How do I pak howitzer?

I can't for the life of me get this unit to work. It either gets countered by Leigs or Ostheer mortars, or it is just useless and kills nothing..

Dont worry, someone told me its better than the leig because it has 2 extra crewmembers.

Sarcasm aside, it really is intended to be a long range support weapon for slowly killing emplacements, mgs, etc. Its also decent for harassing far out okw bases.

Build one, get it to vet 1 and spam white phos for area denial. It pretty much is a cheap icendiary canon at that point.

It's one of those units that you won't realize when it does it's magic, just keep it alive and within range of the enemy, using barrages on cooldown.

It is one of the best light artillery pieces, along with 120mm mortar. Much better than any mortar or leight.

Just use common sence, auto-barrage enemy squads, use barrage ability against other mortars (barrage ability has bigger range) and see enemy cry.

After vet2 it gets even better, as you make it to vet 2, you might spam HEAT barrage for even better effect.



This is a good guide featuring also pack howie.

it requires lot of micro but if you have it, it is really good, you can use the barrage but it has a really long reload time, so you need to get it close to the enemy to use it in auto attack, thats when the micro enters, you use the barrage, when it ends you get closer to the enemy to attack, and repet, it is slow so you need to be fast, the thing with getting attacked by enemy arty happens with all the arty pieces

Dont worry, someone told me its better than the leig because it has 2 extra crewmembers.

Sarcasm aside, it really is intended to be a long range support weapon for slowly killing emplacements, mgs, etc. Its also decent for harassing far out okw bases.

Build one, get it to vet 1 and spam white phos for area denial. It pretty much is a cheap icendiary canon at that point.

I see. I will try to use it like that. Thanks!

It's one of those units that you won't realize when it does it's magic, just keep it alive and within range of the enemy, using barrages on cooldown.

I find that its magic seems to pass my eyes without notice indeed. I have yet to have a game where I truly find it useful. The barrages are decent (reload is a killer though), but I find that I have to use barrage or never see it succeed ever..

It is one of the best light artillery pieces, along with 120mm mortar. Much better than any mortar or leight.

Just use common sence, auto-barrage enemy squads, use barrage ability against other mortars (barrage ability has bigger range) and see enemy cry.

After vet2 it gets even better, as you make it to vet 2, you might spam HEAT barrage for even better effect.



This is a good guide featuring also pack howie.

Aight, I'll read that thanks.

it requires lot of micro but if you have it, it is really good, you can use the barrage but it has a really long reload time, so you need to get it close to the enemy to use it in auto attack, thats when the micro enters, you use the barrage, when it ends you get closer to the enemy to attack, and repet, it is slow so you need to be fast, the thing with getting attacked by enemy arty happens with all the arty pieces

I shall try this. I really want this unit to work haha. The problem I find is that I can't afford to screen it with riflemen as I need them on the field. With OKW and leigs, I can station it near my schwere or guard it with an extra volk and with Ostheer I can park it behind my mg42 and a gren or two. It just feels like USF as a faction isn't suited to a pak howi.. Maybe that is just me.

It just feels like I am babysitting an infant that needs to land an apollo mission on the moon with a bucket of mud.

Its auto fire range is quite poor tho, afaik

nvm they are the same

Still find it a bit silly that the Leig is so stupidly cheap for a light howitzer, while the us one is 380

Its auto fire range is quite poor tho, afaik

nvm they are the same

Still find it a bit silly that the Leig is so stupidly cheap for a light howitzer, while the us one is 380

Yeah especially considering the USF mp drain...

Don't even waste time with HE barrage, AFAIK the accuracy is much worse and it is only better against vehicles.

I have also seen yesterday luciano finishing off 2 P4s with the barrage, lucky bastard.

Don't even waste time with HE barrage, AFAIK the accuracy is much worse and it is only better against vehicles.

I have also seen yesterday luciano finishing off 2 P4s with the barrage, lucky bastard.

Seriously lol? Man I did't know it could!

In any situation where you need indirect fire, you are better off with the mortar or a scott. The pack howie is just terrible. It is only remotely decent if it has a direct line of sight. Add to that, that it's range is 80 like all other, much cheaper, infantry based indirect fire units (excluding the 120). It's also the only auto fire indirect fire unit that does not get better with vet. A vet 3 (not that you'll see it often) pack howie will perform just the same as a vet 0 one, only the barrages change.

The phosphorous barrage is a perfect example of the units uselessness witout direct line of sight. If the barrage is fired over a sight blocker it will land anywhere and you're lucky if it lands somewhere close where you want it. With direct los the first shot will land about where you'd like it, will then block los and the remaining two will just go anywhere.

For me, this unit is more likely to lose you a game than win you one. You can almost get 2 mortars for the price of one pack howie.

As luciano notes, it can be good with a lot of micro, but the amount is just disproportunate to any other unit of the type. The vet of the unit basically means you'll have to constantly move back and forth using barrages, which, again, are the only thing improving about the unit with vet.

Mortar halftruck is better i guess, now u can get it with that mechanized commander

In any situation where you need indirect fire, you are better off with the mortar or a scott. The pack howie is just terrible. It is only remotely decent if it has a direct line of sight. Add to that, that it's range is 80 like all other, much cheaper, infantry based indirect fire units (excluding the 120). It's also the only auto fire indirect fire unit that does not get better with vet. A vet 3 (not that you'll see it often) pack howie will perform just the same as a vet 0 one, only the barrages change.

The phosphorous barrage is a perfect example of the units uselessness witout direct line of sight. If the barrage is fired over a sight blocker it will land anywhere and you're lucky if it lands somewhere close where you want it. With direct los the first shot will land about where you'd like it, will then block los and the remaining two will just go anywhere.

For me, this unit is more likely to lose you a game than win you one. You can almost get 2 mortars for the price of one pack howie.

As luciano notes, it can be good with a lot of micro, but the amount is just disproportunate to any other unit of the type. The vet of the unit basically means you'll have to constantly move back and forth using barrages, which, again, are the only thing improving about the unit with vet.

I feared as much! Thank you for your in depth answer!

Yes Pack howi is god awful. Even when I micro it to getting close range it still performs poorly. Shocked that there was nothing done to it but the Lieg kept getting buffs. (Not saying it didn't need some changes) Like Sherlock stated just got duel mortars as they'll perform FAR better and you can retreat them to boot while being pretty mobile too.

you need alot of micro to take out a bunker with it, mortars you can smoke with and they fire more shots per barrage

you need alot of micro to take out a bunker with it, mortars you can smoke with and they fire more shots per barrage

Yeah this generally seems to be the case. But I feel the USF mortar is nothing but a moving smoke platform sadly.

The WP barrage you get at vet 1 is lovely, especially its range. The WP and HEAT barrages have double the range of the auto-fire, so I often toss willy pete on a BG HQ to force them to back off of it.

Also I don't know how many other people realize this, cause I didn't until a couple months ago, but the HEAT barrage does a full 160 dmg to tanks if it hits. Only 3 shells but its pretty accurate with LOS so you can really put a hurt on some of the slower and larger targets in the game if you place it right.