82mm MTRS - Bogadukhov

[Strela]

This is an interesting thread and worthy of deeper discussion.

The PzB code was created from PzC code. This has resulted in approximations used at an operational level filtering down to the tactical PzB level. Treating indirect and direct fire as one and the same is an example of that.

Should there be some change here? Realism vs playability are the main considerations. Ultimately are players going to find any change to say the artillery code significant and relevant over the length of a scenario?

Some examples;

If the vast majority of casualties are caused by artillery should we up it's lethality and dampen down direct fire? This can be done either through the current multiplier for artillery in the PDT file or via a code change. If direct fire is reduced to reflect a more correct ratio, how will players feel about seeing more 'No Effect' results from direct fire? If we only increase artillery lethality and leave direct fire as is, what does this do when the increased losses are factored in, making units less effective, quicker.

If artillery is separate should it go through a different combat calculation/PDT? For example, should forest/orchards etc actually be +ve modifiers vs -ve modifiers to represent the fact that air burst etc are particularly lethal in trees due to the increased shrapnel effect of splintered trees?

Should mortars and artillery have different effects due to the mortars ability to use plunging fire?

Should artillery spotting be more restrictive as an offset to any increased ability to use it - to prevent it being used all over the board?

This is just some examples that quickly come to mind and ultimately we need to decide will they add to the overall simulation.

My personal take is that artillery should probably be more effective than it currently is. The quickest and easiest way to do this is to up the multiplier in the PDT file. The important thing would be to decide what is an appropriate end result for balancing. For example using ComradeP's example, should 8 x 81mm mortars have the equivalent killing power of an 80 man company, or is it some percentage of that? Ultimately that is one of the biggest considerations and something we can run through our testing suite here.

David