CA commander value (2 B-4's 1/15 on Med truck :( )

I can't upload this replay from 1 week ago because of the patch but I was playing with a friend as the SU (he was USF) vs OKW/Wehr on Moscow Summer Map. I went counterattack because of the shot blockers and flank routes would be good for my shock troopers, they removed the nasty cool down on "for Mother Russia" so it is now a nice boost to use for pushing or repelling pushes since I tend to float some muni's with this commander, recon runs are really nice, KV-1 still just a shot absorber but not worthless and of course the lovely B-4 which I knew would be able to reach their base from my main road outside my base based upon the shape of the map. The team was newbies so my friend and I screwed around some. I built 2 B-4's right outside the fence line on the main road of our base (South spawn) after they set their Med truck just north of the Eastern VP. I attempted a grand total of 15 shellings on their freaking med truck and scored just 1 hit on the actual truck and 1 more that was close enough to do a wee bit of damage and nothing more. I understand the precision shot was insane on the B-4 and as someone who likes balance and also plays Wehr a lot I don't want that to return....but the scatter for a single shot howitzer is insane....I was almost at max range but come on....a <10% success rate on such a large static target is unacceptable....

Thoughts on this commander and advice on how I can get it to Vet 1 other than just targeting blobs?

Thanks.

I have duplicate bulletins to reduce scatter by 3% on B4 would using that twice even have an appreciable effect on the scatter?

Small hints:
- try to shoot on targets that are closer (due scatter)
- have vision on the target

B4 is also not the best unit to take structures down, and more of an insane RNG wipe machine. Bulletins will barely affect this.

Small hints:
- try to shoot on targets that are closer (due scatter)
- have vision on the target

B4 is also not the best unit to take structures down, and more of an insane RNG wipe machine. Bulletins will barely affect this.

So I can't remember how many times I had vision on target but I know a couple times I called in my recon run because it's long been coded into COH since vCOH that indirect fire is more accurate when the area being fired into is not in fog of war. A couple times I even rushed shocks or my T-70 over just to get LOS. Probably 50/50 I had LOS while firing on it.

If I build a lot closer I am one strong enemy push from seeing my lovely B4 wiped out and potentially being used against me. Just how close should I go?

I think the main power of the B-4 is not the damage it deals anymore, but the reload time. You can use its ability about once every 30 seconds, which you have to exploit to unleash its true power. You have to turn it in advance so that you can shot straight away when there's a target. So I would suggest turning it in the direction of a way of approach or strong point of your enemy and then shooting there once you see some units. I dislike the scouting run as any skilled opponent will just move all his units once they see the plane. Instead, its better to just shot on something you see anyway during a battle. Then your opponent can never predict when you will shot.

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If I build a lot closer I am one strong enemy push from seeing my lovely B4 wiped out and potentially being used against me. Just how close should I go?

Even if you get direct hits on structures, it's not really efficient, especially not on max range - as mentioned.

It still has good damage and AoE, that's why i sad "insane RNG wipe machine" (probably not really self-explaining, sorry). IMO, it's best used for a constant war of attrition. As B.Lastbar mentioned: pre-turn, then fire, on combat units.
I always got heavy indirect fire in a control group, so i can fire them as often as possible.

To your last question: the upcoming patches will most likely possible building positions.
Anyways, i'd probably build it towards middle outside your base. Focus with rather "short" range on units near their cutoff, middle, as well as yours, & both ammo points. North of right VP is way too far anyways if you're getting it around your base - you may should repeatedly fire there if you expect to hit infantry though. Always nice to get some random wipe.



TL;DR: fire on combat stuff not HQs, the shorter the range the better, shoot as often as possible.