Pre-planned artillery-- when to call it in?

[Splork]

I've also used it quite a bit as an attacker. Some thoughts:

I've generally used small caliber stuff - large caliber arty is too expensive to go dumping on one spot where you hope your opponent will be. A good player is also going to be careful not to group infantry close together in the obvious spots where you're likely to dump pre-planned artillery.

Because of that, I usually think of it as an anti-gun weapon rather than an anti-infantry weapon. It's too chancy to hope you can pick a spot where your opponent will have infantry at a time when you need it to land. Small caliber arty is going to allow your opponent to recover too quickly if you guess wrong on the timing. But it's very useful to ensure there any guns in a key patch of woods or two are knocked out.

That all said, if there's an obvious patch of cover that's going to be a strong point, I've used arty in an anti-infantry role. Trying to time it is always the struggle - in general, I figure I'd rather be a turn or two late than a turn or two early - I'd rather have my men waiting there rested and ready to charge in than have them get there too late, after my opponent has rallied.

It goes without saying that if you're planning on using a spotter in the pre-plot role, buy conscripts - no sense wasting points on experience. I've known some people who find that gamey, but I've always viewed it as a fair trade for the limitations of having to pick time and place on turn 1. Although if you start buying 10 connie mortar spotters and preplotting the whole backfield, you might get some funny looks...