Wars and Conflicts

Urnungal, thanks for the example of the 'accuracy' problem.

Trailape, thanks for the detail and clarification of 'what to use when'.

Hollywood would have you believe that every CAS or Indirect Fire mission is 100% successful and leaves the enemy and their equipment scattered across the battlefield in a series of small (usually burning) bits

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Yes, I must confess that films such as "One Minute to Zero" and "Born on the 4th of July" gave me the impression that the artillery could place a round on a sixpence.

There is a 'creeping barrage' scene in OMtZ in which a civilian column (infiltrated by communists) is moving forward down a deep cutting and must be stopped by the combined forces of Robert Mitchum and an unseen artillery battery. The shells (small ones, I recall) burst exactly where intended but the column keeps moving forward so Mitchum relays the command to "Down five" then "fire for effect", and hey presto, the forward edge of the civilian column 'dissolves' away.

This next(from Washington Post, 28-3-2003, about the battle for Nasiriyah) contributed further to my exaggerated expectaions of the wonder of artillery.

With bullets and shrapnel flying, the Marines eventually called in artillery on their own position -- and then jumped over a wall to take cover from their own guns.

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I should have been alerted to the more complex reality of war since the same article (by Peter Baker) does note that earlier, Marines from the same unit, called in CAS and got marmalised by a friendly A-10 which had mistaken their Hummer for a nearby Iraqui tank.

In the light of your comments, above, the tactic of calling in fire on one's own position (as it is about to be taken by the enemy), and then scarpering before the whizz-bangs arrive is at best 'chancey'?
(Esp. if Urnungal's Navy bods are doing the shooting)

Lets make that football pitch 200 metres long - just to be a bit safer. 100 metres is a bit close for my liking and you could cover 200 metres before the enemy realise the barrage is finished.

Radar must make the situation worse - but guns go bang, make a flash and a lot of smoke when they go off - and that tends to give away their position somewhat.

A few points to consider here.

Shoot and scoot - more of a third world war scenario as so far we have yet to come up against anyone with the artillery resources of the former Warsaw Pact. Obviously artillery is a wasted asset if the unit is trundling from A to B, but if its static and getting a hammering from the enemy, its evem more of a waste. Like everything else its a compromise - a judgment call and the deciscion to upsticks and scuttle to the next location would have been taken quite high up - probably at Brigade level. As far as I'm aware there was no 'if you fire more than 5 rounds you have to relocate' type rule - we just practiced coming in and out of action until it just wasn't funny and hoped if the balloon did go up that our gaffers valued our skins as much as we did.

As for how to locate the enemy artillery assets, well there are specific units in the artillery family set up just to do this job - Surveillance and Target Acquisition plays a big part in the artillery. Flash and sound all play a part, but remember when the jeep (GPO - Gun Position Officer) is reccying his site this is one of the factors he will take into account - ideally the guns will be sited behind a hill, so flash, smoke and sound are not as much of an issue, but you are right, a busy artillery unit has a big signature.

I didn't know that about General Buller, but as far as I'm aware, the artillery used by the Imperial Forces in S.Africa were direct fire weapons - of course this would not stop them from laying down a creeping barrage as long as the target was in their line of sight - but this exposure to the enemy must have made it a very uncomfortable mission as the Boers could conduct a counter battery shoot with their rifles - something they were no slouches with, I think you would soon run out of gunners.

Urnagal, yes, totally agree with you regarding the limited elevation. Our Drill Hall had one of the 'Elswick Guns' that were used in the Boer war, no elevation to speak of and what sights were there looked like they were there for 'line of sight' purposes only.