, don't forget that the formation changes and redeploying to go off road at night, these in themselves will take considerable time and greatly add to fatigue. Those enemy troops are on the move for a purpose. Each one who has an easy transit will be fit and ready for their real objective which is an attack further down the line. This way, they may start the attack tired and worn. Or consider this ... Unimpeded, the enemy FUPs for the attack and launches before dawn and are in close contact by the time the Sun comes up. By bombarding the crossing point, you delay the FUP until dawn where they get caught with their pants down when the Sun crests the nearby hills. Now, your arty can really mess them up, but good!

Yep, firing a blind barrage has its place.

I also advocate them as prep barrages and supression when you are trying to seize a bridge intact and avoid having it blown out from underneath you.

I hope that helps.

Markshot knows what he's talking about.

Not just bridges, but roads through broken terrain. All you need to do to seriously disrupt enemy plans is get a motorized unit to retreat off of the road, and it will be hours before they work their way out, and even then most likely they'll be fatigued to the point of ineffectiveness.

Thanks, Franklin. Yes, I still have a few thoughts now and then. Memories of air combat and ground combat live on.

Yes, JD has a good point which is however mainly appropriate for daylight. I did cover a detailed example in the COTA Mini-Guide of an infantry unit digging into an elevate tree line and spotting enemy units moving across road beneath them. It works very well, since due to the game mechanics (differential LOS), the unit can remain invisible to the enemy while spotting for your arty automatically. In my example, I had even demonstrated this with the use of beta tester cheat tools where you could see the map from the OPFOR's perspective. The important thing is good oblique placement of your unit so that the enemy will not have cause to stumble into them. Once again, this is a daytime technique. At night, the only way to get actionable contacts for arty (and then perhaps "friendlies in the way") is to be in close contact; usually small arms range.

This conversation triggered a thought- concerning the visual range at night. Does the game engine take noise into consideration in the detection calcs? While a spotter unit in a treeline on a hill overlooking a road may not be able to see the road, depending on what else is happening, they could easily hear (vehicular, at least) movement from quite a distance.

They would not be able to spot the fall of shells, but if it were a registered point, they could fire at it reasonably effectively.

Good question. I am not sure if sound contacts are explicitly modeled. I know that mechanized/motorized units are modeled with a bigger signature than infantry. But the details I am unsure of. In the back of both the HTTR and COTA reference manuals, you will find some tables on spotting performance.

I hope that helps.

No we don't specifically factor in sound for detection purposes. Good point. I've entered this into our Task Tracker database to remind me later when we're back onto BFTB.
 
TT3451 - AI - Intel - Consider factoring in sound of enemy into detections

         Thanks Dave for the short answer; the question was precipitated by my defending in the Tempe Gorge scenario, but I was really thinking about defending Monschau with V Corp arty against the 326th Volksgrenadier Division!
          Not that I'm waiting for BFTB or anything.

[:)]