Hi all - looking for some 25 pounder tips in FH2

[Ksoje]

so i entered the 25 pounder  in my last game, but i can't understand how to aim with it.
when i'm in sight view, i see all the arrowns (elevation etc.) and when i right click i have the upper view and i see the cannon from above. so far so good, but how do i fire to long distances? how do i aim the cannon? and why the "traget:" says "none" ? any tips are welcomed 

[Kubador]

First, you need a spotter who gives you a target with his binoculars. When you got a target you have to 'zero' the spot (make lower and side measure showing '0' in the middle). Right click shows you the spot you got. If you have zeored the spot you can fire and check where the shell lands in right-click view (for any adjustments and correction). Remember to change ammo type with space or mouse wheel (you'll mostly use HE shell type).

If no one is giving any spots you can always ask for some using comm rose (lower right corner) but remember to ask once in a while otherwise its annoying for others when sm1 ask for spots every in spammer way.

Last thing: If you get more than one spot, change betwen them with comm rose (next and previous target in upper and lower part) to choose best spots.

You can practice this in SP taking scout class and left clicking with binoculars anywhere you want (target statics and ground otherwise the spot may bounce off). Enter artilerry shortly after spotting and enjoy.

GL HF.

[Priestdk]

I would like to add also look before shooting iff you cant reconise the inf on the spot as frindly or enemy use the minimap when you are on the target screen it follows to the location on the map and is above your target location aswell, to be sure you dont accidently pound the ground were there is load off frindlys then switch to Smoke ammo and help the advancing team mates get to there location easyer and unspottede, or ask your team what they whant alot off the time sqauds likes to get smoke cover.

A trick i use on a map like Sidi R... with the 2 enemy 88ts is iff im out off HE ammo and have smoke left and get a spot or request to pound them i use smoke cause then the 88ts cant see enything and are useless and can be taken out easy bye the advancing inf or tanks.

[Schneider]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
I just played with you on the Siege of Tobruk map, IIRC. I sat in the leFH18 and you spotted.
Your spots became better and better during the game, just a tip:
Sometimes if you spot a tank e.g., you shouldn't aim for the tank itself, but the floor under it, because the spot might go "through" the tank and then you'll have plain desert as a spot.

[Ksoje]

thanks for the help all

Hi and welcome to the forum.
I just played with you on the Siege of Tobruk map, IIRC. I sat in the leFH18 and you spotted.
Your spots became better and better during the game, just a tip:
Sometimes if you spot a tank e.g., you shouldn't aim for the tank itself, but the floor under it, because the spot might go "through" the tank and then you'll have plain desert as a spot.

yeah, it took me some time to get the hang of it, but once i did it was much fun i tried to locate the enemy by their shots

[fh_spitfire]

This can also be helpful: http://fhwiki.warumdarum.de/w/Artillery_System

And, about spotting, remember to never spot when laying. This will cause spotting yourself, and that's not what you want

[Kildar]

Also be aware of the spot in relation to where the artillery is located. It can effect how you adjust your fire drastically.

[Die Happy]

few more things

- all tanks lighter than a panzer III (or was it IV ?) take  huge damage from HE shots of heavy artillery pieces

- dont switch you weapon to fast when spotting, wait for the "Spot relayed to arty ..." message, this can take up to a few seconds

- sadly you CAN NOT spot for arty with enemy binoculars, but you still can mark enemys on the minimap with them.

[THeTA0123]

Now i can adress it=bout 2 weeks ago, i landed a HE shell right on a Panzer 3, and it was Destroyed!!

Is this possible??

[Die Happy]

yes it is
such huge explosion can literally blow the turret off the tank

[Kildar]

"- sadly you CAN NOT spot for arty with enemy binoculars, but you still can mark enemys on the minimap with them"

Does it just not work or does it just relay the sight info to the Axis artillery, if thats the case some noob Artillery men are gonna start getting TKs =)

[Die Happy]

i dont know
but i dont think it works the way you described

[Ionizer]

I gave a shout for Flippy Warbear to come and give us his thoughts on the Arty in FH2.  Until he shows up, digest some of his earlier works:

OK, artillery spotting and using the target-views while sitting at the artillery piece, now in a nutshell:

Spotting a target for artillery:
Use binoculars to spot an area you wish to use as a target for either your or your teammate's artillery piece that is being in use right now. Use statics as guide-lines when spotting for artillery. Even the palm trees are good for this. Either stand or crouch when giving the target, as sometimes you managed to "hit" the ground just infront of you when in prone-position and spotting for artillery. Best results are gained by either crouching or standing, note that you are more visible for the enemies if you stand on top of a dune.

When targetting stationary weaponry such as AT/AA-guns, it does not matter whether you target the gun-piece directly or the areas surrounding it. I prefer doing it the safest way and targetting either the ground just infront of it or some larger and rather visible object, such as crates, sandbags or stonewalls.

When you spot with the binoculars, you fire a direct line that has a rather slow speed to reach it's target. So at sometimes when someone gives you, or vice versa, a target and the gunner only sees sand. This happens when the targetting "bullet" hasnt reached the target area. To see the target itself without re-spotting, just press "next/previous target" from your commrose, this will automatically UPDATE your view from this certain spotter.

Example: You are sitting by your gun and you decide to spot enemy positions by yourself. You get up a dune few meters away, you take your binoculars, you spot a far away target and run back to your gun. You'll most likely notice "heck, I screwed it up... only sand... gotta redo..." but dont be too hasty. Update your view and you should see the final location of the area where your "spot bullet" lands. Remember, this binocular "bullet" aint got a drop, so it travels straight until it hits a static object, terrain or when it goes out of bounds.

Sometimes you can "follow" someone's spot by updating frequently to see a new location as the "bullet" travels across the map.


So basically;
- Spot
- Wait 1-2 seconds (perfect time to adjust your coordinates)
- Fire-away OR
- Watch the fireworks

Remember:
- Spot travels rather slowly
- Spot travels straight
- Spot wont stop (hehe) until it hits something static
- Use static objects and terrain to target enemy movements


OK, it wasnt a nutshell after all. But this explains it all if you just care. Im sorry if its messy and hard to understand but Im backing only roughly 4 hours of sleep. But if theres any questions or comments, please be sure to let me know. I will reply tomorrow.


EDIT: And OH! The binocular/voice spotting of enemy units to show them on minimap is as follows; when you spot an enemy unit without binoculars and while not being a commander/squad leader, you just shout out your find locally and only those around you can hear it. This will not make the enemy units show up on the minimap even if you are literally on top of the enemy vehicle and spotting it. When using binoculars, you can make the enemy units to show up on the minimap but this has a distance limit! So this means if you can see a silhuette of a tank in the horizon, you cannot spot it to say like "Enemy tank spotted!", instead it will say "enemy unit spotted" and the questionmark will appear on the minimap at least to the half way of the distance between you and the enemy unit. This means you are out of the "binocular firing distance" against the enemy unit. Only when the enemy is near enough, you can make him/her show up as the red flashing icon on your and your teammate's minimap.

When squadleader/commander, spotting an enemy unit at the proper distance not only make the enemy unit to show up on the minimaps but these special classes will also shout it out via radio so everyone can hear what they see. Regular grunts cannot do this.

So remember, even the binoculars got a distance when spotting enemy units, but it doesnt have range limit when using the fire-button to give a target for artillery (read above).

Thanks
-Flip

Heh, being an artillery master (*cough* whore *cough*) I can say that moving targets arent such a big problem now that HE-shells damage them aswell. Besides, it doesnt always have to destroy the enemy vehicle.

Case; a tank is sitting on a ridge, spamming shells to infantry positions and destroying all tanks who try to encounter it. Now, give a spot and an artillery gunner can either try his luck and score One-shot-One-kill with AP (I've done it billion times) with first try but the best bet is to fire away HE-shells close to him. Even if the tanker wont die, he will be distracted, damaged and he needs to move away. Also, firing smoke shells to him will blind him aswell, making him vulnerable for flanking measures. Artillery is an excellent piece of war machinary and it works well even if it doesnt exactly remove the problem, it can soften it enough to achieve victory over hard obstacles.

To brag; I can hit targets that have already moved away from my view by listening to where it is going and quickly changing the angle of the gun as the vehicle engine sounds go further away. I have succesfully fired "blind" by listening where the enemy tank is going, destroying the tank and two other crewmembers (alongside with the driver of course) with it. I can switch targets and hit them spot-on in couple of seconds after receiving spot. And I sometimes wont even bother _killing_ some targets, when you can have almost same effect by just lopping smoke all over them.

The difference between HE and Smoke rounds is that smoke can be used to both defensive and offensive measures while HE is mainly good for offensive, BUT it can be used as a defensive bufferzone when used correctly. To spare HE- shells, use Smoke to soft (yet deadly) targets, such as marders, unless they are causing serious trouble. Problem with tank-killers such as the marder is that it cannot turn its turret and it requires a gunner. So when blinded, the marder must move, this means it must turn its side and drive out of its hidey-hole and expose himself to enemy fire. This makes it very easy prey.

Attacking a well positioned defenses can be tricky, send HE-shells in first before your teammates get there. This will kill the infantry and destroy defending vehicles, static weapons and even tanks. Now the enemy has been kicked in the balls, its time to poke into his eyes, fire blinding smoke all over the flag area and to the direction where your teammates are attacking from. This will confuse them, making them run blind and crippled without proper idea of what is left to defend with and how many enemies are actually coming. Nothing beats tommygun-infantry charging to smoke-filled trenches to clean them out of jerry scum!

Also, a good spotter knows when his spot is good and when not, so he knows what sort of spots he can give and how to give them. I posted a guide for artillery targetting long ago when 2.0 came out.

Basically four easy steps would be:

- Use static objects next to your preferred targets, or the ground just infront of the target if there are no statics around. Avoid targetting stationary weapons and vehicles directly, instead, spot statics or ground just next to them.
- Never lay down when spotting, it minimizes the chances to get a good spot for the target. How many times have I've gotten a spot where you just see the spotter himself laying on the ground? Way too many. Use crouch or if situation allows, stand up.
- Allow the targets to refresh properly when gunning, sometimes you just see open terrain and no one in the view, this is because the "spot" hasnt reached its destination yet, refresh the view with "next/previous target" function of your comrose.
- Rotate ammunition to avoid accidental fires and or sudden arrivals of your teammates into the field of vision. Nothing is more sad than being too quick at sending that HE flying towards the view just when friendlies run underneath the targeted area. I prefer having smoke as my standard ammunition loaded and when receiving target, rotate to HE (as AP are just pointless...), you have loaded the gun and ready to fire when you hit 0-0 and have adjusted the aim.

And bingo, artillery spotting and gunning in a nutshell.

Read and learn from Flippy.  Hopefully, he'll show up and give us some new info to help us pound enemy positions with heavy artillery.

[Flippy Warbear]

What do I need to add? Nothing's changed since 2.0 throughout to 2.15 afaik. Introduction of the mobile artillery and new rocket based stationary weapons (nebelwerfer) are currently still WIP so I cant give you hands up information how they work. All Im saying that once you have learned the current setup of the werfer... it is one mean motha...

Good thinking Ionizer, digging my post up from the depths of the lost ark.

[Royal_Marine_Machine]

How do you swap targets when in the 25 Pounder?

I was annoyed when I was playing with the Artillery for the first time that it said "Targets - Many" But the only Target I got when I right Clicked was empty desert!