The Effective use of Artillery in SP WW2

[Imp]

Greets Cross remember I dont test just observe though a quick test could be done putting fast arty on & show blast hex circles.

Are you sure suppression is based only on the number of rounds, and not also WH size/KILL value?

Pretty sure kill has nothing to do with it or far less insignificant than number of rounds.
WH size plays a part at the point where it jumps to next blast radius.
As in smaller warhead size arty only effects target & adj hexes while larger effects an area 5 hexes across.
Thats why you use the smaller calliber gun for close work its area of effect is smaller if all shots land adjacent to target hex thats a max area of 5x5 vs 7x7 for the bigger calibre.

But if you are right regarding gun accuracy, then a short tube mortar has exactly the same accuracy as the '4.5inch long' which doesn't make sense. The game guide suggests accuracy is not based on spotter alone:

Pure speculation here but think indirect accuracy is based on the gun class MTR Howitzer Rocket & no decernible diffrence between the first 2 or possibly spread pattern if misses target but I have not noticed.
On occasion you can get a very wayward round or entire fire group though I have not noticed if occurs more often with MTRs than How.

I would suggest you have a play though as using small guns for close in support works for me & I find Mtrs more than capable of dealing with individual units like ATGs. Especially if its a 2 MTR team thats a lot of shots & if you are talking twin 120mm MTR in my view one of the most powerfull on map arty units one of those is capable of dealing with an ATG all by itsself if have a LOS & a bit of luck. I tend to use big guns or OB vs grouped infantry small stuff close up or vs individual.
Vs dug in hit with everything then when ready to close range shift big stuff to next target so it does not hit you. Only consider keeping it if FOO has a LOS.

As a side note I never buy the big guns with a very low ROF like 3 unless its 0 call time it will only land one shell so very inflexible.

Remember arty modeling is one of the worst aspects in SP series you know the range your Mtrs are engaging at as on map but offboard is it just offboard or miles back & any arty park commander manning howitzers on map is probably having kittens about letting the enemy get so close.
In fact if you want to make the game more realistic most of the time late war WW2 Germans would need a very good reason to fire arty as they might only have a dozen rounds available.
It really was that bad that apart from assaults should probably have 1/5th or less arty available than the allies to represent.
With no air to it still amazes me just how good they were to hang on as long as they did.

Edit
As a footnote WH size does play a part vs units in cover, larger warheads have a slightly better chance of being effective vs units in cover than smaller ones. Also as buildings turned to rubble now have a chance of it landing on occupants & killing a big calibre gun is more effective in good cover than a small one. Rough buildings dug in bigger helps possibly the likes of woods not really sure.