Forum > Theater of Operations: World at War
Artillery Revisited
Sailor Malan:
Completely agree - you seem to have thought about all this very well. In actual fact the Mortain example is a classic test case of an extreme point in the spectrum. The circumstances where a side could afford to dedicate that much support to one Btn and sustain supply are the subject of scenario design.. in other words make sure the system can (not always does!) reproduce that effect then avoid scenarios where it makes sense to do it!
The point with the 25pdr is that it was designed to suppress/neutralise not destroy... as long as the advantages and disadvantages are caught in game (targets get relatively more suppressing effect, but recover after a while). It comes down to what happens to combat with a unit after a rolling barrage has gone across it! According to Evans, you only need 2/3 the weight of 25pdr fire to get the effect of 155mm against troops in the open/foxholes - although the latter would cause more losses when troops have fortified positions with top cover...
choppinlt:
--- Quote from: Sailor Malan on August 31, 2017, 06:49:14 PM ---Completely agree - you seem to have thought about all this very well.
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Thanks! :)
--- Quote from: Sailor Malan on August 31, 2017, 06:49:14 PM ---In actual fact the Mortain example is a classic test case of an extreme point in the spectrum. The circumstances where a side could afford to dedicate that much support to one Btn and sustain supply are the subject of scenario design.. in other words make sure the system can (not always does!) reproduce that effect then avoid scenarios where it makes sense to do it!
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*BINGO* This is a terrific test case in one extreme. I spent a fair amount of time trying to dissect the circumstances. You can simply say, "OK 1 American infantry battalion can completely halt a German counteroffensive when they have access to 10 battalions of arty". It isn't that simple because the German units were attrited already, they ran in to the same bocage issues the Allies were dealing with, airpower was unrelenting, and the infantry battalion had time to dig in on the hill overlooking the valley.
--- Quote from: Sailor Malan on August 31, 2017, 06:49:14 PM ---The point with the 25pdr is that it was designed to suppress/neutralise not destroy... as long as the advantages and disadvantages are caught in game (targets get relatively more suppressing effect, but recover after a while). It comes down to what happens to combat with a unit after a rolling barrage has gone across it! According to Evans, you only need 2/3 the weight of 25pdr fire to get the effect of 155mm against troops in the open/foxholes - although the latter would cause more losses when troops have fortified positions with top cover...
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One advantage of this level of combat is that it deals with the bottom line results. How a battle played out or why it played out a certain way are left up to the players to make up their own story lines or create them when they play it out tactically! To your comment above, size does matter in ToO when it comes to hitting troops in cover, or hard targets.
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