Quick newbie questions...

[Der Kuenstler]

I'm playing against the soviet AI in Stalingrad with FOW on...

1. Are the unspotted enemy units like the one that I've circled in red here artillery units?

2. Should I fire my artillery at them rather than spotted units on the line?



thanks for the help!

[ComradeP]

If it's revealed through air recon or recon spotting, it could be anything.

If you didn't recon the area (and it was thus spotted by the counterbattery fire mechanic after it fired), it's an artillery unit.

I'm not sure for how long the game has been going and if the AI moved the unit, otherwise you could load the scenario without FOW and see what unit or stack starts in that hex.

It can be difficult to determine whether it's worth firing on an unspotted artillery unit, as if it's likely to be a light or medium artillery unit you're probably better off firing at the enemy infantry. It depends on the situation. If you're worried about being assaulted in a particular sector, firing at enemy infantry units to try and disrupt them might be better. If you can spare the artillery, by all means fire at the unspotted unit.

Even though you can't spot the precise damage done in the case of an unspotted unit, it's still registered in the victory dialogue, so you can keep track of the losses (if any) that you inflict.

[Der Kuenstler]

The weather is too bad for planes to recon so it must be artillery - thanks! Great tip checking the victory log - I didn't think of that.

[Plain Ian]

If you think its Rocket Artillery or German Nebelwerfers (if you are playing allied of course) then its ALWAYS better to fire at it. They are short ranged and possibly in T Mode and are deadly units.

[ComradeP]

The "new" Katyusha units (like in the patched version of Moscow '42) with a minimum range are certainly priority targets. The "old" ones are less powerful, often more annoying than truly deadly as long as they're 8 gun units.

Rocket units have a much shorter than guns and howitzers, so they have to be placed closer to the front and move along with it when it moves. This makes it more likely that they will be spotted by the counterbattery fire mechanic, particularly when they're fairly big (18 or more gun) units. Their limited range and having to move them also means that you're more likely to spot them moving around in T-mode, as Plain Ian wrote.

Taking a closer look at your screenshot, I'm guessing there must be some units off to the east that are within 10 hexes of the enemy artillery unit, as none of your units in the screenshot are in range I believe. Or maybe the Soviets bumped some unit of its hex after it spotted the artillery unit when it fired on the Soviet turn. I'm not sure when, exactly, the counterbattery fire mechanic is applied: during a turn or if it determines which unit were spotted when you hit end turn.

The counterbattery spotting mechanic range limit of 10 hexes is counted from unit to unit, if I interpret the rule correctly.