Artillery

[Biggamer]

Artillery would be interesting to have such as the M7 preist with 105mm howitzer 

[jeffdn]

Artillery would be interesting to have such as the M7 preist with 105mm howitzer 

Sounds fun! Things to consider that come with artillery: counter-battery fire, perhaps briefly exposing the location of an artillery piece on the map when they fire a volley, and the Katyusha MLRS 

[EagleDNY]

Artillery would be interesting but I think the game would need 2 changes to actually make it work. 

1.  Spotting / Rangefinding System.  Simply put, we have none.  It would be a real pain to try to correct fire or see if your indirect fire is landing anywhere near the target.  We have the same problem with shore bombardment from the cruiser.
2.  Line of Death.  The second you open fire in that big howitzer, a huge tracer saying "here I am" leaves your barrel producing an instant line for every aircraft to follow back to you until they cause your grisly demise.  Several suggestions have been put forth to eliminate the tracer effect and replace it with a smoke puff from the barrel and then a similar smoke puff on impact near a target, but to date nothing has been done on that front.   Possibly WORSE than the tracer would be the huge blazing comet in the sky effect that we see from the shore battery and cruiser guns since you would be firing a 105mm gun.   

[SmokinLoon]

Adding arty would be easier than most people think, I believe.  HTC would have to add in something with at least 6000 yards worth of range (not hard to do), have the arty piece powerful enough to destroy buildings in 1 hit (also not hard to do), yet not be so over-whelming to offer an unfair advantage to the attacker.  

To aim, I suggest the same way that the 5in and 8in naval guns are aimed at targets.  Easy peasy.  

HTC could add in the M7 Priest and give its HE round 312lbs of damage (hull already in game, too!).  The rate of fire is slow enough and the round weak enough that it wouldn't be overpowering, imo.

[R 105]

  You would still have to be able to see the target so it would still be a line of sight weapon. To have real artillery in the game HTC would have to model some type of F.D.C. (Fire Directional Center) and an F.O. (forward observer) That would be harder to do I would think.

[SmokinLoon]

  You would still have to be able to see the target so it would still be a line of sight weapon. To have real artillery in the game HTC would have to model some type of F.D.C. (Fire Directional Center) and an F.O. (forward observer) That would be harder to do I would think.

The easiest remedy to that is to allow the storch to spawn at gv spawn points.  After all, the Storch took off far more in grassy fields than a runway, and it did travel right along side the troops.  It was not an airport kind of plane, it was *meant* to be hauled around on a truck bed.  Allowing the Storch to up at gv spawn points only makes sense, imo.   

[Bludwulf]

Adding Artillery to the game would open up a whole new dimension to the way bases are taken and defended. Jeeps would be forward observers in much the way we help each other correct cruiser fire from our aircraft. The battle would expand beyond just the initial front line. And Fleets would be a bit more cautious about just running up to take a base. I think adding artillery would be a great idea to improve upon the game.

[danny76]

Adding Artillery to the game would open up a whole new dimension to the way bases are taken and defended. Jeeps would be forward observers in much the way we help each other correct cruiser fire from our aircraft. The battle would expand beyond just the initial front line. And Fleets would be a bit more cautious about just running up to take a base. I think adding artillery would be a great idea to improve upon the game.

Until the battery got one shotted and destroyed by an out of sight and out of earshot enemy Tiger. The type that manages to predict my random approach and kill me from miles away with a single round EVERY SINGLE TIME I GV

[Zacherof]

Your just poop

ever tried going around in a tiger 2?
Your invincable. 1 buddies in KT's uber domination

[Chalenge]

Guess what? You already have the best artillery you could ask for. It's called the M4A3-75. It has a higher muzzle velocity than the 105mm M101 Howitzer (likely to be the artillery piece added if any) and fires about the same range (11k+). A squadron of M4A3-75 could reduce a field or town to closed status in just a few minutes. The M4A3-75 fires so far the base will not even flash.

See? Hitech anticipated your wish and granted it for you ahead of time!

[wardog19]

The easiest remedy to that is to allow the storch to spawn at gv spawn points.  After all, the Storch took off far more in grassy fields than a runway, and it did travel right along side the troops.  It was not an airport kind of plane, it was *meant* to be hauled around on a truck bed.  Allowing the Storch to up at gv spawn points only makes sense, imo.   

Wow that would be a real give away that artillery was in the area. Guess how long that Storch lives the moment some opposing pilot takes off at a base/town? Even better is the fact that said pilot takes off with bombs i.e. kill Storch then kill artillery(if motorized/self-propelled). Towed artillery would result in a bonanza of kills(artillery piece plus towing vehicle, and Storch).

 You would probably even see players scrambling over each other to up Bombers of all types not to just bomb gvs and artillery, but the chance of killing that Storch with the Bomber's guns.

[Sabre]

Guess what? You already have the best artillery you could ask for. It's called the M4A3-75. It has a higher muzzle velocity than the 105mm M101 Howitzer (likely to be the artillery piece added if any) and fires about the same range (11k+). A squadron of M4A3-75 could reduce a field or town to closed status in just a few minutes. The M4A3-75 fires so far the base will not even flash.

See? Hitech anticipated your wish and granted it for you ahead of time!

This biggest problem I have with using any existing GV in a long-range artillery role is that the gun does not remain trained out at the same az and el; every time you fire, the barrel ends up moved.  There used to be a little cheat you could use to quickly return to where you were pointed before you pulled the trigger, but it seems to be no longer be available. So, even with a spotter, there's no way to fire accurately from beyond line-of-sight.  Even with LOS, it's difficult at long range.

[gyrene81]

"accuracy" with ww2 field artillery...especially mobile artillery, was hitting a football field from a mile away. any tank in ah would be more accurate, especially with a good spotter.

[SmokinLoon]

Wow that would be a real give away that artillery was in the area. Guess how long that Storch lives the moment some opposing pilot takes off at a base/town? Even better is the fact that said pilot takes off with bombs i.e. kill Storch then kill artillery(if motorized/self-propelled). Towed artillery would result in a bonanza of kills(artillery piece plus towing vehicle, and Storch).

 You would probably even see players scrambling over each other to up Bombers of all types not to just bomb gvs and artillery, but the chance of killing that Storch with the Bomber's guns.

Not really.  I know a lot of players that would up a Storch just at the chance to mark a circle jerker (camper), let alone the ability to bring highly mobile gv supplies.  There would be more uses for the Storch than you're giving credit for.  Also, you're assuming that the arty would be towed... I'd bet $10 that HTC would introduce land based artillery in a self propelled manner, not towed.  The 105mm mounted on the M4 chassis (M7 Priest), or M3 halftrack chassis would be my bet.  Oh, and you're vouching for NOT allowing the Storch to up at a gv spawn because you think bombers would up and kill it with their defensive guns?  Seriously?  The Storch would be the least of my worries if I'm upping a gv buster such as a Ju-87G-2, Hurricane IID, 190F-9, or Mossi Mk IV.  I'd be far more worried about the wirby and osty waiting in ambush... and so should you.   

[Gman]

+1 on this wish, as well as adding in Infantry possibly.  Perhaps not single soldier control, but player controllable squads or platoons, that would "drive ie run" with the same controls as the vehicles have now, be able to be carried in the half tracks and jeeps, and have multiple weapons like mgs/recoiless and bazooka/grenades/etc that could be selected with the same key as switching ammo in the tanks etc.  Combined with towed artillery, or even self propelled, this would give the ground game a whole new look, and give the tanks' co ax guns something to shoot at as well.