Matrix Games Forums

In the Game Manual in section 34.2 it says this:

Direct Support – These are artillery assets that are dedicated to supporting a
selected unit or set of units. These assets will not take on fire support requests
from other units or provide counter battery fires and are ready to perform fire
mission only for the enemy units spotted by the units placed in direct support.
These missions usually slightly shorter command delays then the General
Support operations.
General Support – These are artillery assets that will take requests for fires
from any friendly unit on the map and process them based on targets type,
urgency, and availability via the FSCC. Standard command delays exist for this
type of support

I can't seem to find any way to arrange direct support and restrict it to certain units. Can someone show me where to learn how to do this in the documentation? Thanks,

You can read this in the Game Operations manual:

Provide Direct Support to – This setting is for Indirect Fire Units
only and allows you to set specific direct support operations for your
artillery assets. The default setting is support for All Requesting
Units. This is equal to General support as noted in Section 25.2
below. Other options that support specific units are Unit in the same
formation or lower, Specified HQ or lower, or Refuse all requests
(which stops the FSCC from using this unit in any supporting call for
fires). In the selection box below is a listing of units to attach
support to.

I have no idea what is meant by the "selection box" mentioned in the last sentence.

And I'm not sure that it's working as intended. You should be able to choose "Specified HQ or lower." But when I follow the procedure, all I get is a screen with a cancel button.

In Donau Gap all the artillery is defaulting to support the 111 Battalion. And I can't change it by clicking on 11 Brigade.

@WABAC

Thanks for the reply and info. I will look in the Operations Manual.

@WABAC

How did you get the Plotting Mode dialogue to pop up and what section in the Operations Manual does your quote come from? Thanks,

'
ADD: Got it: it is in Section 23.3. And the Plotting Mode dialogue comes up after clicking 'Specified Hq or Lower'. Still would like to know if it is possible to select more than one unit to create a group.

Were you able to attach the artillery to a new HQ for direct support? Because I have never been able to.

Me either but I am still experimenting some. May not be implemented??? We may be going down a rabbit hole

Thanks,

Make sure to either:
1. in the default SOP, set the artillery unit in direct support of a specific HQ, and then issue an On Call order,
or
2. issue an On Call order, then change the SOP for OnCall order to provide direct support to a specific HQ.

(Because if you first issue the On Call order, then change the default SOP, the OnCall order's SOP isn't changed).

WildCatNL wrote: Tue Dec 20, 2022 9:46 pm Make sure to either:
1. in the default SOP, set the artillery unit in direct support of a specific HQ, and then issue an On Call order,
or
2. issue an On Call order, then change the SOP for OnCall order to provide direct support to a specific HQ.

(Because if you first issue the On Call order, then change the default SOP, the OnCall order's SOP isn't changed).

OK. Now it is working just like you said it should. Not sure why I couldn't do it in previous attempts. Another mysterious user error.

But the drop down box under the the "Provide Direct Support to:" is inactive. Is this the box referenced in the last sentence of section 23.3? "In the selection box below is a listing of units to attach support to."

>edit< Never mind.. All has been revealed.

So, if I follow the 2nd procedure, I issue an On Call Order then select Provide Direct Support to then a dialogue pops up and if I click on one specific Hq unit it will be in support of that unit? Is there any other indication such is the case? Thanks,

Duck Doc wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 3:08 pm So, if I follow the 2nd procedure, I issue an On Call Order then select Provide Direct Support to then a dialogue pops up and if I click on one specific Hq unit it will be in support of that unit? Is there any other indication such is the case? Thanks,

Correct. The artillery unit will be in support of that specific HQ and all its subordinates. You can also specify a single subordinate.

You can check any (currently active) direct support assignments, as is also shown in the screenshot below:
- in the SOP manager (supported unit is shown in the drop down)
- in the staff TOC.FS, tab FS, where for every asset the supported units are listed (along with the expected latency)
- in the Multi-Unit Direct Support overlay

Got it. Thanks very much for the explanation. Great job!