Hello everybody, I am very new to the series and have been playing Smolensk 41'. An excellent game and I fully intend on getting more, however, I am unclear on the rules the AI plays by in regards to spotting and indirect artillery fire.
Example, I am currently running through the Mogilev scenario, from the 2nd Expansion Pack I suppose(also, where can I find the page that explains the difference in scenarios between expansion pack and original since many of the scenarios are copies with noticeably more historical displacements and timeframes), and my units from 10th Panzer and 10th Mot. are approaching the Dnepr North and South of Mogilev respectively. This is more of an issue in the north, but it is occurring in the South as well. My units are being bombarded by artillery while in travel mode without having made contact with the enemy! As you can imagine, these are some very high casualties. Not enough to prevent victory with how tilted the force balance is in Smolensk, but more than any self-respecting panzer commander would accept! I understand the AI may be spotting my units through air recon, but how it is getting units to see my units to allow indirect fire is beyond me. Especially since some of these units are 7-8 hexes from the river line and behind a forest hex in their own forest hex, therefore, even if the enemies across the river had double visibility, trees should still be blocking their view. I have tried looking for nasties in my rear, but I can not find them, although I do know some are there, but there must be 3-4 artillery units on my side of the river for the amount of times they are striking me. And they are also practicing hardcore guerilla tactics by moving in for spotting and then running away before my turn, never making themselves known. Very clever, but I found it hard to believe, so the obvious conclusion is the AI is cheating. But I do not want to jump to such a conclusion without asking the forums and scouring the manual for some hidden rule I have missed! Any explanation would be appreciated, I am here to learn.
Sorry for the long one.
AI spotting and indirect artillery fire help?
Re: AI spotting and indirect artillery fire help?
I feel foolish, I have discovered the "Dust Spotting" rule. I am unaccustomed to working with the "Parameters" screen yet so I didn't realize the kinds of things that were in there, and after running through a turn as the Soviets, I saw similar spotting results. Some very extreme results, seems a bit off. And the alternate scenario version doesn't seem to use dust spotting, but does use night disruption, which the original doesn't. I would like to ask how common it is for these games to have alternate scenarios like this with not explicitly stated changes like this that are indeed very significant, in terms of how you approach the scenario? And how often is the Dust spotting used, because it seems a tad OP, even with the Artillery fire being divided somewhat?
Re: AI spotting and indirect artillery fire help?
Unfortunately, dust spotting is one of the very few game mechanics that is not explained in the manual in any detail. I would be interested in a more detailed explanation as well, as I'm currently in a big multiplayer game (several players per side) in a Sicily/Husky campaign, and dust spotting is a big riddle to all of us. Obviously you don't even need a theoretical line of sight to the target to get a dust spotting contact, but how much is it affected by distance, perhaps unit size (in the hex, or just individual units?), and does terrain play a role, and the unit's status (deployed/travel)? We don't know. So it feels rather random to us.
From my understanding, artillery that targets such a contact only has a fire power of 25%. Against a unit in travel mode 25% is still effectively 50% (defense value halved), and units in travel mode cannot use the cover provided by the terrain in the hex. So it can still be very effective, particularly by mounted infantry in "soft" vehicles (trucks or soft halftracks) or against mounted guns (defense quartered in travel mode!).
The same should be true for artillery fire at counter battery and air recon targets.
Note that by daylight, you can't differentiate counter battery contacts from dust spotting contacts. The rules on counter battery spotting are also not completely transparent. The formula is in the manual, but it remains uncertain whether a single test is made per hex (taking into account the number of all the artillery guns in that hex that have fired) or whether it's one test per artillery battery, or perhaps one test per enemy unit within 10 hexes. The difference is quite significant...
From my understanding, artillery that targets such a contact only has a fire power of 25%. Against a unit in travel mode 25% is still effectively 50% (defense value halved), and units in travel mode cannot use the cover provided by the terrain in the hex. So it can still be very effective, particularly by mounted infantry in "soft" vehicles (trucks or soft halftracks) or against mounted guns (defense quartered in travel mode!).
The same should be true for artillery fire at counter battery and air recon targets.
Note that by daylight, you can't differentiate counter battery contacts from dust spotting contacts. The rules on counter battery spotting are also not completely transparent. The formula is in the manual, but it remains uncertain whether a single test is made per hex (taking into account the number of all the artillery guns in that hex that have fired) or whether it's one test per artillery battery, or perhaps one test per enemy unit within 10 hexes. The difference is quite significant...