Royal Artillery Regiment
Posts: 50
Played a 4v4 against 3 OSH and 1 OKW On Red ball Express.
Basically I played against only the the OSH on the leftside.
My russian allies against OKW on the right.
Built half muni and half fuel caches.
Every 100 munitions was devoted to air-bursting OKW healing station. While I couldn't see the action.... I could hear the screaming through FOW.
Replay revealed the coordinated fire ability nullified all OKW infantry and hidden Rakens. Soviet players then able to overwhelm OKW simcity.
Thought it was nice to try out a different meta.
Posts: 3053
Saw this thread. Thought i'd give it a go.
Played a 4v4 against 3 OSH and 1 OKW On Red ball Express.
Basically I played against only the the OSH on the leftside.
My russian allies against OKW on the right.
Built half muni and half fuel caches.
Every 100 munitions was devoted to air-bursting OKW healing station. While I couldn't see the action.... I could hear the screaming through FOW.
Replay revealed the coordinated fire ability nullified all OKW infantry and hidden Rakens. Soviet players then able to overwhelm OKW simcity.
Thought it was nice to try out a different meta.
Yeah I've been playing with it for a while too and I actually really enjoy it. Could definitely use some buffs to most of its abilities IMO though.
My list of buffs to make it more appealing (probably not all at the same time, and worth noting I'm an Allies player):
Reduce valentine cp requirement (6? really?)
And/or make the valentine main gun beter against infantry (it does do only half damage to tanks on penetration after all).
Maybe reduce Suxton popcap by 1-2 (especially considering how much pop brit armies take up).
Somehow make perimeter overwatch not a 225 muni steaming pile of shit.
Posts: 50
Yeah I've been playing with it for a while too and I actually really enjoy it. Could definitely use some buffs to most of its abilities IMO though.
My list of buffs to make it more appealing (probably not all at the same time, and worth noting I'm an Allies player):
Reduce valentine cp requirement (6? really?)
And/or make the valentine main gun beter against infantry (it does do only half damage to tanks on penetration after all).
Maybe reduce Suxton popcap by 1-2 (especially considering how much pop brit armies take up).
Somehow make perimeter overwatch not a 225 muni steaming pile of shit.
Yep definitely not using the overwatch or sextons. Just focusing on core game play and any spare munitions used to dominate unsuspecting enemies far behind their lines in FOW.
Replays I have watched indicate that half the time your opponent doesn't even realise the red smoke appearing while they are healing. Nor do they have time to react to the first two airbursts.
cheers
Posts: 3053
Air burst shells explode downward thus creating a large area of affect. They also have very little spread. The Aoe will cover your exact target. One hammer is researched they will added to the barrage. In fact they do not remove the the shell that are usually fired. Air burst are excellent vs weapon teams and wounded infantry. They also inflict blink vehicle crits and have a good penetration. Air burst shells are the most powerful part of Anvil. People compare Churchill and Comet when they should compare Air burst shells vs Comet.
In regards to the bolded part, that they don't remove the normal shells. What does that mean? That the air burst shells just get added in on top of the regular old kill-one-pio-model variety? Or what? From my experience playing with them I did appear to see regular 25 pounder shells landing around the target zone. I usually use them in the fog of war with the concentrated fire ability so I didn't really know exactly what they did even though I knew they were pretty good. I do definitely agree that they are the best part of anvil and I know that that's primarily why I go for it. Churchills are just sort of there, icing on the cake, more like gammon bombs or track vehicle in hammer.
Posts: 1954
In regards to the bolded part, that they don't remove the normal shells. What does that mean? That the air burst shells just get added in on top of the regular old kill-one-pio-model variety? Or what? From my experience playing with them I did appear to see regular 25 pounder shells landing around the target zone. I usually use them in the fog of war with the concentrated fire ability so I didn't really know exactly what they did even though I knew they were pretty good. I do definitely agree that they are the best part of anvil and I know that that's primarily why I go for it. Churchills are just sort of there, icing on the cake, more like gammon bombs or track vehicle in hammer.
The air burst shells hit first, followed by regular arty. If you can time it right, you can really punish someone who blobs and mass retreats. It's also good for taking out Ost bunkers.
I've used this a lot. I normally have problems early and mid but the late game is normally pretty good. Here is a replay where I had a rough start but had a good comeback. If you like seeing Elefants go up in smoke, you'll like this.
Posts: 50
Given Airburst shells to Sextons with Anvil?
They have the stats for it.
Anyway, looking at my book here on all things WW2, the 25Pdr's HE shell is only 1kg then the Pack-Howitzers shell at 7.36kg to 6.35kg. In comparison, the US 105mm howitzer has a nearly 15Kg HE shell. So, the 25 pdrs are always going to be weaker then the Lefh and the Priest. They're more comparable to the ISGs. However, in reality the 25 Pounders outranged everything, light and heavy, with a maximum range of 12,250m compared to the US 105's 11,200m, and the Pack-Howitzers 8,780m. While this can sort of be infered by the fact the 25 Pounders can fire at anywhere on the map, the Sexton suffers when it should historically outrange everything, including the Priest. And let's not forget how famously fast the 25 Pounders could fire. My book mentions that the 25 pounders could keep firing until their barrels glowed red.
So to change the Sexton:
Make it have more range then the even the Priest (but maybe not stationary Howitzers like the Lefh)
Reduce scatter to just above light howitzer levels (around 10.00) and increase AOE(I don't know how accurate the guns where)
Leave everything else, possibly reduce popcap
As for the 25 pounders themselves:
Give IS a smoke barrage flare as well as a HE one with pyro supplies
Reduce scatter to just around light Howitzer levels, though higher then the proposed Sexton (around 12.00) and slightly increase AOE
Posts: 1283 | Subs: 4
Anyway, looking at my book here on all things WW2,
May I have the citation?
I'm always looking to expand my library.
Posts: 50
May I have the citation?
I'm always looking to expand my library.
'Weapons of World War II'
Alexander Ludeke
Parragon Books Ltd
It might be out of print now, I got it nearly a decade ago.
Posts: 2066
'Weapons of World War II'
Alexander Ludeke
Parragon Books Ltd
It might be out of print now, I got it nearly a decade ago.
I can buy it here in the Netherlands at the biggest online retailer, so I think he is good.
Posts: 766 | Subs: 2
In regards to the bolded part, that they don't remove the normal shells. What does that mean?
So what I am saying is that each gun will fire a certain amount of shells. Adding anvil will add air burst shells to the barrage that actually come off map. Since they come off map, they also arrive sooner since they do not need to be fired off the guns. Ultimately it adds a third gun to the mix.
Posts: 232
The airburst shells are what makes it all worthwhile. With the ability to fire accurately into the fog of war you can use it to effectively counter axis indirect fire. ISGs are one of my favourite targets, with a bit of luck you can decrew and destroy the weapon. It can also deal with howitzers, but it's less guaranteed, and unlikely to destroy the weapon in one barrage.
Since you can counter axis indirect fire reasonably well, it combos with emplacements pretty well. The usual caveats apply though, you aren't going very far on your own if you go emplacement heavy.
Against trucks I found it less reliable. You'll be able to get a bit of damage, sure, but it will take 3-4 barrages to destroy it and there's ample time to repair in between.
This way of playing does have some very obvious weaknesses. It's muni expensive at 100 a shot meaning you'll have less mines/weapons etc and even then you're likely to run dry eventually. The rush for anvil also means your armour will be delayed.
Posts: 1585 | Subs: 1
I assume this will be fixed at some point and this commander will struggle unless it receives buffs elsewhere.
Posts: 2636 | Subs: 17
Last thing to note about airburst shells is that they have 0 scatter. So they all land exactly where you place the ability. This is what makes them so lethal. You can pinpoint the retreat point through the FoW three times.
I assume this will be fixed at some point and this commander will struggle unless it receives buffs elsewhere.
Yeah, it's too cheesy. No doubt this will get rebalanced in some way. You either get to keep the fire-in-FoW mechanic, or fire accurately, but not both.
On the other hand, I see no good reason why the ability would require you to tech up, and tech Anvil, in particular, if you are to gain access to Airburst shells. You're still paying the same cost, after all.
Also, I can't believe that nobody mentioned the prime advantage that Priest has over the Sexton; the crew can jump out, allowing you to have mass Priests.
Priest should, ideally, be worth 12 popcap, non-decrewable. Sexton could be 10-popcap with its current performance, non-decrewable. Valentine could also stand to shift from maphax-cheese-enabler to actual-synergy with-Sexton.
Posts: 8154 | Subs: 2
Yeah, it's too cheesy. No doubt this will get rebalanced in some way. You either get to keep the fire-in-FoW mechanic, or fire accurately, but not both.
On the other hand, I see no good reason why the ability would require you to tech up, and tech Anvil, in particular, if you are to gain access to Airburst shells. You're still paying the same cost, after all.
Also, I can't believe that nobody mentioned the prime advantage that Priest has over the Sexton; the crew can jump out, allowing you to have mass Priests.
Priest should, ideally, be worth 12 popcap, non-decrewable. Sexton could be 10-popcap with its current performance, non-decrewable. Valentine could also stand to shift from maphax-cheese-enabler to actual-synergy with-Sexton.
Valentine:
1 simple idea is to make it work like the artillery officer barrage. Right now the barrage "consumes" a normal cooldown.
2nd idea: have another barrage which just uses the base howitzers. OR make the original barrage to use both Suxtons and base howitzers.
Posts: 3053
Yeah, it's too cheesy. No doubt this will get rebalanced in some way. You either get to keep the fire-in-FoW mechanic, or fire accurately, but not both.
On the other hand, I see no good reason why the ability would require you to tech up, and tech Anvil, in particular, if you are to gain access to Airburst shells. You're still paying the same cost, after all.
Also, I can't believe that nobody mentioned the prime advantage that Priest has over the Sexton; the crew can jump out, allowing you to have mass Priests.
Priest should, ideally, be worth 12 popcap, non-decrewable. Sexton could be 10-popcap with its current performance, non-decrewable. Valentine could also stand to shift from maphax-cheese-enabler to actual-synergy with-Sexton.
I think that the proper nerf for it would be decreasing the accuracy slightly on the concentration fire ability since the FoW targeting is the whole gimmick of the ability and is what makes it worth 100 muni and an ability slot, as otherwise it's just an expensive version of the infantry thrown coordinated fire.
I did not know you could do that with priests and that's really OP. You could just have one priest crew and rotate it between priests to have all vet3 priests and pretty much constant arty fire in bigger teamgames when you start getting fuel out the ass.
Any ideas for discussion about how to make the valentine worthwhile without maphax? I would vote making it a better anti infantry unit, reducing its cp cost, and/or making the vet ability ignore cool downs and/or include base howitzers in exchange for removing the maphax. Or maybe a recon run ability. All just ideas off the top of my head.
Posts: 1954
I think that the proper nerf for it would be decreasing the accuracy slightly on the concentration fire ability since the FoW targeting is the whole gimmick of the ability and is what makes it worth 100 muni and an ability slot, as otherwise it's just an expensive version of the infantry thrown coordinated fire.
I did not know you could do that with priests and that's really OP. You could just have one priest crew and rotate it between priests to have all vet3 priests and pretty much constant arty fire in bigger teamgames when you start getting fuel out the ass.
Any ideas for discussion about how to make the valentine worthwhile without maphax? I would vote making it a better anti infantry unit, reducing its cp cost, and/or making the vet ability ignore cool downs and/or include base howitzers in exchange for removing the maphax. Or maybe a recon run ability. All just ideas off the top of my head.
Or maybe just leave it alone. Having most of the abilities be worthless keeps this commander from being part of the meta, and the last thing this game needs is more indirect.
Posts: 13496 | Subs: 1
Valentine:
1 simple idea is to make it work like the artillery officer barrage. Right now the barrage "consumes" a normal cooldown.
2nd idea: have another barrage which just uses the base howitzers. OR make the original barrage to use both Suxtons and base howitzers.
In addition the Valentine should lose the "radar" ability and cost less pop making it more of AEC substitute.
"observation" could then become an upgrade similar to "command vehicle" (limited to Valentines) and limited to 1.
Posts: 232
Posts: 13496 | Subs: 1
Posts: 3053
On the other hand Velentine has real armor that does not take damage from HMG and not tech cost.
Yeah but it comes at 6cp and can't hurt jack shit (will miss vetted infantry and tickle tanks' paint jobs, even on penetration)
by that time even if it doesn't get blown to kingdom come by a real medium.
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