Artillery: a possible way of working it

[flakbait]

We're going to get arty. In which version is the only question. I got this idea while reading a few articles on www.thehistorynet.com  about Pacific arty.

Each map grid square is 25 miles by 25 miles. 105mm Howitzers can fire up to a range of 7 miles. If you devide each 25 mile grid square into sub-grids using the keypad you get 9 squares each 8 miles long. In effect, you get a rough max range for a 105mm Howitzer.

Indirect fire could be done with a range card just like the real thing. HTC could publish a small range card for arty use. When in the gunner position you would have two scales. One vertical scale indicating elevation, the other a compass. As you moved the gun, each would change in relation to gun movement. In short, put a compass ring around the Panzer's turret and add an elevation indicator.

A forward observer could watch the impacts and give you adjustments. Once on target, you could give other gunners next to you the heading and elevation. Then just call "Fire for effect!" and watch an entire field get pounded.

I think it'd work, but there's a LOT of people that seem to be against arty. Indirect fire is the only real way artillery works well. I still don't understand why arty would be a bad thing, especially with observers. There is one catch some people are overlooking; helpless targets. An M7 Priest has to stop before ripping off an accurate round. Unless there's friendly air or AAA available, a four-man Priest squad is nothing but a standing target.

Flakbait
Delta 6's Flight School

[Sancho]

"Section: fire mission!  Enemy troops in the open!"
"De-flection: 1-2-0-0!"
"Elevation: 3-2-0-0!"
"Charge 3!"
"Gun up!"
"Half load!"
"Hanging on one!"
"Fire!"
BOOOMMM!!!!

Ok, so I've only fired a 60mm mortar, but indirect fire is awesome.    I think artillery would be an awesome addition to this game.  Then add in naval gunfire from battleships...  

[minus]

yesssssss i remeber some 1 from HTC after the panzer was relased told the autotracked artilery will  a next !!!!!!! but a big silence now  hmm :-(
i like ground batles  more like fight in flight in A8 the chances for survive are realy low spit can catch u spit  can dive spit can climb spit can turn spit can hover  spit can snap shot  ,  after the A8  G10 the ground vehicles are the most prefered fun for me

HTC brink in many of these  ground  types plzzzzzzzzzz

[Tac]

I suggested in an earlier thread that artillery would be commanded by a foward observer driving a Jeep (armed with an infantry machine gun) or by a parachuted soldier (M1 Garand armed)

That way a player could be parachuted into a position or drive their jeep to an observation post and direct artillery fire with dot commands like " .up 100" (yards) or something like that. Parachuted observers would have 10 shots ONLY from the artillery before running out.. the Jeep would have 40 shots (as it takes longer to get to the obs post).


This would add a whole slew of scenarios and possibilities... as well as giving the c47 a "rescue" possibility (to pick up the observer), the addition of recon/insertion planes (those cessna-looking planes used for observation comes to mind).

[Jigster]

it would a lil nicer if the M7's were used so they could be used in a direct fire situation if the they are sneaky enough.

Besides you'd prolly use 10 rounds just trying to get the guns on target (if they ever do)

And I think there are plans to use the Storch for obeservation anyway.

- Jig

[Jigster]

Come to think of it, the M12 GMC might be a better choice, if for nothing else the range of the 155mm Howitzer. No AAMG's tho.

- Jig

[flakbait]

Actually a 155mm Howitzer can hit targets at a max range of 9 miles. Not much of an improvement, but that's an extra 2 miles distance you keep between you and the other guy. Ammo for these things is simple enough, HE and smoke shells. Illumination rounds would be a little hard to model, plus we don't have much of a night anyway.  

Now where's the official call when you need it....

Flakbait
Delta 6's Flight School

[minus]

beging for artilery and a halftrack who cant tow a AAA 88 mm or a antitank gun ! the range is  around 2 k  ee tvice of  pnzr ?; low  siluet not easy to spot  HTc only give a Ack model a whels   tow it with half track and and a GREAt gunsight to able sjot at 2 km range on pnzr  

 Mobile Warfare   plzzzzzz

[Jigster]

 

Originally posted by flakbait:
Actually a 155mm Howitzer can hit targets at a max range of 9 miles. Not much of an improvement, but that's an extra 2 miles distance you keep between you and the other guy. Ammo for these things is simple enough, HE and smoke shells. Illumination rounds would be a little hard to model, plus we don't have much of a night anyway.  

Now where's the official call when you need it....

Flakbait
Delta 6's Flight School

then again the 155mm makes a hefy blast  

- Jig

[miko2d]

 Will not work, unfortunately.
 In a week you would have range/elevation info charted for spots on the terrain that would allow you to hit any structure on any field without any forward observers.
 Just drive to the indicated spot, look up the range/elevation and voila - the enemy is dead!
 Of course you may think of some way to counter that.
miko

[CJ]

Wind might do the trick.  Otherwise, the roughness of the terrain would throw off the elevation of the gun.  The compass would still allow accurate azimuth, but the bumps would raise or lower the elevation, and throw the shots off since in the vehicle's resting position, it would be sitting on some randomly spaced 'bumps'.  Someone would need to spot for you.


Chris

[flakbait]

From what an Army guy told me, a 105mm Howitzer can hit a house-sized target at 4 miles. This is with, of course, accurate spotting and about 5 practice rounds. Dispersion, added in to the point you could hit a hangar at 5 miles, would do the trick. Instead of laser-guided shells, your accuracy would be minute-of-hangar instead of minute-of-angle.

Minute-of-angle is one inch [24mm] at 100 yards. Minute-of-hangar would be about 120 feet of accuracy variation at 5 miles. This could be done by adding in various effects. Wind effects, ground instability, dispersion, and recoil effects and you've got a gun capable of nailing a hangar at 5 miles. At 7 miles you should be able to hit a field with some degree of accuracy.

This is why you get 5-10 Howitzers dialed in and call "FIRE FOR EFFECT!!". Why snipe at something when you can carpet bomb it?

Flakbait
Delta 6's Flight School
"My art is the wings of an aircraft through the skies, my music the deep hum of a prop as it slices the air, my thrill the thunder of guns tearing asunder an enemy plane."
Flakbait
19 September 2000

[joness]

Could the C-47 haul a howitzer? It would be cool to fly a few miles from an enemy base, land your C-47, and deploy a howitzer and the needed support troops  

------------------
joness
=IAF= Collective (in that other sim)

[CavemanJ]

biggest problem right now, I think, is accurately seeing where the other's shots are landing.

Watch a tank fight, every tank other than yours seems to be shooting very long (though I haven't driven a tank in 1.042)

Get this one solved and indirect fire becomes a very viable option.  I'd love to lead a battery or 10 105s or 155s to a hill top, contact our observer, and have him shift fire from one hanger to another, then fuel/ammo/barracks til it was flat.  Hitting the ack would take a damn good spotter or jabo or ground units (which could be minutes away).  Would give a whole new meaning to armored assault.

PanzerIVs sitting about 5000yds from the field, below a small rise.  FO gives coords to the arty and adjusts fire.  As the hangers are falling the armor company gets into gear for clean up of the small stuff  

[Betown]

Joness.
      This was talked about at length in a previous thread. The C47 could not do it. But there are a few aircraft that could. Can anyone remember what they are. The ME something if I remember. Big thing, 6 engines... Looks like a flying baloon?