Question:small arms for on map artillery

[Marcello]

On map artillery has usually a rifle (or a carabine) in the second slot, with 60 ammunition points.Question for a OOB meant for release I replace said rifle with two carabines with 30 ammo points each and a pistol?
Cost point wise it seems to make almost no difference but is there some convention against that (like no rifles for trucks and such)?
This is for an hypothetical army whose doctrine emphasize artillery self defense capabilities (AP rounds issued to the howitzers, some training in antitank direct fire etc).

[troopie]

No, there is no convention against it. Not in game terms. In reality, artillerymen are specialists. They receive rifle training just like all other soldiers do, but then specialise in gunnery. The closest you might come to that is the US Marine Corps, where, whatever else you may be, you are also a rifleman. The Rhodesian army also occasionally used its artillerymen as infantrymen, but when they were so used, they stored the 25lbers and shouldered FALS. But this is a hypothetical army, so you can do as you wish.

troopie

[PlasmaKrab]

Regarding artillerymen's self defence, here is a note from the DOS version's Player Info.txt files:

Indirect fire classes CANNOT have hand grenades issued to them or they will not be able to fire smoke. The smoke missions will appear available on the artillery menu but they will never actually fire the smoke rounds.

I don't know if the bug still exists in the WinSPMBT version as well, but I thought you might want to know in case you would like to try that, or had already run across it.

[Marcello]

I vaguely remembered something about that thus I have not issued grenades to the field guns.Carabines and pistols only.
I have however issued grenades to some Vasilek mortars
(in my fictional army they would be mounted on special carriages fitted with APUs to keep pace with the infantry and used as direct fire infantry guns/light antitank guns/conventional mortars).They had no problem firing smoke in direct fire but admittedly I did not try indirect fire smoke missions in the artillery menu.

[PlasmaKrab]

I don't know if this bug affects the direct-fire classes (e.g. gun as opposed to howitzer). I guess that calls for some testing, doesn't it?
APU on Vasileks aren't a bad idea, maybe the VDV should start tinkering about it...

[Marcello]

"APU on Vasileks aren't a bad idea, maybe the VDV should start tinkering about it..."

The idea was a weapon that could provide direct fire support while retaining indirect fire capabilities and capable of going where the infantry could go (at least in SPMBT terms).A mule mounted recoilless was a possibility but I preferred the rate of fire and high angle of elevation capability of the Vasilek.
It would also have some antiarmor capabilites with HEAT, although that would be a secondary role.
I am not sure if it will actually work well in battle, I have had the time only for testing the basic mechanics and maybe a few skirmishes, as the rest of the OOB still requires some final checks.

[thatguy96]

The US Army tested the idea of the Vasilek mounted on a HMMWV, I think more just to see what would happen. Pic. So far nothing's come of it, and I don't think the idea has gone beyond the feasibility stage.

[Marcello]

NORINCO makes something very similar for their W99

http://www.sinodefence.com/army/crew...ortar_82mm.asp

But I wanted a self propelled carriage that could go inside the buildings (in SPBMT terms).