BCT: Plan Artillery Fires

BCT
BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM

How Do I Plan Fires with an Artillery Unit?

Some units, such as mortar, artillery, and rocket launchers, do not have to see something to shoot at it. These are indirect fire units. You must tell the unit where to shoot.

Plan fires for a single unit.

1. Choose "Fire Order" from the "Actions" menu or the Tool Bar.

2. Use the fire order dialog to tell your units what, how, and when you want them to fire. After you click "OK" every fire mission you plan will follow the information you set here. If a unit is not capable of meeting the fire order you set here (i.e. not the correct ammo, not enough rounds), it will not accept fire missions until you change the fire order again. See "Why can't I plan fire missions?"

3. Now you are ready to plan fire missions. Choose "Fire Mission" from the "Actions" menu or the Tool Bar

4. All of the units capable of firing the fire order will have yellow X's over them. Select one of these indirect fire units by left-clicking on it with the mouse button.

5. Now you can plan the fire mission. The large purple circles mark the maximum range of all of your indirect fire systems for the munition type you selected in the fire order. Make sure you are inside the range arc for the unit you have chosen. Left-click where you want the fire mission to be shot. Remember to lead a target if its moving. It will take a minute or so for the fire mission to be processed before it is shot.

6. You can plan subsequent targets for this unit by left-clicking anywhere inside the unit's range arc on the main map. These missions will be marked in white. Once all previous missions are shot, the white line will turn red, designating that this is the current fire mission.

Plan fire missions for a task force.

1. Steps are identical except, instead of selecting one unit, choose a whole task force either by drag-clicking over the units or selecting their save-number.

2. Plan missions just as before. Note that you now have three range arcs to worry about. If a target is outside the range of one of the indirect fire units in the group, that unit will be excluded from the mission.

Check fire mission status.

1. Choose "FM Log" from the "Actions" menu or the Tool Bar. A window will be displayed showing a list of all planned friendly fire missions, their locations and fire orders, and the time at which they will be shot. This time corresponds to the "Elapsed Time" on the clock. Double-click on a mission in this window and you will be taken to the location of the fire mission.

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1. Choose "Fire Order" from the "Actions" menu or the Tool Bar.
2. Use the fire order dialog to tell your units what, how, and when you want them to fire. After you click "OK" every fire mission you plan will follow the information you set here. If a unit is not capable of meeting the fire order you set here (i.e. not the correct ammo, not enough rounds), it will not accept fire missions until you change the fire order again. See "Why can't I plan fire missions?"
3. Now you are ready to plan fire missions. Choose "Fire Mission" from the "Actions" menu or the Tool Bar
4. All of the units capable of firing the fire order will have yellow X's over them. Select one of these indirect fire units by left-clicking on it with the mouse button.
5. Now you can plan the fire mission. The large purple circles mark the maximum range of all of your indirect fire systems for the munition type you selected in the fire order. Make sure you are inside the range arc for the unit you have chosen. Left-click where you want the fire mission to be shot. Remember to lead a target if its moving. It will take a minute or so for the fire mission to be processed before it is shot.
6. You can plan subsequent targets for this unit by left-clicking anywhere inside the unit's range arc on the main map. These missions will be marked in white. Once all previous missions are shot, the white line will turn red, designating that this is the current fire mission.

1. Steps are identical except, instead of selecting one unit, choose a whole task force either by drag-clicking over the units or selecting their save-number.
2. Plan missions just as before. Note that you now have three range arcs to worry about. If a target is outside the range of one of the indirect fire units in the group, that unit will be excluded from the mission.