FlashfyreSP
Posts: 1193
Joined: 7/6/2002 From: Combat Information Center Status: offline
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OK, the Encyclopedia entries haven't all been updated recently. Some things, actually a lot of things, have changed since most of those entries were written some 3-4 years ago. "SP" stands for "Self-Propelled". Used to indicate a piece of artillery that is mounted on a self-propelling mount. As for what use are they? Direct support of infantry was what their job was. Considering the maximum range of the sIG33 weapon, which was NOT a howitzer, was only 4700 meters, it's use in the game as an indirect artillery piece is highly questionable. That's about 80 hexes...not enough for offboard artillery barrages. One problem with these determinations is that, in game terms, indirect fire does not just mean lobbing shells over obstructions at "unseen" targets; it means primarily firing from some distance away from the combat zone. Limitations on the way ranges work in-game mean that once you reach a certain game range, every large-caliber artillery howitzer has the same range. Game maximum range value is around 230; that is an OOB data code, which tells us to multiply the last 2 digits (30) by 8 to get the number of hexes of range, in this case 240. Multiply that by 50 meters/hex, and the maximum range of a weapon in the game is 12,000 meters. Many artillery pieces have ranges well in excess of this, yet for game purposes they all have the same range. So the SP-Gun Unit Class is for weapons whose main purpose is to provide close support or direct fire for other arms, usually the infantry. They are NOT artillery pieces; for that, you would need to buy the Wespe, Lorraine, or Hummel units, which ARE SP Artillery units, and can conduct indirect artillery barrages.
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