Artillery micromanagement

[TheVen]

My first post here... I've been playing for a few months and have gotten through the historical Nijmegan, Arnhem, and Eindhoven as Allies with marginal or decisive victories. So I got the hang of it but I'm sure there is room for improvement in many areas, especially in multi. The thing I have had the most trouble figuring out is the effectiveness of artillery when left to their organic units versus taking control of each battery and telling it where to fire. I've tried both and haven't been convinced either way, so I tend to leave them attached and respond to fire missions through the AI. The only exception would be concentrating on a heavily defended objective or breaking up a large attack in the open. Any opinions? Any of you 4-star generals think it is a must to micromanage your artillery?

TheVen

[stall84]

I take personal control of the artillery most of the time, and doing so usually guarantees your going to do a bunch of damage. However, sometimes I leave it with the unit it is attached to, to give it a more 'real' feeling.

A question about Artiller in HTTR..... Are "treebursts" implemented in game?
It is well known that during ww2 when an artillery shell impacted the limbs of trees the shell would detonate sending an un-holy amount of shrapnel raining down on infantry below. Since the shrapnel came from above, it usually defeated the usefulness of a foxhole or ditch. So, is this modeled in game? When you shell an enemy unit in a forrest area, is the 'damage' increased at all?

[TheVen]

Check out this other post, apparently the game does model treeburst:

Artillery discussion

[Error in 0]

I think the commanders do an OK job using the arty in offensive and defensive operations. However, they are not used at all against units not participating in combat. This is especially irritating when you time ticks towards 0300, and you know you are getting supplies. I always try to take control of all arty well in time of that, just to make sure I get most bang for the buck, so to speak [:)]. Because I dont think supplies are just added to already existing stocks.

Oh, yes. Treeburst does 115% damage.

JT

[EricGuitarJames]

I think Panther are working to fix the 'It's 3 am, let loose hell' syndrome at present. Rather than 'micro-manage' each artillery unit what I will sometimes do is 'rest' some of them once they've expended their ammo right through to say mid-morning (I don't do it often and I don't have a hard and fast rule about exactly when I'll 'wake' the unit) thus giving me units with artillery ammo through the rest of the day. Frankly, I'm against too much micro-management since it rather spoils the feel of game for me.

[MarkShot]

I haven't posted for a while ... so, time to break radio silence

I am very fond of creating fire bases. As best I know now, this is not historically accurate, but I learned to play by doing and without the benefits of a classical education.

(1) I like to regulate which units are "on-call" and which units are standing down. I believe it is always good to have some arty available if you need it and try to avoid running dry. There is nothing worse for the morale of your troops than to see a big nasty attack forming up and have nothing heavier than MG rounds to send down range.

(2) Sometimes, you have to manually assign targets. For example, prep barrages for storming a primed bridge are a must. You want the garrison to be very supressed and cowering in their foxholes as opposed to playing high card gets to blow the bridge this time around.

(3) I prefer to have my firebases stand down at night. Shooting at noises in the dark made by dazed and lost stragglers seems like a waste of a precious resources. When the glorious sun comes at 5:00-07:00 and a whole enemy motorized brigade is revealed trucking down the highway, you know its time release your batteries and start the arty party.

[Golf33]

ORIGINAL: JallaTryne

I dont think supplies are just added to already existing stocks.

Actually resupply is added to existing ammo stocks up to a maximum of 100% of the unit ammo capacity (calculated based on the number and type of weapons held).

Regards
33

[JeF]

Hi,

I'm not a 4-star general (not even an armchair one) but here are my 2 cents.

I tend to not micro-manage my arty. I play with a mix of
- arty attached to its organic forces (mainly mortar batteries attached to their organic battalions - in fact arty assigned to the HQ I directly take control of),
- higher arty detached but on-call (defense order, low fire rate),
- arty detached, resting and ready to fire (not more than three, or I lose control).

There is no "best" way IMHO, a mix of situation is necessary. The mix is up to you.

JeF.

[Arjuna]

I'm a bit like JeF. In larger scenarios I leave all my mortar units under command of their respective Bn or Bde HQs. If I'm commanding a Division then I'll leave at least one of the Div's artillery units under AI control and use the others directly. If I'm commanding a Corps. I'll usually leave all the Divs with their artillery units and just worry about the Corps assets. Occassionally, I'll grab a Div asset if I'm desparate. [;)]

[The_MadMan]

I've noticed that the AI leaves a lot of the ammunition un-used, especially with the mortar sections, so every now and then I grab control of a few sections and blast the living daylight out of the opposition and then give AI the control back.

[TheVen]

Thanks for all the responses... a good mix. Some mentioned the mortar units; I never take control of those. By the time you get them set and they meander their way to where you want them the situation usually has changed too much. So I leave them organic. The heavy guns, though, I'll play with a little more... I hadn't thought of the 3a.m. issue before. Getting 100% of your arty ammo every day is hardly realistic. Matrix should come up with a more realistic "total" for the duration and then give 100% until you reach that cap. That way if you used up all ammo every day you'd be out before the scenario ended. Then again, maybe that would create even more micromanagement.

TheVen

[EricGuitarJames]

ORIGINAL: TheVen

Thanks for all the responses... a good mix. Some mentioned the mortar units; I never take control of those. By the time you get them set and they meander their way to where you want them the situation usually has changed too much. So I leave them organic. The heavy guns, though, I'll play with a little more... I hadn't thought of the 3a.m. issue before. Getting 100% of your arty ammo every day is hardly realistic. Matrix should come up with a more realistic "total" for the duration and then give 100% until you reach that cap. That way if you used up all ammo every day you'd be out before the scenario ended. Then again, maybe that would create even more micromanagement.

TheVen

Regarding the morters specifically, if I'm playing as the Germans in one of the Arnhem 'full campaign' scenarios I always detach the heavy morter sections from the units that are involved in the first two days. This is because the Germans are short of bombardment capability in the early part of the battle and if left under AI control these units end up too close to the fighting and take unnecessary losses. Again this is scenario specific.

[Arjuna]

ORIGINAL: TheVen
Matrix should ...

Yeh c'mon Marc/David lend us a hand. On second thoughts neither of you program in C++. Oh well. It was a nice thought to think that we Panthers could leave some of the programming work to the publisher. [;)]

[JVSFugitive]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

ORIGINAL: TheVen
Matrix should ...

Yeh c'mon Marc/David lend us a hand. On second thoughts neither of you program in C++. Oh well. It was a nice thought to think that we Panthers could leave some of the programming work to the publisher.

LOL. Yes people seem to forget that Matrix is the publisher not the developer.

By the way I can program in C++ and I envy you guys at Panther games. Imagine going to work everyday and developing these great war games. Sigh. [:D]

[TheVen]

Ahh, who cares... don't put your name on the product then.

[Cage]

If you want to whup the AI then micromanage all your artillery. I stopped the airborne push towards Arnhem by rapid fire mortar attack at crossroad junctions, the AI would never attempt such a tactic. I think the AI does a very good job of using artillery for general support. But it'll never compete with the strategic and tactical judgement of a human, identifying a crucial attack and stonking it is critical to success, more so when using painfully realistic delay. Artillery then becomes an instant way of dictating battle, no wonder it's the God of War.

Cage.

[Golf33]

ORIGINAL: TheVen

I hadn't thought of the 3a.m. issue before. Getting 100% of your arty ammo every day is hardly realistic. Matrix should come up with a more realistic "total" for the duration and then give 100% until you reach that cap. That way if you used up all ammo every day you'd be out before the scenario ended. Then again, maybe that would create even more micromanagement.

That's not how it works. No unit receives 100% resupply at any time - the percentages are different for the two sides and depend on your settings when starting the scenario, but check in the manual index for 'resupply' and you should be able to get more information. All units supply levels are capped at 100% so units will not stockpile ammunition, basics, or fuel.

Regards
33