ARTILLERY - INDIRECT FIRE

[Pip Roberts]

This is the main use of Artillery
In war, the guns fire on targets nominated by their Forward Observation Officers. In the CS one can highlight all spotted units so targeting seems easy but there may be onlY one CRITICAL spotting unit (the real FOO.)
If he is lost during the enemy's turn the shells will fall at random. If possible place him in an improved position or in a tank with some protection against distant artillery fire. In broken country many spotters will be needed
Desirable targets are those which are stuck in position such as - unloaded guns (where the first shells may have hit their transport), enemy artillery (if you can see it), objective hexes (which may contain a stack of infantry and even HQ's) or disrupted units likely to stay put.
Don't fire artillery until all your other units have moved and fought or you may hit your own men.
Long Range Artillery Rockets, Ships' guns and fixed units should fire as soon as the FOO's spot targets. Some players use interdiction fire onto choke points, roads etc where the enemy is likely to stop after his turn but he will soon learn not to do so. Always remember that your shells arrive last so he has time to move past spotted points. Blind firing without spotting is wasteful.
Artillery Movement Guns without ammunition or firing orders should consider moving. For maximum effectiveness move smaller guns up closer to the front early into positions which cannot be spotted by the enemy. Check the paths they will take and avoid any hexes that could be exposed to spotting and Opfire while they are moving. Your guns loaded onto transports make lovely targets. Tractors are too slow so load them onto trucks or half tracks.