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How do you make use of the field artillery support units within HQs? I can't attach them to anything other than an HQ, and I can't figure out how to use them in combat.

manual page 125

file:///C:/Matrix%20Games/Gary%20Grigsby's%20War%20in%20the%20West/Manuals/War%20in%20the%20West%20manual%20EBOOK.pdf

War in the West manual EBOOK ^^

I can't decipher anything useful out of the manual. Nothing there corresponds to anything I'm trying to do. Anybody that can offer more help?

The HQ will deploy artillery to combats that its immediate subunits are involved in.
You don't need to attach it directly to a Brigade \ Regiment \ Division

field artillery are support units in there own right, so when in combat they support and add to the odd's regarding attacking and defending automatically, there's nothing else to do with them in combat, as they support

- Attach your Arty to the same Corps HQ as your fighting Divisions & Brigades (you can attach SP Arty direct to the Divisions)
- Make sure your Corps HQ is within five hexes as the crow flies.
- It's best if the Corps HQ has not moved in the turn you attack.

Section 15.4 has all the rules.

ORIGINAL: diamond dave

I can't decipher anything useful out of the manual. Nothing there corresponds to anything I'm trying to do. Anybody that can offer more help?

We might be able to. What are you trying to do?

Thanks for the replies, now it makes sense to me.

Does battalion sized field artillery added to a corps count towards a corps command capacity?The manual mention brigades/regiments as being 1 command point,but I see nothing about battalions.

Does battalion sized field artillery added to a corps count towards a corps command capacity?The manual mention brigades/regiments as being 1 command point,but I see nothing about battalions.

You only have to worry about command points for units that are on map, reporting to the HQ. I know some of the Torch scenarios have battalions on map because of the scale, and they cost 1 command point.
SUs attached to an HQ do not require command points.
Because there is a limit on how many SUs a single HQ can assign to a battle you'll want to balance SU assignment across HQs, but the Allies have some special advantages that allow them to commit more artillery SUs to a battle than the Axis, so I prefer to keep their artillery attached to HQs and directly attach other SU types to my on map units.

Another question - how do I include naval gunfire from amphibious units in my attacks? I read up on some of the threads and moved them close to areas where I thought they could reach, but so far I haven't seen anything happening with them.

They need to be in sea hex beside the hex you are attacking

You will need to look at the combat report, you don't see anything 'on map'...they just add support artillery

ORIGINAL: Red Lancer

- Attach your Arty to the same Corps HQ as your fighting Divisions & Brigades (you can attach SP Arty direct to the Divisions)
- Make sure your Corps HQ is within five hexes as the crow flies.
- It's best if the Corps HQ has not moved in the turn you attack.

Section 15.4 has all the rules.

Why are these arty not attacking?Value in brackets is 0

They are attacking. Artillery has a CV in the decimals, that's why they are displayed as 0. If you want to know what they did, click on "Show Details" and then go to "Ground Combat". Once there look for the HE hits of your artillery pieces.

CV is not exactly the 'attacking' or 'defending' number. All CV is used for is to determine whether or not you take the hex. When you launch an attack, a whole series of combats will take place between your units and the units you are attacking. If you put the combat display on maximum you can see all this in nauseating detail.

After all this combat is finished (and a couple rolls to see how leaders etc effect the cv) you get a final cv which is then compared to see if the enemy retreats. If there is a retreat there will be additional losses to the side that has damaged stuff that can't retreat. (disabled tanks that sort of thing).

So artillery having a low CV just means that is horrible at holding or taking terrain. You will notice that the tank and infantry units are much better.