The Effective use of Artillery in SP WW2

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The Effective use of Artillery in Steel Panthers WW2
by Cross

Once a battle is underway, I observe my opponents use of artillery. If it’s competent I know I’m in for tough battle.

Artillery is one of the big three, along with infantry and armour; for many battles I would rank it second in importance, after infantry. Proper use of this powerful arm can win battles, just as underestimating its power, or misusing it, can lose battles.

The following is only my opinion, based on experience in WinSPWW2 PBEM meeting engagements without off-board artillery. If you have any questions, suggestions or advice I would love to hear them.

Artillery Designations (approximate, as it depends on nation and year)

Light............75 – 105mm.....( 3 – 3.7 inch).... aka. Pack, Mountain, Field
Medium.........115 – 140mm...( 4.5 – 5.5 inch)
Heavy...........150 – 185mm...( 6 – 7.2 inch)
Super-heavy..205mm +.........( 8 inch + )

Mortars
Light.......50-60mm......( 2 inch)
Medium....75-88mm......( 3 inch)
Heavy......105-120mm...( 4 inch)

Purchasing

1. If you have a 10% purchasing limit on artillery, spend the full 10% and buy as much artillery as you can.

If there’s no purchasing limit, I will usually spend around 12.5% but may spend more depending on the battle, map, plan and opponent. I learned PBEM from an opponent who would spend 20-33% on artillery.

2. Buy a variety of artillery (The golf bag principle).

The ‘golf bag principle’ allows you to choose the right sized club for the purpose (more on this later).
I will often buy a troop of Heavy, a troop of Medium, a platoon of Mortars, and some Light/Field guns if I can afford it.

3. When choosing guns, look at their cost and number of HE rounds; then look at their effectiveness (KILL #) and accuracy.

Some self-propelled artillery comes with plenty of ammo, others are only worth purchasing if you also buy accompanying ordinance trucks. Don’t forget that mortar units usually have 2 tubes, with double the ammo and a higher rate of fire.

4. Buy additional ammo; as you don’t want valuable guns sitting idle in the second half.

It’s easy for artillery to run out of ammo, even in quite short battles; so buy a pair of ammo carriers/canisters/trucks. Buy armoured ordinance carriers if you expect any counter-battery.

5. Buy only one Forward Observation Officer (FOO).

You should have at least one FOO, as they call artillery in faster and more accurately than other officers. But I think purchasing more than one FOO is redundant – especially when limited to 10% artillery – unless you have a lot of points and the map and visibility make it worthwhile.

Setup

6. Try to place artillery on rough ground for good defense.

7. Never set up artillery in wooded locations, as these can catch fire.

If I see an opponent has put guns in a wooded area, I almost always target them. If the trees catch fire he has to risk a truck to move the gun, and has the hassle of re-positioning and re-plotting the gun.

8. Try to give guns a good field of fire, in case they need to defend themselves from breakthrough units.

9. Position guns close enough to their officer that they can be rallied, but far enough apart to keep them from being an easy counter-battery target.

Better if the officer’s gun is slightly to the rear, so any fleeing crews will run towards the officer not away from him. You can adjust the gun troop retreat direction so your opponent won’t know which gun is the officer.

10. Don’t place guns too close to the map edge, or routed crews may flee off the map.

You can place guns close to the map edge if you change their retreat direction.

11. Don’t forget to setup a ‘gold spot’ (priority target) a hex where artillery will arrive with only a 1 turn delay.

Targeting

12. The primary goal of artillery is to pin or suppress the enemy; the secondary goal of artillery is destroy the enemy.

If you understand that artillery is mainly used to suppress, you are more likely to use it correctly. When attacking, a suppressed enemy can be approached and destroyed; when defending, a suppressed enemy gives you time to bring in reinforcements and take back the initiative.

13. Almost all of your artillery should be plotted to support one infantry company at a time. Not plotted at multiple targets all over the battlefield.

Artillery can win you one area of the battlefield, as long as it’s focused on that area. If I have 10 plots, I may plot 8 of them in direct support of one infantry company. Artillery that’s plotted all over the battlefield is wasted as an effective force.

14. The best and most important use of your artillery is to support your offensive.

15. The second most valuable use of artillery is to blunt or stop an enemy attack.

A concentration of artillery can often stall or stop an enemy attack. But you will have to switch almost all your guns to hit the enemy attack; which means you may have to hold up your own offensive until the threat has been neutralized and your guns can be turned back to support your offensive.

16. Don’t be indecisive or get distracted, use the bulk of your artillery to support an attack or defend a threatened area.

You may switch your artillery to defend an area that is threatened and then switch it back to your offensive once the threat is over. But if you keep changing your mind, or get distracted by every possible target, you’ll spend most of the battle waiting for artillery to arrive, or have ineffective plots all over the battlefield.

17. Anticipate. Try to think two or three turns ahead. Where will you be when the artillery arrives, and where is the enemy likely to be?

18. Prior to contact use ‘silent barrages’, which is when you plot guns without letting them fire.

You may creep these silent barrages ahead of your attack until contact with the enemy, or plot guns where you expect an attack, and then you will have almost instant artillery support (this is not gamey, but a real life tactic).

19. Plot guns in a rough line or curve ahead of your troops, where you perceive the enemy front lines.

Even when you are plotting onto spotted targets, try to maintain a rough barrage line in the gaps where enemy units could be. If you spot a large concentration of enemy, then you may want to temporarily abandon the line and stonk them with everything at hand.

20. If you ever spot enemy soft vehicles, they should be targeted. Use mortars if they are moving, or more accurate guns if they are stationary.

21. Moving infantry are an attractive target because your barrage is likely to cause casualties, not just suppression.

22. Use your FOO to plot all artillery, unless another officer has line-of sight (LOS) to the target area and your FOO does not.

LOS allows an officer to shift artillery quickly, and I believe an unskilled Infantry officer with LOS is more accurate than a FOO without LOS.

Mortars

23. Mortars are inaccurate and their bombs land in a wider spread, which means they are not suited for close support (150-200m ahead of friendly troops) or for stonking small targets (Atk guns, MG nests). Use more accurate artillery for close support and small targets.

24. Use mortars against infantry, where their wide spread is an advantage and can pin down a whole infantry platoon.

Smoke

25. Don’t forget that a single smoke round can render an ATk gun useless. So instead of plotting a stonk you may prefer to fire a few smoke rounds, and save your HE ammo for another target.

26. Plot a smoke screen to cover an exposed advance. But only use a few guns, with the rest supporting the advance with HE.

27. Use a smoke barrage to feign an attack.

Smoke on it’s own won’t fool an experienced player, so you may have to throw a few units into the feint, until your opponent starts re-plotting artillery and moving reserves…

Counter-Battery

28. Don’t be too quick to plot counter-battery shoots.

I am usually relieved when my opponent uses his artillery for counter-battery. Because this means his guns are not bothering my troops at the front, and when my artillery rallies they’ll have more ammunition than his.

29. Counter-battery can be worthwhile if you can pin down a few enemy heavy guns with just one mortar section or light gun; but don’t commit too much artillery to counter-battery.

The primary use of artillery is to support your attacking infantry, the secondary use is to stop enemy attacks. If those goals are covered and you still have artillery available; then you may want to plot one or two guns to harass his guns.

30. If you suspect your opponent is using unarmoured ammo trucks to support his artillery, they can be a worthwhile target.

Ammunition

31. Do not conserve ammunition, except perhaps at the start of the battle prior to contact (silent barrages).

Many players conserve ammo by turning tubes off, or husbanding their ammo to last the whole battle. I disagree with this approach, because most battles are decided around turn 7 to 14. Therefore, you should expend all the ammo you need in order to win; then it won’t matter if your artillery has no ammo in the final turns.

In meeting engagements, I do think it’s worthwhile to hit some approach roads. But don’t fire off too much ammo at these invisible targets. Save the bulk of your ammo for turns 7 to 14, when you are in contact with the enemy.

32. Use ammo carriers to re-supply the heavy guns, and the quick firing mortars that rip through ammo.

You can’t re-supply every gun, so prioritize and re-supply the heavies and those that will run out quickly, like mortars. This is another reason to buy a variety of guns, as some come with more ammunition than others.

Rockets

33. Rockets are very inaccurate, but can be devastating when on target. They may be best used when your FOO has LOS to the target.

Personally, I prefer not to allow the supply of rocket ordinance, as this can allow them to dominate a battle.

Fast Artillery

34. Never use Fast Artillery, because by watching where each round falls, you will have an idea where the enemy is suppressed and where it’s safer to advance.

Blast Circles

HE shells can cause damage or suppression 1 or 2 hexes away from where they land, depending on their size. The further from shell impact the less chance of a hit, suppression or any effect.

50mm................. (2”)....... Target hex only
60mm to 122mm... (4.5”).....1 hex radius
130mm +............. (5” +).... 2 hex radius

I think how it works is: 60mm can but is unlikely have an effect 1 hex away. 120mm is likely to have an effect 1 hex away, but will have no effect 2 hexes away. 130mm is very likely to have an effect 1 hex away, but unlikely to have an effect 2 hexes away. 205mm is likely to have an effect 2 hexes away.

Quotes

“Artillery is the god of war”
_ Josef Stalin

“Renown awaits the commander who first restores artillery to its prime importance on the battlefield.”
_Winston Churchill

“If you don’t have enough artillery, quit.”
_General Richard Cavasos

“Do not forget your dogs of war, your big guns, which are the most-to-be respected arguments of the rights of kings.”
_Frederick the Great

“The artillery was my strongest tool. Often it was my only reserve … I repeatedly said it was more a matter of the infantry supporting the artillery than the artillery supporting the infantry…”
_Major General R. Barton

“Artillery adds dignity, to what would otherwise be an ugly brawl.”
_Frederick the Great

“CANNON, n. An instrument employed in the rectification of national boundaries.”*
_Ambrose Bierce

“The harder the fighting and the longer the war, the more the infantry – and in fact all the arms – lean on the gunners.”
_Field Marshal Montgomery

“The best generals are those who have served in the artillery.”*
_Napoleon Bonaparte

“A competent General knows how to use artillery, but a brilliant General also knows how to use smoke.”
_Unknown

“God fights on the side with the best artillery.”*
_Napoleon Bonaparte


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