Hey my new friends! I've got another noob question for you all. What are the crucial differences between 6lb, 10lb, 12lb, and 20lb artillery units?
Thanks in advance. This is a great community here. I'm learning so much from reading the forum...
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Al Swearengen
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10lb. guns are my gold standard.
I buy up all the independent 6lb. batteries and use them to fill out the last couple of elements in divisions (they upgrade to 12lb. guns). I use the 10lb. batteries to fill out corps. They're not terribly expensive compared to 12lb. guns, have better range, better firepower, and are quite common. I generally use the 20lb. guns in army stacks as the Union and occasionally as the Confederacy, assuming I'm out of 10lb. batteries.
I buy up all the independent 6lb. batteries and use them to fill out the last couple of elements in divisions (they upgrade to 12lb. guns). I use the 10lb. batteries to fill out corps. They're not terribly expensive compared to 12lb. guns, have better range, better firepower, and are quite common. I generally use the 20lb. guns in army stacks as the Union and occasionally as the Confederacy, assuming I'm out of 10lb. batteries.
All fire combat does two types of damage, actual hits and a loss to cohesion. Most cannon cause two hit points of damage and varying cohesion loss to a target that is actually hit. A Division might have a total of over 300 hit points and 1000 cohesion, so artillery are not going to shred the enemy. As caudata correctly pointed out, range is subject to terrain and also to weather. A heavy gun in woods during a blizzard has the same effective range as the lightest gun. The greater range of rifled artillery really only applies in clear terrain with clear weather. You can check this yourself if you switch on the terrain filter for the map and cursor over some of the different regions. I originally liked Union heavy guns, but they don't seem to be worth the expense. I can get two 12-lbers for the price of one 20-lber. I don't know if the new counter-battery feature is going to change this.
You only get to actually use a relatively small number of guns depending upon the terrain/weather. If you have the terrain map filter on and click a combat stack, you can cursor over a region and get a menu with how many of each type of combat element can actually fight in a battle there. You get X amount of cavalry/infantry types and Y amount of artillery. So you could fight a battle with no artillery and still do damage, but the artillery may do additional damage, if they actually hit something. The usual to-hit chances I've seen in the battle logs are around 20-30% for all unit types. The advantage artillery have is that if they are entrenched, then the defender gets an accuracy bonus. I've seen artillery with a to-hit over 100% with entrenchment 6. This simulates the real world effect of guns being emplaced and practice rounds fired over a period of time so that a system of firing tables can be established.
Thus, if you are defending in a clear region (D.C.), then long range guns that are well entrenched may give you an edge. If you are defending in a woods region (Richmond), then big guns are just going to make a big noise and 12-lbers will be just as good when they go hot.
You only get to actually use a relatively small number of guns depending upon the terrain/weather. If you have the terrain map filter on and click a combat stack, you can cursor over a region and get a menu with how many of each type of combat element can actually fight in a battle there. You get X amount of cavalry/infantry types and Y amount of artillery. So you could fight a battle with no artillery and still do damage, but the artillery may do additional damage, if they actually hit something. The usual to-hit chances I've seen in the battle logs are around 20-30% for all unit types. The advantage artillery have is that if they are entrenched, then the defender gets an accuracy bonus. I've seen artillery with a to-hit over 100% with entrenchment 6. This simulates the real world effect of guns being emplaced and practice rounds fired over a period of time so that a system of firing tables can be established.
Thus, if you are defending in a clear region (D.C.), then long range guns that are well entrenched may give you an edge. If you are defending in a woods region (Richmond), then big guns are just going to make a big noise and 12-lbers will be just as good when they go hot.
I'm the 51st shade of gray. Eat, pray, Charge!
The range limit was my rationale for not bothering with 10/20 lb guns (playing as south v ai). It felt like there were enough instances where the 12's didn't get their full 5 range as it was that I couldn't justify the extra $$ and WS for a 10 over a 12. I suppose playing as the north, with less economic bottleneck, 10's may be preferred.
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Al Swearengen
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- Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2014 8:45 pm
I should probably point out that heavier guns are always better when attacking an entrenched force. Bringing a good number of 20lb. guns to a trench fight will generally enable you to win fights which are otherwise not remotely worth the effort. This particularly applies to the Union, since the 2:1 casualties often encountered later in the war are still manageable, will quickly wear down the South, and enables you to push entrenched corps out of a region.
This is a comparison of the Union 12-lber Napolean and 20-lber Parrot artillery guns.
Both do 2 hit points of damage upon an actual hit.
In addition to this, the Parrot does 22 points of cohesion loss and the Napolean 12.
The to-hit chance is a long equation that is the same for both guns save for their respective Offensive/Defensive factors. The Parrot's numbers are 23 Off./24 Def. and the Napolean's are 16 Off/30 Def. So the Parrot will cause 7% more hits in the attack than the Napolean and the Napolean will cause 6% more hits in the defense than the Parrot.
The Parrot has a range of 7 and the Napolean has a range of 5. However, most terrain/weather combinations allow an effective range of 4 or less.
For the initial analysis, I will compare the two guns in an attack with 15 batteries of each against a force entrenched to level 4 in a region with open terrain and clear weather, so max effective range for both guns.
The 15 Parrot batteries fire twice at range 7 and then once at each successive range for a total of 120 shots fired. Let's be generous and say that half the rounds hit, for 60 hits scored. Level 4 entrenchments negate a third of these for a new total of 40 actual hits. The defending force loses a total of 80 hits and 880 points from cohesion.
The 15 Napolean batteries fire twice at range 5 and then once at each successive range for a total of 90 shots fired. The Parrots get a 7% bonus to-hit, so that would only give a 43% to hit rate for the Napoleans for a total of approximately 38 hits scored. Again the level 4 entrenchments negate a third of these for a new total of about 25 actual hits. The defending force loses 50 hits and 400 points from cohesion.
However, conditions are seldom perfect. If the CSA is wise enough to make a stand in a woods region with effective range of 4, then the Parrot's numbers are 75 shots fired, 38 hits scored, 25 actual hits for a total loss of 50 hits and 600 to cohesion.
The Napolean's numbers are 75 shots fired, 32 hits scored, 21 actual hits for a total loss of 42 hits and 336 to cohesion.
So for a Union player on the attack who doesn't mind the pricetag, the Parrot still gets a cracker.
Both do 2 hit points of damage upon an actual hit.
In addition to this, the Parrot does 22 points of cohesion loss and the Napolean 12.
The to-hit chance is a long equation that is the same for both guns save for their respective Offensive/Defensive factors. The Parrot's numbers are 23 Off./24 Def. and the Napolean's are 16 Off/30 Def. So the Parrot will cause 7% more hits in the attack than the Napolean and the Napolean will cause 6% more hits in the defense than the Parrot.
The Parrot has a range of 7 and the Napolean has a range of 5. However, most terrain/weather combinations allow an effective range of 4 or less.
For the initial analysis, I will compare the two guns in an attack with 15 batteries of each against a force entrenched to level 4 in a region with open terrain and clear weather, so max effective range for both guns.
The 15 Parrot batteries fire twice at range 7 and then once at each successive range for a total of 120 shots fired. Let's be generous and say that half the rounds hit, for 60 hits scored. Level 4 entrenchments negate a third of these for a new total of 40 actual hits. The defending force loses a total of 80 hits and 880 points from cohesion.
The 15 Napolean batteries fire twice at range 5 and then once at each successive range for a total of 90 shots fired. The Parrots get a 7% bonus to-hit, so that would only give a 43% to hit rate for the Napoleans for a total of approximately 38 hits scored. Again the level 4 entrenchments negate a third of these for a new total of about 25 actual hits. The defending force loses 50 hits and 400 points from cohesion.
However, conditions are seldom perfect. If the CSA is wise enough to make a stand in a woods region with effective range of 4, then the Parrot's numbers are 75 shots fired, 38 hits scored, 25 actual hits for a total loss of 50 hits and 600 to cohesion.
The Napolean's numbers are 75 shots fired, 32 hits scored, 21 actual hits for a total loss of 42 hits and 336 to cohesion.
So for a Union player on the attack who doesn't mind the pricetag, the Parrot still gets a cracker.
I'm the 51st shade of gray. Eat, pray, Charge!
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