Making Counterbattery Fire Happen.

[Champagne]

I'm trying to figure this out. How do I use counterbattery fire against enemy artillery batteries?

Thanks.

[KAreil]

Make sure that you have off map batteries with same or higher range as the enemy off map battery and make sure it does not have any fire mission or is out of command.

It should do counter battery fire automatically, although i think there are some chance factors that will determine if it finally happens.

Unit quality factors might also influence that but I do not have details here.

[Warwick]

Yes,
experience and quality do influence counter-battery fire. If playing a campaign do not use counter-battery artillery for any other fire missions.

Regards, Warwick

[gila]

When suspect there will enemy off-map bombard,just buy a battery of the big long range guns.,use tubes to deal with on-map units, be sure you don't over do it,as big arty they are costly.

[Imp]

Originally Posted by KAreil

Make sure that you have off map batteries with same or higher range as the enemy off map battery and make sure it does not have any fire mission or is out of command.

It should do counter battery fire automatically, although i think there are some chance factors that will determine if it finally happens.

Unit quality factors might also influence that but I do not have details here.

As mentioned need same or greater range.
Unit experience helps detect the enemy battery faster, low 80s experience seems to be when they start getting quite good.
Dont know mechanics probably check each turn with an experience modifier.

Unit needs to be idol no fire missions or movement then wait till the game decides you have detected something & it will counter battery fire.

To prevent counter battery fire at you dont fire arty continually you will get detected quicker. 2-3 salvos then stop for a turn with that unit. Though vs high experience units that may be late they may get you on the first salvo.

[zastava128]

I vaguely seem to remember a post about there being a minimum experience rating needed in order to fire counterbattery (something like 70). I tried forum search but couldn't find it, so I might be wrong.

[Mobhack]

Experience is the main determinant. There is no point in putting conscripts with 50 points of EXP on the task, they dont have a clue how to go about it.

Also, every army has its own inbuilt counter battery score, with the UK, USA and Germany etc scoring highest, little Ruritanians not so good. That specific data is not available to the end users. Those armies do better than the less technologically advanced ones. Same for MBT - USMC outscores Ugandans every time.

CB fire is just a case of leaving a long ranged and highly experienced battery idle and hoping that it spots an enemy off-map firer and smacks it. It also helps if a lot of enemy batteries are firing - e.g. when you are defending against a shed-load of enemy firers then your gunners will be in a target-rich environment.

[jivemi]

In a current US campaign my off-map 155mm Gun Bty with range of 213 and experience 90-plus would sit almost always idle while its maneuver buddies were getting creamed by salvos from (mostly) 10.5cm and 12.2cm German Btys with range of just 202. It never fired more than twice in any battle, including two defensive ones. Was the CB routine tweaked recently to limit off-map duels? Thanks.

[Mobhack]

No changes to CB routines.

CB is not guaranteed, even if you have wonderful experience.

[jivemi]

Originally Posted by Mobhack

No changes to CB routines.

CB is not guaranteed, even if you have wonderful experience.

Indeed. As luck would have it shortly after posting and resuming play that aforementioned 155mm Gun Bty scored something like 15 hits on its 10.5cm counterpart, causing 39 points of damage and routing it until battle conclusion. No further off-map barrages interrupted US forces in their relentless advance to final victory (April '45). Also pleased to note that a Bf 109 which was shot down and crashed off-map scored the full 50-plus points. Cheers.