��WinSPMBT Arty tutorial needed!!!

[Von Bismarck]

Hi folks!

Just wondering if some good soul out there knows where I can find an WinMBT arty toturial..
During all my games my enemies seem to mantain a sustained fire over me shelling my positions almost turn by turn and my arty simply takes a Whole life to fire!!:hissy:

VB

[Grumbler]

It might be the pre-positioned arty requests. You do use them don't you:conf: It also could be the way you use them. Your fire plan should be part of your ops plan. IE; your plan requires you moving in a certain direction with an Objective. You should have intermediate objectives leading to that final objective. Your prepositioned arty requests (hereafter 'dime') should be placed so as to aid your advance. Timing is important. You want to place the request on the dime and then offset it till it has a 1.0 delay. You do this while you are still 2 turns away from that intermediate objective. That way if you get shot at, you have arty coming in next turn at a 0.0 wait. Plus you can move that request 10 hexes in any direction to get on a spotted target at the end of your opponents next turn. If there isn't anything there, you cancel the request and repeat on the next objective.
Or there is the grid method. This is best used if you don't have intermediate objectives. Sometimes the terrain forces a broad front approach. With the grid, you place the dimes at regular intervals. Depending on terrain and forces I do either 1 shift or two shifts. So my dimes are either 5 hexes apart (1 shift) or 9 hexes apart (2 shifts). The grid can be set up as one giant hex, in rows like a ladder, or in triangles or diamonds. When I get the ol' 3 cluster flag set-up, I will sometimes do 2 triangles on 2 clusters and a diamond on the last cluster.
Fast, responsive arty is based on the use of your dimes.
The other important thing to remember is that arty should NEVER be fired as single tubes. NEVER. Think Texas Ranger. 1 crime = 1 Ranger.
1 target = 1 battery. This is for your on-map batteries. while there is a way to use off map batteries as single tubes, I'm gonna do you a favor and not tell you how to do that. This is arty101 and that would be a lesson in arty102.:boom3:

If you want to put in some time, there was a long post about a year ago on the arty basics. I'm not sure if the search function is fixed yet. If it isn't, and you crash the web site using it, I never suggested anything and know nuffin.:whis:

[Walrus]

Hi
Just in case you couldn't understand some of Grumbler's info...

The "dime" is called a "priority target marker" or something similar.
It is one of the "toggles" in the bombard menu.
It gives you a (numbered from 1-10) "gold spot/dime/etc" which you place on the map during the DEPLOY phase of your game.

Using that spot you can assign your arty strike with a much reduced delay.

It is also important to use proper arty observers/Forward Observation Officers (FOO)/ VB in German. They are much better at directing arty (look at their "arty command" stats on their info page. They can SHIFT FIRE with less delay, PLOT FIRE at less delay and also help with accuracy in general. If your FOO has LOS (line of sight) to the target hex the accuracy will improve even more.

The trick you seem to be missing is the old classic...ROLLING BARRAGE.
Target your arty as above but take mote of the small toggle beside each arty unit in the bombard menu. Not only is there a "cancel mission", "HE" and "Smoke" toggle but also a "SHIFT FIRE" toggle. This is a crucial tool. When an arty unit is targeted on the map, use the shift fire toggle to move the target spot around by a few hexes at a time. It adds 0.1 to the delay of the mission (or 0.2 if are not using an FOO) but this way you can follow your enemy around the map.

It is great for "walking" fire across advancing enemy units...or keeping just in front of your own advance.

With this simple trick you will have better chances of victory in your battles.

I also suggest being aware of the "eye" toggle so you can look at the stats of your arty/air/off board (OB) arty units. Anything that is in a green font in a stat screen can be switched on/off...this way you can turn off some tubes to conserve ammo and keep your arty firing all game :-)

All the same info applies to air units, except that when an air unit has made it's pass across the map, it loses it's original target spot and you have to start from scratch again. Arty units remember their target. One a ubit has fired it's full salvo (which may take two turns to complete) it looks untargeted. However, if you simply press the "HE Fire" toggle, you will see the unit has targeted the last spot one of it's shell landed, and at a handy 0.1 delay :happy:

I suggest reading the Game Guide...it is full of tips and tricks. Also I suggest practicing with the various units. Set up a battle and buy a bunch of different arty units. Give them a try, practice a rolling barrage and observe the results. Learn which arty makes nice holes in the ground, and which does not. Understand the difference between OB and on map arty...mortars and rockets, Spotted observation (FOO has LOS) and non spotted (useful if you NEED your fire to spread around a bit). Get used to the "direction" toggle for air attacks and what that means to your missions.

If you do not explore the game mechanics, you will always be fighting against two enemies...your opponent....and your ignorance of your own unit's potential to do a better job.

I hope that helps. Please feel free to ask more questions...it's how you gain knowledge and get better...and I am all for that

Cheers

[Von Bismarck]

Woot!!

Thank you guys!! I have to admit that many of what you said were ignored by me..used to manage Arty in Spwaw Basis :conf:
Time to return to Arty school!!!



VB

[Weasel]

Yet another little known trick is to target your arty but turn off your tubes. You would do this if you think you might need arty support, but don't at that moment. This way the timer rolls down and if you do suddenly need the arty you just turn the tubes back on and have arty on call with no delay.

This works great in games with no target markers, or if you have a real long arty delay.

I use this all the time now, target but turn off the guns. I guess it is a real life tactic used today, where the tubes will always be trained on the next objective of the advancing force "just in case". So it is not a gamey tactic by any means.

Thanks to Shortreengage for showing me this little trick.

[shortreengage]

Ah, the good old "Silent Program". I think we got it from the Brits. The Russians use it too.

You know, we have a lot of players with Some military experience, but I have yet to run into any Arty types. Especially FOs and such. Their input would be most useful.

How about it? Any Gun Bunnies,Cannon Cockers or Mortar Maggots out there?

[Weasel]

We call them HERBIES in the Cdn army, don't ask me why.

[shortreengage]

Ok. I'll just sit here blinking at the screen. Out of curiosity, what do you call your Tankers, Crunchies and assorted riff-raff?

[Von Bismarck]

Thanks Lord! my prey was heard!!:whis:

Thanks a lot for that Weasel!
VB

[Vesku]

I did my 11 months in artillery, lieutenant at reserve at the moment.

Pre-req, rolling barrage, etc was all in use when I served over a decade ago. I've found one unrealistic piece in MBT, that is mortars. 60 and 81 mm mortars are way too effective and way too inaccurate. That's why I still like waw-series more, the rate may be too quick but at least the results don't make me laugh my ass off.