Pinned Guide to Artillery

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    • I love it when an enemy makes tons of artillery. A single squad of about 20 tactical bombers will wipe them all out without taking any damage to the planes. If they don't protect them, they will all disappear very quickly.

      If they have anti-tank and anti-air support, I send in a bunch of tanks to engage the anti-air units right before the bombers hit the artillery units.
      - Ozzone :beer:


      The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his. - General George Patton
    • Anti-air still fires at planes, even if it is engaged in a ground battle.

      Protecting your artillery is vital: Anti-aircraft, fighters, and ground forces all work together to keep artillery safe.
      Artillery has less use as you fight high level/skilled players, but it still has it's place.
      General Nightman

      Retired Hero


      "War is fought in three ways. Helping your enemy to lose, helping your allies to victory or helping yourself to win. Any way you take it, you are always helping someone."
    • General Nightman wrote:

      Artillery has less use as you fight high level/skilled players, but it still has it's place.
      First off: good guide!
      But I beg to differ concerning you statement above...

      Artillery, especially SP-A, is the the most versatile and effective weapon. I prefer it over Tacs; anytime.
      Ofc you do need to mix in other troops, since no single type of unit is strong against the right answer.

      My current weapon of choice is groups of 6 SP-A accompanied by 6 ACs and 6 SP-AA. When you have multiple groups operating simultaneously you cut through any country like a hot knife through butter.
      No bomber fleet of whatever size has beaten my mechanized ground troops yet.
      No tank army ever made it to my mech-groups (50kmh), while I do a fighting retreat, annihilating them before they even pose a real threat.
      SP-A is king!
      Ofc you can achieve the same thing with infantry class: up to 8 arty + 8 AA and some ACs to speed things up (capturing province centres fast, so your troops move 2x faster than through enemy territory). It is just slower than mech-groups.

      Ofc I do also use airforce, but SP-A is bombers on wheels with all the advantages of that; i.e. no need for airfields; or try taking a country with bombers...

      Since the August 28 update last year, my SP-A use has soared while my tac use is dwindling.

      It must be said though, if you do not have HC and miss out on the extra command options for ranged weapons, SP-A use requires attention. But then again, so do air fleets.

      Heck, I don't even build tanks anymore :))

      The post was edited 3 times, last by _Pontus_ ().

    • Ozzone wrote:

      A single squad of about 20 tactical bombers
      Ozzone, one single squad of 20 tacs? Ever heard of SBDE?

      Besides, any enemy building lots of Arty or SPA w/o protection, so that they can be easily wiped out by a few bombers, is no real threat from the onset.
      I fear you have to worry more about the enemies that are building lots of arty/SPA and do know how to protect them....
    • _Pontus_ wrote:

      Artillery, especially SP-A, is the the most versatile and effective weapon. I prefer it over Tacs; anytime.
      Ofc you do need to mix in other troops, since no single type of unit is strong against the right answer.

      Since the August 28 update last year, my SP-A use has soared while my tac use is dwindling.
      Same! I think the SP artillery is the most spamable unit at the moment. This is due low oil upkeep and a good over all spread of costs AND low manpower cost initially.

      Depending on my enemy I like to use a lot of them. Sometimes I put 12 SP arty in a group with 6 SP AA. I seperate them when they fire to be on their max 6 SBDE eficiency. I do this when I am shorter on metal or manpower for adequate AA support.

      I like to use them with tank destroyers and meduim tanks. Or if I really need speed: mechanized infantry, moto inf and light or Medium tanks (mind the level of the MT in that case).

      Also, if you stay on your own territory as much as possible, even forced march has trouble catching up to your units. If they do manage to get close, sacrifice a few TD/MT and keep firing.

      Love SP arty!
    • _Pontus_ wrote:


      I fear you have to worry more about the enemies that are building lots of arty/SPA and do know how to protect them....

      I know. I'm talking about the tons of players that don't. I'm not going to send 20 bombers in to get slaughtered if they have good anti-air. It's just fun to go in and wipe out groups of armor/troops without taking a single hit for those dumb enough to not provide defense.
      - Ozzone :beer:


      The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his. - General George Patton
    • All the SP units are good in my opinion: low oil, fast to produce and good speed.
      While were on the subject of SBDE, one of the tactics I use is to stack 8 regular artillery with 8 SP Arty, for max damage. I do the same with anti-air.
      Speed does sometimes take precedence though.
      General Nightman

      Retired Hero


      "War is fought in three ways. Helping your enemy to lose, helping your allies to victory or helping yourself to win. Any way you take it, you are always helping someone."
    • I agree with that set-up with 1 exception: 8 regular + 6 SPA ;)

      When the game progresses, distances increase and maintaining speed becomes of essence. My regular arty and inf-class troops then go on defense or are assigned to densely populated fronts with smaller distances, while the mech-groups do the large stretches.
    • Ozzone wrote:

      I love it when an enemy makes tons of artillery. A single squad of about 20 tactical bombers will wipe them all out without taking any damage to the planes. If they don't protect them, they will all disappear very quickly.

      If they have anti-tank and anti-air support, I send in a bunch of tanks to engage the anti-air units right before the bombers hit the artillery units.
      The enemy could counter this with 10 lv3 inter,lv1 fortress, some melee units around the artys, and a lot of regular/sp artys near the province point. I notice that lv1 fortification alone brings down 55% damage, higher than 38% in the past. Arty is good because it shoots for a long time without taking damage from large stacks. Probably the ammunition update mentioned in another post (if it happens) will end arty's supremacy.
    • warplas wrote:

      The enemy could counter this with 10 lv3 inter,lv1 fortress, some melee units around the artys, and a lot of regular/sp artys near the province point. I notice that lv1 fortification alone brings down 55% damage, higher than 38% in the past.
      How about a few AA?? Would that not be the best answer to an areal threat?

      A stack of 20 Tacs does damage like 7 or 8 Tacs.
      While even level 1 regular does more damage than pretty far upgraded Tacs.
      With say 10 AA mingled with the mentioned arty and some other troops that all have some AA capacity and add lots of HP, the Tacs will have quite a problem.

      Tacs are so 2018 :)
      Nevertheless, arty (whether regular or SP) should never travel with AA/SPAA.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by _Pontus_ ().

    • Ryan04px2025 wrote:

      I did it once and I basically have to be one province away to actually attack troops!
      Artillery can be closer than the max range. I do it all the time.
      A railroad gun can be, say 30 km from the fronlines, and it will still do the same amount of damage.
      I just wouldn't use RR guns anways: too slow, and too expensive.
      General Nightman

      Retired Hero


      "War is fought in three ways. Helping your enemy to lose, helping your allies to victory or helping yourself to win. Any way you take it, you are always helping someone."
    • You always need to put a small stack of infantry, AT, AA and or LT in front of your artillery to protect them. Always accompany your arty!! Protect them well and they last all game. The enemy is forced to retreat, attack or die in the bombardement. When he attacks you always have the advantage of the stronger defense with your meatshield.
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    • General Nightman wrote:

      A railroad gun can be, say 30 km from the fronlines, and it will still do the same amount of damage.
      I just wouldn't use RR guns anways: too slow, and too expensive.
      I understand your rationale. Not only they are too slow and expensive, but very fragile to air attacks (need at least an AA to go with them). But a RR gun comes in handy to cause havoc beyond the enemy's frontline and they can support your navy engaging the enemy's in narrow bodies of waters- like the Gibraltar Straits, the English Channel and the Baltic Sea ... 8)
    • One main problem is that one of my enemies uses loads of artillery and he is very crafty with it. It is especially hard to deal with artillery when I am offline. They can just destroy my defending units and when I come back my troops are gone. How should this be dealt with? Fortifications? Even when I am on, units sent to attack artillery can be destroyed because of terrain disadvantage or slow movement. What is a good solution to this problem?