Artillery Direct Support only

[Fred98]

I have never fully understood this order. From Page 58 of the manual this how I think it works.


We have an artillery unit attached to a divisional HQ.


Case A: One brigade of that division puts in an attack.


Artillery Direct Support Only is “ON” - The artillery will support the attack without orders from the player


Artillery Direct Support Only is “OFF” - The artillery will NOT support the attack without orders from the player.



Case B: One brigade of a different division puts in an attack ( that division has no artillery)


Artillery Direct Support Only is “ON” - The artillery will NOT support the attack without orders from the player because it is part of a different division


Artillery Direct Support Only is “OFF” - The artillery will NOT support the attack without orders from the player.

[Arjuna]

Joe 98,
 
No you've misunderstood that one. The manual probably needs a clearer description then. Sorry for that. The intent here is that by checking the Arty Direct Spt Only box you are restricting what units can call for support to those participating in that task/order. It has nothing do with the human player.
 
Eg. Let's say you have assigned an arty unit to support a Bde Defend task. If you do not check the box, then that arty unit may respond to calls for support from units not part of that Bde. If it is checked, then it can only respond to calls from members of that Bde.
 
By default, the box is checked for Attacks/Probes and unchecked for all other task types.
 
Is that clear for you?

[MarkShot]

To summarize: If a bombard capable unit is not resting, then it will by default fire in support of any unit on the map as it will be in "on-call" mode. However, if the DIRECT SUPPORT option is chosen, then the unit will only fire in support of units which comprise the same force as the given arty unit. Where a force is a group of units which have been bound together in one command structure directly under the player by having a collection of one or more units receive an order from the player.

Dave, what's the default for arty units which are managed by the OPFOR AI? DIRECT SUPPORT on or off? I would have tended to guess off from what I have seen.

Thanks.

[HansBolter]

Wow, Markshot, I think your explanation was as potentially confusing as Dave's!



The organic artillery units of a battalion are set to the default of "Direct Support Only" meaning that the mortars and infantry guns of that battalion will respond to calls only from other units under that BN HQ's command, unless you uncheck the "direct support only" box.

If you attach a divisional artillery piece to that battaliion by placing it under the command of the lower eschelon HQ, if the "direct support only" box is checked that artillery piece will not respond to calls from other units of the division, but rather only to calls from withiin the command it has been attached to.

Bottom line: Atrillery units will respond to the call of any unit unless ordered to concentrate their support on the units of a given command they are organically under the command of, or have been placed under the command of ("seconded to" is the correct British term I believe).

[Arjuna]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Wow, Markshot, I think your explanation was as potentially confusing as Dave's!

Ah <g> thanks. [:)]

The organic artillery units of a battalion are set to the default of "Direct Support Only"

I'm afraid this is not so. The sole governor as to what units an arty unit will support is dictated by the "Arty Direct Spt Only" setting of the task to which it belongs. The default setting for tasks is "off" for all tasks types other than attack and probe. For attack and probe tasks it is set to "on" by default. This applies to both human and AI controlled forces.

[Fred98]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

Eg. Let's say you have assigned an arty unit to support a Bde Defend task.

No, - The arty is attached at Brigade level. The brigade HQ is given the Rest order. All the units under brigade will Rest. The arty will Rest.

Except for one battallion of the brigade which has a Probe order.

Will the arty automatically provide support for the probe?

-

[Arjuna]

ORIGINAL: Joe 98
No, - The arty is attached at Brigade level. The brigade HQ is given the Rest order. All the units under brigade will Rest. The arty will Rest.

Except for one battallion of the brigade which has a Probe order.

Will the arty automatically provide support for the probe?

Yes and No. Let me explain. If one of the units of the attacking Bn requests on call support then a request is sent up the command chain. At each level, a test is made to see if they have any avaialable arty units and then a decision is made as to whether to provide that support. So yes, you as the user, do not need to do anything to have the arty unit provide support. However, no it is not guaranteed that it will get committed should a request be made. Being on Rest will mitigate against it.

I would say this, that if you want the arty unit to support that Bn then assign it to the attack - ie control click the arty unit and the Bn HQ when you give the attack order. Then the arty unit will not be resting and will be the first port of call for any requests.

[HansBolter]

I guess I typically only examine my organic atry units when launching an assault and not in defense. They always seem to be defaulted to direct support only when I give an assault order.

[Deathtreader]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

ORIGINAL: Joe 98
No, - The arty is attached at Brigade level. The brigade HQ is given the Rest order. All the units under brigade will Rest. The arty will Rest.

Except for one battallion of the brigade which has a Probe order.

Will the arty automatically provide support for the probe?

Yes and No. Let me explain. If one of the units of the attacking Bn requests on call support then a request is sent up the command chain. At each level, a test is made to see if they have any avaialable arty units and then a decision is made as to whether to provide that support. So yes, you as the user, do not need to do anything to have the arty unit provide support. However, no it is not guaranteed that it will get committed should a request be made. Being on Rest will mitigate against it.

I would say this, that if you want the arty unit to support that Bn then assign it to the attack - ie control click the arty unit and the Bn HQ when you give the attack order.[/b] Then the arty unit will not be resting and will be the first port of call for any requests.

Hmmm...... I guess I'm wearing my dummy sign again but the italicized comment in red above almost implies that if I control click on the Battalion & the artillery unit when I give a DEFEND order that the arty will fire only in direct support of the battalion's defence. Is that correct?? If so, I just learned another of this engines plethora of facets!!

Rob. [:)]

[Arjuna]

Yep you have![:)]
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But let me clarify this. You use control click to group units into a force when you give an order. In this way you form the forceGroup for an order/task. If you then specify "Arty Direct Spt Only" for that task then&nbsp;the arty unit of that forceGroup can only support other members of that forceGroup.
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[HansBolter]

I like to think of the cntrl+click as forming ad hoc Kampfgruppes for the Germans or Combat Teams for the Americans. What you are doing is ingoring the normal force structure TOE and grouping units necessary to create a combat team for a task.

By adding an artillery unit that is not normally organic to the HQ you are attaching it to and then giving a Artillery Direct Support Only setting to any order you give that HQ will dedicate that artillery units support fire to the units under that HQs command.