Seeking Cover

[Derouin]

Repetitive Scenario

1. Mortar Team half a kilometer from the front lines deployed in bocage/trench/open/somewhere safe
2. Enemy approaching! Look at them run! What a target! Nice!
3. "Seeking Cover" for many, many, many, many minutes
4. "Seeking Cover" for another minute on top of that
5. Frustrated at the mortar team's lack of familiarity with their main weapon Derouin utilizes
6. Russian swarm tactic: Orders "MOVE FAST" to the mortar team to the front line!
7. Mortar team gets chewed up
8. Somehow punishing the mortar team pleases Derouin more than if they just used their main weapon

[Derouin]

Repetitive Scenario #2

1. Jones is a bazooka man. The gunner, if you will.
2. OH no! A German Panzer only 40 meters away from my location!
3. Wait a minute! I have a bazooka! GREAT!
4. "Saving Ammo"
5. "Saving Ammo"
6. Uhh, Jones, there is a PANZER 35 meters away from YOU!
7. I shot a bazooka round earlier in the battle. I only have 5 left. Sorry. "Saving Ammo"
8. OK JONES. I'll tell you what. If you shoot the PANZER that is 28 meters away, I'll give you TEN bazooka rounds int he next battle! Promise!
9. We are at war and must not be wasteful with our resources. "Saving Ammo".
10. JONES if you do not shoot a round at the Panzer that is 20 meters away, you will die!
11. JONES???? JONES?????

[Southernland]

Nope never had either of those situations.  try setting your zook to defend?

[panzerlehr62]

Southern,

Only thg I noticed in WaR playing the GC was it seemed at times the Zooks had a 1 tank limit. I learned pretty quick to try and team them up so if one got a kill I could pull them back. Ive yet to get a zook team vs a tank in TLD, but I figuire it will be the same. Were I need the zooks in the Caen area all I got to work with right now are Piats...[:(]

Mortar teams you better learn how to set them up before the battle starts. If the men look all spread out you better try another location, otherwise they will be trying to form up as the battle starts (also they need a little open air to fire). Thats just somethg you will learn over time. My question is how did you let them get overun so quickly? Try keeping a few teams in front of them if possible to slow down the attackers and give them time to setup, because no question having them as close to the action as possible yields the best results. Losing them to a charge, not so good!

Good luck,
Gz...

[Derouin]

Panzerlehr, you misunderstood-- you see, my mortar teams are always well behind the front lines. Many, many hundred meters. Always.
 
I get so frustrated with the endless "seeking cover" when, to my eyes, they are deployed very reasonably, that I ORDER THEM TO THEIR DEATHS by a 'move fast' order.
 
They don't get overrun at all. I take revenge.
 
I've been known to call out a naval barrage on my misbehaving mortar teams as well.
 
I've never exprerienced the endless 'seeking cover' in previous CCs.

[Andrew Williams]

Keep them on Defend not ambush

When given the fire order they will begin firing straight away.

[Andrew Williams]

It's all a matter of being aware of your next move.

Have your men prepared for their next action... not brewing tea or having a smoke.


Same goes for Bazooka/PIAT/schreck.

Kepp them on ambush

when an appropriate target comes within range select and fire

immediately go back to ambush so they can reload under cover.

thewn select and fire

etc.

[Senior Drill]

When placing mortar teams you also need to be aware of their maximum range. The 8cm, 81mm and larger mortars can fire across most maps at their max range of 1000 meters, by may not be able to fire from corner to opposite corner on a few. The 5cm, 60mm and 2in mortars have a max range of 800 meters and cannot fire all the way across many of the maps. Plus, the farther away the target is, the less likely a hit will occur.

Keep your mortars within one to two hundred meters of where the main action will be, deploy them on Defend. To insure they are "set up", give them a fire order during deploy and put them back on Defend after they fire one round at game start.

[panzerlehr62]

ORIGINAL: Derouin

Panzerlehr, you misunderstood-- you see, my mortar teams are always well behind the front lines. Many, many hundred meters. Always.

I get so frustrated with the endless "seeking cover" when, to my eyes, they are deployed very reasonably, that I ORDER THEM TO THEIR DEATHS by a 'move fast' order.

They don't get overrun at all. I take revenge.

I've been known to call out a naval barrage on my misbehaving mortar teams as well.

I've never exprerienced the endless 'seeking cover' in previous CCs.

Now thats funny, battling a chest cold of some type so laughing really hurts....but thats funny....[:D]

So far in all battles of the GC Ive got going with Bob ive lost 1 81mm team (that I can remember), it had several men left but not enuff I guess and it was lost at Amfreville trying to secure a building the very first night battle after it was out of shells. When the next battle came up and I saw I actually lost them I almost pulled my dogs tail off I was so pissed off. You have so few of them and their value to me is so high you just cant waste them. I definitly can understand your anger, but it sure wont help you in the long run to punish them with death....[&:]

Hang in there, try some of the suggestions given here and you will have it down in no time....then when you call in the offshore it will be your oppenent doing the yelling!

The mortar team you save today, could be the mortar team that saves you tomorrow!

Happy hunting,
Gz...





I lost a mortar team dam-it! Its just a tail, you can always grow another one back!

[Derouin]

Hi guys, I have always done what was suggested with the mortar teams. The 'seeking cover' is just a behaviour bug that I see every now and then.

[FeurerKrieg]

I haven't seen this problem. Not saying it doesn't exist... I just haven't seen it.

[Concord]

I had the same problem in the Pegasus Bridge area. I had placed a mortar team behind the wing of a crashed glider. I repositioned it slightly until the mortar guy was on top of the wing - which gave him LOS to the buildings across the river. "Great!" I thought to myself, and then watched them dither around for half the battle. I had to pull them back a bit from the wing before they settled down. My mortar guy was exhausted...must have been a slippery wing, and he was all in a flap!

[LT Blindgaenger]

Happened to me too on the same map.
My opponent placed a PAK on the other side of the river and kept bombarding my squads for about 4 minutes
until he ran low on ammo.
And my mortar was setting up, setting up, setting up BEHIND that crashed plane.
I dont remeber if i had put them on "ambush" or "defend" before.
It happened on other maps too. Sometimes they shoot immediately, sometimes if moved, they wont shoot at all.

If i just had a naval barrage...they sure deserved one.

[Southernland]

I'm not sure how that map is coded but bear in mind the wing "should" provide no cover to rifle and MG fire.  Its one of the tricky things with the 2D system that CC uses.

[nietsche]

I believe that the setting up problem is related to the problem of positioning weapons. The soldier carrying the mortar is in a spot that will not allow firing but the squad deployment is considered correct by the deployment routine. This means that the firing code thinks that the soldier with the mortar will move to a clear position and it just is not the case ... The soldier gets exhausted because of flipping between parts of the code :p ...

With luck it is fixed with the new deployment method.

[Rothgar81]

I have a question to the experienced players: Is it really wise to take mortar troops into battle. They run out of ammo pretty fast and it seems more effecitve to take another infantry unit.

[Southernland]

depends... they can smash up annoying AT guns  and a single morter can stall several groups of moving infantry allowing you time to reform, regroup or just get outta Dodge if necessary... sometimes they can even disable a tank though thats rare

[FeurerKrieg]

Yes, always take one mortar. Keep them on ambush and use them selectively. One mortar in the middle of an upright, running team can take out the whole team.

Also mortars take out AT guns very well if they within a reasonable range.

Finally, use your mortar to suppress enemy troops in a spot where you are assaulting.

[squadleader_id]

Mortar Teams are also useful for laying down smoke.

[Senior Drill]

ORIGINAL: squadleader_id

Mortar Teams are also useful for laying down smoke.

Just not always too useful in covering the precise angle that you need that smoke to be at! [:(]