The Fire Control Panel is located above the Unit Quick Selection Panel.

Area/Observed Fire
In some instances, the player may suspect enemy units are in a certain area and want to direct fires at that location.

Above: Knitz Unit Quick Selection Panels (green), fire control panel (grey)
and lower two sections of the Unit Data Bar are displayed.

Place observed fire team under Fire Control
Select the leader (e.g., Knitz), the firing units (e.g., MG-34 and the GrW-34) [Ctrl+LMB].
[LMB] Fire control. Fire control indicates 16 members are under Fire control - Knitz (4), MG-34 (6) and GrW-34 (6). These units have been selected for the area (observed) fire mission.

To order the area (observed) fire mission:
1. Select the leader/observer [LMB], ensuring he has line of sight to the target.
2. Select [G] or the far left icon in the fire control panel (falling shells image) – this will appear as the mouse pointer.
3. [RMB] on the target location for point fire, a red cross will appear to confirm the target selection, or [RMB+drag] for area fire.
4. The number of tubes aimed at the target will be displayed (when in real time).
5. Next to this will be the hit percentage factor (when the observer is selected).
6. Delay between order and firing varies according to the observer and firing units experience, stress and fatigue factors.

The observed fire mission will continue until ammunition is exhausted or cease fire is ordered [G].

For indirect fire units (mortar, howitzer) the Show indirect fire abilities [|] overlay is useful.

Smoke
To fire smoke rounds the sequence has an additional step. Select an eligible firing unit then the Stay concealed icon [Ctrl+G] prior to selecting Observed fire [G]. For a mix of HE and smoke, when firing multiple mortars, select Stay concealed for one of the mortar’s in the squad.

The same order sequence is used with any on map firing unit (direct or indirect fire) – tanks, anti-tank guns, infantry guns, mortars. Note: Off-board artillery has a different sequence.

Not Firing!

Right: Mortar and MG fire is going in at the grove (yellow cross). But one mission has issues (red cross).

In deployment mode a red cross or channel registers the target location.

When the mission starts the target indication will change to yellow, or if the observer is selected the two fire mission factors, if it stays red there is an issue with the fire mission.

Most mission failures are because the observer does not
have line of sight to the target. Select the observer and use [~] or [Ctrl+~] to check line of fire.

Other common problems:
• Target out of range of firing unit,
• firing unit out of communication range with the observer,
• observer killed or under fire,
• At Infantry selected,
• observed fire cannot be directed at friendly terrain.

Fire Sector/Target Arc
Conducting fire with “2. Fire Sector [V]” option:
• if conducting fire is on hold, units will fire only at priority targets within the sector.
• If conducting fire is allowed, units will fire only at targets in the sector or priority targets.

Fire will be conducted at targets located closer than 75m (25m for small arms). Holding fire and limiting the sector does not apply to throwing hand launched weapons, e.g., grenades.

To maximize the advanced features in the game it is important that players understand the Communication and Targeting symbols discussed in the Communication section.
 

Selecting an air or artillery spotter will display the air and artillery support panel. The type of artillery and ammunition available in the game is indicated below.


Categories of artillery support
There are two categories of artillery support:
• Pre-planned (during the tactical deployment phase), and
• Unscheduled support during a battle.

Commanders and artillery
During the deployment phase all available artillery units can be employed. Availability of artillery during the battle, i.e., unscheduled support, depends on the rank of the commanders in the field. If a commander is killed in action the artillery support is lost.

A Battalion or Regimental commander can call any type of artillery, including divisional.

A Company commander can call regimental artillery. Battalion artillery is always available.

Artillery tasking
Unscheduled artillery fire is “called in” by artillery spotters and commanders. Delay between request and fire mission depends on the battery workload. Accuracy will depend on the spotters LOS to the target, the spotter’s stress and skill level, and the quality of the communication link.

Pre-planned artillery (tactical deployment phase-zero in mission) is “zeroed in”, creating a reference point (indicated by an orange triangle) for the fire mission. Once the reference point is marked other artillery units can use the reference point. Using reference points reduces the time between being “called in” and fired, with an increase in accuracy.

Multiple reference point missions can be made during the tactical deployment phase. Three rounds per “tube” are fired on zero-in missions.

The artillery spotter on the map does not need LOS to the target for the mission to proceed.

Select the artillery [LMB] to be used in the Support panel. [RMB] the artillery cursor zone to get the artillery reference pointer. [RMB] for a point target or [RMB+drag] for an area target. The beaten zone indicates approximate accuracy (in meters) and time until delivery.

The only difference for “Unscheduled” artillery missions is the spotter must have LOS to the target.

This section is an extract from the Few Good Men TWT43 guide. Full pdf version available from the FGM website.