All -
I wanted to put some thoughts together on the use of artillery, based upon both my MP and SP game experience, so that all of you understand what results can and cannot be achieved by artillery batteries. I hope this thread will serve to help energize others to experiment with artillery usage in the game AND perhaps get them energized to join a small but dedicated group of MP players out on the virtual battlefield.
I have previously posted this in other threads here on the NSD site and other forums as well. There is certainly nothing "top secret" about it and you can glean most of this information from your own SP and MP experience as well as the manual. That being said, given that there have been some posts regarding artillery use in game and players questioning its utility, I think now is the time to share my knowledge (well not everything!!!) to dispel some of the myths out there about artillery in SOW.
Most importantly, I do not believe my way is the "BEST" way or the "ONLY" way to use artillery in SOW. There are other variations of things discussed below and many players will be more aggressive or more conservative based upon their play style. Below is the "BEST" way that suits my style of play and I am sure that will continue to evolve as I play.
Good luck and once again, if you are doing so now, please take the jump into MP play and join us the SOW MP Lobby.
Regards,
Willard
Willard's 10 Maxims on Use of Artillery
Re:Willard's 10 Maxims on Use of Artillery
#1 - Artillery cannot win or lose a battle by itself. It can help bring victory or prevent a wholesale defeat when commanded well, but it is simply too fragile to operate on its own. It must be treated as a force multiplier for the infantry that can bring additional firepower, through casualty/morale/fatigue hits, on the enemy from a distance.
Re:Willard's 10 Maxims on Use of Artillery
#2 - Each gun type has a role and most complaints about ineffective artillery are from people who do not use the guns in their proper role. For our purposes, the guns can do three things: counter-battery fire, long-range infantry support (>200 yards), close-range (<200 yards) infantry support. For the three major Union gun types, I will list their strengths and weaknesses:
3-inch Rifles: These guns are designed for counter-battery fire and are the single most effective weapon for scoring hits on enemy guns. The can provide effective long-range support provided they are placed in an enfilade position. Close-range support is below average when compared to the other two types.
10-pd Parrott: These are the “jack-of-all-trade” guns of the artillery. Their counter-battery and close-range support are above-average. Out of all the gun types, long range support is the best no matter where they are positioned on the line.
12-pd Napoleon: These guns are the artillery mainstays of both armies. Without question, their close support is simply devastating, especially at double canister range. Counter-battery and long range support are below average when compared to the other gun types.
3-inch Rifles: These guns are designed for counter-battery fire and are the single most effective weapon for scoring hits on enemy guns. The can provide effective long-range support provided they are placed in an enfilade position. Close-range support is below average when compared to the other two types.
10-pd Parrott: These are the “jack-of-all-trade” guns of the artillery. Their counter-battery and close-range support are above-average. Out of all the gun types, long range support is the best no matter where they are positioned on the line.
12-pd Napoleon: These guns are the artillery mainstays of both armies. Without question, their close support is simply devastating, especially at double canister range. Counter-battery and long range support are below average when compared to the other gun types.
Re:Willard's 10 Maxims on Use of Artillery
#3 – The single most important factor in the effectiveness of artillery is their placement. When at all possible to optimize results, the following factors should be considered: elevation (on a hill), cover/concealment (in a tree line); concealment (behind a wall/fence), flank/enfilade position, open field of fire and distance.
Elevation: This is the single most important factor in my gun placement. If I can get the guns on an elevated position, you get the high ground fire bonus.
Cover/Concealment: One of the benefits of placing batteries in tree-lines is that it provides the defensive terrain bonus AND reduces the ability of the enemy to see you. If the enemy guns can’t see you, they cannot target your guns in counter-battery fire.
Concealment: Placing a battery behind a wall or fence will give that unit the defensive terrain bonus. Although you may still be visible to the enemy, at least they will have a much harder time hitting you.
Flank/Enfilade: I prefer putting my batteries on the flanks as it really leaves the enemy units exposed. The morale/fatigue hits really can disrupt enemy infantry formations, especially if they are in line.
Open fields: The bottom line is that artillery effectiveness is greatly reduced if you have to fire through woods/obstructions. I need open fields of fire – and that includes not having to fire through my own troops!
Distance: The single largest over-rated factor reference artillery usage is that of distance. A common practice is continuously re-position your batteries and get them as close as possible to the enemy. Yes, it is true that batteries closer to the enemy are more accurate. However, that also means they are subject to more enemy artillery fire and infantry fire. Rolling the guns up too close is the single biggest mistake that commanders make. They don’t give the batteries adequate time/space to deploy and can be quickly over-run. More importantly there are advantages to allowing the enemy to come to your ground/position of choosing. You are eliminating additional morale/fatigue hits from the equation when you get too close vice letting the enemy move 500+ yards to your position under fire. Plus constant re-positioning leads to increased fatigue to your batteries which slows down the ROF and leads to increased morale/damage hits.
Elevation: This is the single most important factor in my gun placement. If I can get the guns on an elevated position, you get the high ground fire bonus.
Cover/Concealment: One of the benefits of placing batteries in tree-lines is that it provides the defensive terrain bonus AND reduces the ability of the enemy to see you. If the enemy guns can’t see you, they cannot target your guns in counter-battery fire.
Concealment: Placing a battery behind a wall or fence will give that unit the defensive terrain bonus. Although you may still be visible to the enemy, at least they will have a much harder time hitting you.
Flank/Enfilade: I prefer putting my batteries on the flanks as it really leaves the enemy units exposed. The morale/fatigue hits really can disrupt enemy infantry formations, especially if they are in line.
Open fields: The bottom line is that artillery effectiveness is greatly reduced if you have to fire through woods/obstructions. I need open fields of fire – and that includes not having to fire through my own troops!
Distance: The single largest over-rated factor reference artillery usage is that of distance. A common practice is continuously re-position your batteries and get them as close as possible to the enemy. Yes, it is true that batteries closer to the enemy are more accurate. However, that also means they are subject to more enemy artillery fire and infantry fire. Rolling the guns up too close is the single biggest mistake that commanders make. They don’t give the batteries adequate time/space to deploy and can be quickly over-run. More importantly there are advantages to allowing the enemy to come to your ground/position of choosing. You are eliminating additional morale/fatigue hits from the equation when you get too close vice letting the enemy move 500+ yards to your position under fire. Plus constant re-positioning leads to increased fatigue to your batteries which slows down the ROF and leads to increased morale/damage hits.
Re:Willard's 10 Maxims on Use of Artillery
#4 – Counter-battery fire is probably the least understood and easily the most frustrating part of the artillery game. The bottom line is that two things are required for effective counter-battery fire: TIME and PRESSURE.
TIME: If you want me to knock out guns, you to locate them quickly, place your artillery and get fire on target and apply a sustained and consistent rate of fire on them (i.e. have your batteries exclusively target artillery).
PRESSURE: IF you want effective counter-battery fire, we need to get as many guns as possible bringing pressure on opposing batteries and firing counter-battery for a sustained period of time. Although 12 pd guns aren’t great at counter-battery fire, they present more targets which diffuses the opposing counter-battery fire and although they don’t ring up a lot of hits, their fire increases fatigue and morale malus on opposing batteries. The end result is that enemy batteries suffer increased morale hits, fatigue faster and decrease their ROF, making the job of the 3inch and 10 pd guns a lot easier.
TIME: If you want me to knock out guns, you to locate them quickly, place your artillery and get fire on target and apply a sustained and consistent rate of fire on them (i.e. have your batteries exclusively target artillery).
PRESSURE: IF you want effective counter-battery fire, we need to get as many guns as possible bringing pressure on opposing batteries and firing counter-battery for a sustained period of time. Although 12 pd guns aren’t great at counter-battery fire, they present more targets which diffuses the opposing counter-battery fire and although they don’t ring up a lot of hits, their fire increases fatigue and morale malus on opposing batteries. The end result is that enemy batteries suffer increased morale hits, fatigue faster and decrease their ROF, making the job of the 3inch and 10 pd guns a lot easier.
Re:Willard's 10 Maxims on Use of Artillery
#5 – Long range support is the second most frustrating part of the artillery game. Out of the three gun types, the 10 pd Parrotts are the most effective as they can kill infantry at a any distance. Placing long range support guns on the flank/enfilade position is optimal for bringing the most efficient long range fire on enemy troops. The 3inch guns can assist in the process and are very good at causing fatigue and morale hits.
Re:Willard's 10 Maxims on Use of Artillery
#6 – Close range support is what everyone complains about in game. Basically we are talking about rolling the guns up, especially those 12 pd Napoleons, and blasting away at the enemy infantry with canister and double canister. The problem with this practice is two-fold: first, you expose your guns to gamey tactics such as the column charge (and gamey counters such as the artillery retreat bug!!!), and second you expose your guns to enemy infantry fire. My strong recommendation for close support is to select a good defensive location (preferably up high and in the woods or behind walls/fences) and set your 12 pd battery up to anchor a middle position or on the flank with a clear field of fire. Rolling the guns up with the infantry is a dangerous practice – especially out in the open – as it exposes those fragile gun crews to infantry fire. The bottom-line is that if there are enough regiments on the line firing, they can kill the gun crews faster than the battery can kill those regiments.
Re:Willard's 10 Maxims on Use of Artillery
#7 – There are four major vulnerabilities to artillery that need to be watched:
First, cavalry units can close the distance to battery emplacements with their speed before enough damage can be done to the cavalry.
Second, sharpshooter units – given their fast reload and longer range – can kill gun crews quickly.
Third, attacks through woods are especially effective against artillery batteries. Canister and double canister casualty rates are reduced in the woods and the gives attacking rebels more time to get close to charge and put more fire on the batteries.
Finally, and most importantly, is the unrealistic expectation that artillery units can hold positions by themselves. They can’t do it and they always need infantry support (or cavalry) to push back attackers to that optimal kill zone for close encounters against the enemy (180-200 yards is the best!). The reality is that artillery needs that infantry to pin down enemy units and allow the gun crews to work their magic. If that doesn’t or can’t happen, you need to withdraw the battery or it will rout/be captured.
These vulnerabilities can be mitigating by ensuring that flanks of batteries on the end of the line are covered with skirmishers and there is adequate infantry support near-by to support defensive positions – especially against those that like to column charge!
First, cavalry units can close the distance to battery emplacements with their speed before enough damage can be done to the cavalry.
Second, sharpshooter units – given their fast reload and longer range – can kill gun crews quickly.
Third, attacks through woods are especially effective against artillery batteries. Canister and double canister casualty rates are reduced in the woods and the gives attacking rebels more time to get close to charge and put more fire on the batteries.
Finally, and most importantly, is the unrealistic expectation that artillery units can hold positions by themselves. They can’t do it and they always need infantry support (or cavalry) to push back attackers to that optimal kill zone for close encounters against the enemy (180-200 yards is the best!). The reality is that artillery needs that infantry to pin down enemy units and allow the gun crews to work their magic. If that doesn’t or can’t happen, you need to withdraw the battery or it will rout/be captured.
These vulnerabilities can be mitigating by ensuring that flanks of batteries on the end of the line are covered with skirmishers and there is adequate infantry support near-by to support defensive positions – especially against those that like to column charge!
Re:Willard's 10 Maxims on Use of Artillery
#8 – Understanding the opposing sides strengths can help shape an effective artillery response and lead to a successful strategy to defeat the opposing player. For example, the rebel’s strength lies in two areas: oversize brigades with generally better quality troops that have a very good melee bonus. This lends itself to a certain strategy by rebel commanders, as he is able to locally bring a lot more troops to the decisive point and will be more likely to push his troops closer and closer so he can charge and break the Union line. More often than not, rebel commanders will push their guns up with the infantry to provide striking power in support. This is primarily done because their guns/crews are not the same quality as the Union and can’t go toe-to-toe in counter-battery engagements but also because their big brigade/melee bonus lends to the strategy of trying to quickly punch holes in the undersize Union brigades. There are two vulnerabilities to this strategy. First, rebel batteries become extremely susceptible to counter-battery fire. If you can knock out those guns, it exposes the rebels to a counter-attack without the benefit of defensive artillery support. Second, if good defensive positions and kill zones are selected, the Union commander can draw the rebels into artillery kill zones, which can lead to their decimation and subsequent vulnerability to counter-attack.
Re:Willard's 10 Maxims on Use of Artillery
#9 – Implementing a cohesive strategy by coordinating infantry and artillery is essential. This is especially import for Union commanders given the distinct advantage that Union artillery gives that player in the game. First, Union commanders need to understand what they have. The Union generally has smaller sized, but a larger number of brigades, and generally has a greater quantity and quality of artillery. For games with the stock OOBs, there is also a qualitative difference as well – but that can be minimized by selecting good ground to fight on and by fighting defensively. The bottom-line is that you don’t want to fight a battle on rebel terms. The Union troops can’t afford to get engaged into a knock-down drag-out fight with swarms of rebel troops charging in melee. Therefore what can be done?
First, the Union player needs to move operationally offensively (be aggressive in selecting good ground) and fight tactically defensively (force them to fight us on ground of our choosing).
Second, the Union player shouldn’t be in a rush to fight the rebels. Time is your ally as it allows that good selection of ground and gives your counter-battery fire an opportunity to start taking its toll on rebel guns. Use the counter-battery fire period as an opportunity to develop and scout the enemy lines, and re-position troops & reserves.
Third, the Union player wants to use those smaller but more numerous brigades to stretch out the rebel troops. The Union needs to lengthen those lines, not shorten them, as that forces those bigger brigades to stretch out and become vulnerable to flank attacks.
Fourth, the Union player shouldn’t engage in charges/melee fights as a general rule. If charged, fall back to secondary positions if at all possible. You want to fatigue those rebel troops and tire them with steady and increasingly heavy/flanking fire as their bigger numbers will wear the smaller Union regiments out. Remember, those rebel guns are going to try to keep up as well. That means two things: when they constantly move they can’t fire and are subject to fire AND they get tired out much more quickly. Those are good things for the Union artillery commander.
Finally, if you can force the rebels to attack, we can use the above factors to our advantage. Hopefully by the time the reach the gun line, they are fatigued, morale is lower and they have already taken some casualties. At that point, the Union guns can really hammer the rebel brigades and take a toll. From my experience, Union guns can wipe out regiments and brigades that have been engaged. However, if those rebel regiments are fresh, they will take casualties but the overwhelming probability is that they will reach the gun line before they break.
First, the Union player needs to move operationally offensively (be aggressive in selecting good ground) and fight tactically defensively (force them to fight us on ground of our choosing).
Second, the Union player shouldn’t be in a rush to fight the rebels. Time is your ally as it allows that good selection of ground and gives your counter-battery fire an opportunity to start taking its toll on rebel guns. Use the counter-battery fire period as an opportunity to develop and scout the enemy lines, and re-position troops & reserves.
Third, the Union player wants to use those smaller but more numerous brigades to stretch out the rebel troops. The Union needs to lengthen those lines, not shorten them, as that forces those bigger brigades to stretch out and become vulnerable to flank attacks.
Fourth, the Union player shouldn’t engage in charges/melee fights as a general rule. If charged, fall back to secondary positions if at all possible. You want to fatigue those rebel troops and tire them with steady and increasingly heavy/flanking fire as their bigger numbers will wear the smaller Union regiments out. Remember, those rebel guns are going to try to keep up as well. That means two things: when they constantly move they can’t fire and are subject to fire AND they get tired out much more quickly. Those are good things for the Union artillery commander.
Finally, if you can force the rebels to attack, we can use the above factors to our advantage. Hopefully by the time the reach the gun line, they are fatigued, morale is lower and they have already taken some casualties. At that point, the Union guns can really hammer the rebel brigades and take a toll. From my experience, Union guns can wipe out regiments and brigades that have been engaged. However, if those rebel regiments are fresh, they will take casualties but the overwhelming probability is that they will reach the gun line before they break.