Offboard Artilery

[Enker]

What do you think of Offboard Artillery? We have never played with it until yet. So I can only concern to the rules.
I think it is not worth to build your army in the way that you can make an Artillery attack.
If you already have a real Force Commander in your army, ok, then why don't put a forward observer into it, too.
I think it is very difficult to hit some models with the artillery attack, and even if you hit the damage is most time
not so much if the models are in cover. Beside that the main problem is to bring your forward observer 16'' near the target.

Most time we play 1000Pts. If I want to field a real Force Commander the squads must be very small and the support can't be
very expensive. Which FO do you use? Light Inf ,Heavy Inf. , Sea Lions or even the Purple?

So as I said I have no gaming experiance with Offboard Artillery. Is it worth to use it?

[PFC joe]

Offboard Arty really doesn't come into play until the 1250  range, for most Corps that is, i know a couple killer armies that can call in FM's but for the most part it nuetuers your total effective fighting force.

That said, they're wonderful deterrents as well as ridiculously nice things to have when some one has gone "tick" and you just can't dig them out.  I would never build a force around them, but given the chance I won't exclude them.

I take both an LI Commo Spec as well as a Sea Lion (or HI) one.  If i want to miss I let the LI call it in, his lower LD gives a greater chance of that.  IF i really, really have to hit I let the LI drop a chit on it and let the higher LD unit call it in.  The 4 mv of the LI also gets him into place sooner.

-PFC joe

[Gallagher_Standard_Barer]

How about the fact that there's only one Forward Observer on the Imperial List and she's limit 1 per army.  Grrrrr. Thats always peeved me, all it takes is a  sniper with LOS and all that effort you put into building a FM capable force is down the tubes.  Capitol has squad specialists, the other corps have individuals with FO that aren't so limited, and lets not even get started with the brotherhood.

I've only seen Fire Missions come up once in a game.  It was a 1000 point game and the capitol player had barely managed 6 squads, 3 individuals and a Force commander.  He tried to call down the thunder on some approaching cybers, but cyber responded by killing both of his FOs before the FM could land.  By and large I think qualifying for FM is a waste of points that compromises the effectiveness of you army.

[semai99]

By and large I think qualifying for FM is a waste of points that compromises the effectiveness of you army.

I fully agree its a very expensive gamble, a squad of para deployed or Infiltating or guerilla training would be better spent on as at least you can figure out a good tactic  when using them.

[Sylvas]

never used it...

never played a one-on-one game in which the points have been high enough to play this type of game...

would like to though...

B.

[PFC joe]

They're really only usefull in larger games.  It's pointless to try to shoehorn them into 1k games but in 1250+ they fit very nicely and provide an additional method of destruction. 

-PFC joe

[Stalker]

In my ongoing "Insanity" game that I am in the middle of, both myself and my opponent have the ability to use FMs.  I refuse to waste actions with my Nepharites just to mark a spot on the field.  They are too valuable in other respects then to waste time doing that.

My opponent has tried one FM in the 6 rounds that we've played (yes I know I am 2 rounds behind with my game updates).  It was not successful at all even with the large amount of models that I'm fielding.  In fact, it didn't harm me at all but he lost a model to his own FM! 

My opinion, they're just not worth it in thier current form.

[Bagomba]

with Mishima it“s possible to get offboard Attilery in a 750 Points Force.....but it“s very hard to use....

Maybe you come close enough to use this with your Forward Observer ( 16 " ) and maybe next turn you come close enough to use your 3 Actions to deploy the Chit ( when opponent had already used Squads in this Area )
Then you must win the Initiative ( otherwise the opponent leave the area ) Then you must make a succesful Leadership Test to get the Boom otherwise it“s deviating somewhere you doesn“t have use from this ( and Mishima“s only Forward Observer is an Ashigaru with a Leadership of 8 :-) ) and when you succesful get the Boom the opponent in Cover takes only 1/2 DAM ( with Large Template, Small Temp is much better but i think more ineffective, because the chance of deviation is to good )

so finaly i think the offboard is maybe good in defence when the attacker must come but a lot of luck to use it.....

[Ruther]

My opinion so far, its not very effective to use at this point. I just have a 2000 points (each side)  battle in a storm each other trenches scenario (PBEM) and i build a Forcecommander legal force and wanted to use my GrayGhost as FO. She never even tried it as when it was save to call nothing was in range (16 inch is a joke) and when the enemy gets in the 16 range i dont want to draw extra attention on such a fragile modell (snipers just wait to pick her off so why give them an extra reason ).

Its very hardt to get even a single artillerie shot off and than you dont know if you even hit nor is the damage all that great. Building an army just for that is a waste of points. If the army wich is played just fullfills the requirements see it as a bonus you may try once in the whole game (but most of the time you have better use for your FO's or they just dead or havent LOS to smth usefull to blow up).

[Dragon62]

I have never used OBA and in my opinion it's not worth the effort. I can think of better ways to spend points.

[Shadow__]

The off-board artillery was a good idea. Its major drawback is the 16 inches range needed to select a target because the probability that a FO completes the whole process of calling an artillery fire is very low. As it was said, it seems to be very difficult to use it in a game.
Why not removing the 16 inches requirement, like in real life artillery use? I don't think the use of off-board artillery would become too powerful, because when a FO tries to call an artillery strike, he can't move, and his squad too. So you would have to choose between movement and firepower. And the enemy can always try to escape from the dangerous area.

[PFC joe]

I've used FM's very successfully when defending an objective and dug in troops.  No player in his right mind would send a squad into a marked Fire Mission are.  Even the area around the immediate template effected area is generally clear as the thing can deviate.    Even if it never kills a single model it can be a wonderful detterrent, even more so than an MHMG on wait. 

(and remember, Nepharites only require ONE action to target a spot)
(I loves me an Ilian Neph)
(except the transvestite Kabuki warrior)

-PFC joe

[Stalker]

(and remember, Nepharites only require ONE action to target a spot)

-PFC joe

Thanx Joe, I didn't realize this!  Muhahahahahahahaha!

[PFC joe]

The Ilian Neph can construct a Void Gate, step through it and target anything within 16 inches.  Being able to threaten anything within 30" is no small thing.

-PFC joe

[WarlordtheFT]

I've only seen it used once with a squad of Valkeries calling in the cleansing flame strike.  They got off two. before being mowed down/blown to bits by an attila w/scorpion squad. He didn't paradeploy them though.  Of the two shots, i think he killed two PV's and wounded a single captain.

On a side note, I did avoid bunching up my units, and we were playing on level 0 jungle (ie no side effects, just limited line of sight to 15"). I thought I was giving him a chance with his two assassians and mortificators. He had an inquisitor majoris and one of the personalities. But even with that

Also, remember that FO's can also be used to spot and activiate for onboard artillery units like mortar squads. That can be useful in some situations.