Matrix Games Forums

Tactical level? Does this mean there is ability of artillery to appropriately choose shot, shell, canister or model these effects automatically?

It's automatic. Our view is that Civil War soldiers knew from the situation what to be firing, so it would involve a lot of micromanaging/clicking that struck us as unnecessary. (Not that we're opposed to giving players such choices: one of the best parts of our tactical naval engine in "Crown of Glory" is that the player gets to decide the precise nature of the attacks, since in the Napoleonic era this was often a crucial decision for the commander.)

The one choice for artillery is that you can press a button to set it to barrage enemy artillery. Since artillery is coded to aim at the closest unit this was necessary for those times -- think Gettysburg before Pickett's Charge -- when one wants to soften up the enemy's artillery, or those times when distant artillery is causing too much trouble and needs to be neutralized.

I am going to assume from your reply that the different weapon loads are considered. Would that include especially canister from relatively short range?

Yes, it's modeled into the performance of each type of artillery piece at each range. Artillery in good condition at short range firing canister (which has its own animation as well) can be quite devastating. It's assumed the crew is making the right choice with regard to ammunition. It's worth noting that the game models a great variety of different artillery pieces, each with historically different performance at different ranges (just as it does for the various types of muskets and rifles).

Regards,

- Erik

(I've been thinking of making a mod in which there is nothing on the battlefield but artillery units. Sort of like one of those big WWII tank battles. I'm curious whether that would be fun. I'll turn to it in a month or two, after completing some more serious scenarios...)

i like to mod and play around, only for myself mind you, the map are nice and i'm sure something else could be used on them, hint hint[;)]

Is it possible to capture enemy artillery? (or supply wagons)

So it always fires at the closest, you can't direct fire at another target that might be a little more distant but more important?

If so that would seem to be a bit of a weakness (IMO). I get that if an artillery unit felt "threatened" it would always automatically act out of self-preservation to fire at the unit threatening it. However, I would think that if an artillery unit was bombarding at "safe" range, a commander could order it to direct fire at a target that was more important then the closest one and the artillery battery would likely obey?

I get the mechanic with rifles and muskets automatically firing at the closest due to range limitations of those weapons but it seems a bit weird for artillery to be following that same model.

hopefully one of the developers will answer this[:D][;)]

as i'd like to to say [X(]

but can't as yet until released [;)]

GrumpyMel,
I should add that if a unit is attacked it can return fire, so artillery can target one unit but end up getting to fire on another as well. The testers haven't raised any reservations about the system, which does seem to work well.

Zakblood, go ahead. You seem to be turning blue in the face trying to hold it in.

ty[:D][;)]

ORIGINAL: RedComet

Is it possible to capture enemy artillery? (or supply wagons)

Sorry to bump myself but surely this question has been overlooked [:)]

Enemy units can be captured, prisoners (and supplies, I think) taken. Enemy units can also surrender to you by enemy player choice (although I can't imagine any player doing that!).

ORIGINAL: GrumpyMel

So it always fires at the closest, you can't direct fire at another target that might be a little more distant but more important?

I'll let the developers answer that in general terms, however you are able as the player to declare 'focus' locations, where you want your brigade (which generally include artillery elements) to concentrate on.

Thanks gwgardner, glad to see this feature implemented.