I would very much like to see an actual artillery system implemented into AH. Right now its pretty much, you pick a gun, usually the 75mm howitzer on the M3 or LVTA4, and you then find a mountain to perch on and hope your hitting the target if you cant see it. This just doesn't seem very effective. As there's really almost 0 point in the 75mm on the LVTA4, maybe killing m3s or m18s, other than smoke. Its a howitzer, but we can't really use it as one because of the restrictions we have currently in game.
Asking a few people around, a lot of people seem to like the idea that you would have a "land mode" like on ship guns, for howitzers.
Shift Q and you would get a reticule similar to that of the land mode for ship guns. Maybe some tweaks to it for howitzers though. It would be a whole lot easier to use rather than guess and checking your shots, which, if theres no hill nearby, is impossible. You would be able to actually provide indirect artillery fire for assaulting towns, fields, factories, etc.
One more issue we have are
the guns themselves we currently have. The 75mm HE on the M3 howitzer and the LVTA4 is abysmally bad from what I've seen. You have to hit a building straight on to be able to do any sort of damage to it. Which is next to impossible from 6-7k away. I would like to purpose a few new guns. Both Self propelled, and stationary.
Self Propelled Guns- German Bison Howitzer Carrier
- Katyusha Rocket Truck
- US M7 Priest
Can't think of any perked SPG's, feel free to throw one in.
Stationary Artillery Guns- USSR - M1943 152mm Howtizer
- British - BL 5.5in Medium Gun (140mm)
- US - M101A1 105mm Howtizer
Perked Stationary Arty Guns- USSR - M1931 203mm Howitzer "Stalin's Sledgehammer"
- British - BL 8-inch Howitzer Mk VI-VIII (203mm)
The stationary guns could be either towed or spawned in for perks. If they were towed, you'd probally need a tank to pull them around. When they're released, they can be switched to on the number pad. This would consume perks if its a perked gun. Anyone could use the stationary guns, but the original spawner of the gun would have to "unlock" the guns if he wants other people to use them.
Alternatively, the bigger 203mm's could be spawned in their own special areas. A bit further back from a GV spawn, because well, their artillery guns.
BalancingWhile a lot of these guns pack quite the punch. Every weapon has their own cons. While they can flatten a base in the hands of an experienced artillery gunner, its still an artillery gun. Their slow, undefended, and can be easily spotted when fired. A couple bombs could destroy the guns, as well as tank guns.
Teams would have to make sure they keep their Artillery positions defended well, otherwise, they could lose all long range fire support, and make flattening a base/town a lot harder.
That's all I have to contribute for now. I just find it strange how we have multiple howitzers already in game, but very restricted ways to use them. I think HTC could put a little bit more polish on the Arty that's in game, as it seems to be very barebones at the current stage.
