Now that mortars & sieges have made an appearance in Alpha-5, what about forward observers to go with them? A search yielded only this result (http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=235.msg3558#msg3558), but it's a very old thread in the context of air support, so I figured a new thread was best.
The whole idea of indirect fire (even in modern warfare) is to hit a target you don't have direct line of sight on. But how do you know where to shoot? The answer is usually a forward observer that:
- Reports the position of the target.
- Reports the hit locations relative to the target from a few initial shots.
- Reports when the initial shots have bracketed the target (a hit behind and in front for example).
- Recommends all mortars "fire for effect," which means they all fire at the same time to the same place. The accuracy is greatly improved because a few mortar rounds have been spend adjusting the exact firing angle and solution (calculated trial and error).
- Continues to provide feedback to the crews on the outcome of their shots.
Seems like the current accuracy of the mortar makes sense without a forward observer, and probably doesn't need to change. The player's colony and the attackers have a relative idea of where one another is, and start lobbing shells randomly. But what if a colonist can be turned into a forward observer to greatly improve accuracy against a specific area? This would open up a new layer of strategy, and be another reason to send out some recon colonists.
I would think drafting a colonist as a FO would enable them to designate a target within their FO sight radius. As long as they're present, mortar rounds should become increasingly accurate over time. While the "fire for effect" would be neat, it wouldn't be necessary for the initial implementation (or at all).
I suppose the enemy could do the same, but then again, I'm not sure they need to be much more accurate. The players' bases are usually large enough that most shots will hit
something.
Supported. The inaccurate fire tends to be a bit annoying, unless you simply blanket the target with 'nades by building most of an battalions mortar lineup, and this would provide an natural option for it. With risks (enemy snipers and such) to take in consideration which -obviously- makes it all the better.