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A week ago I've decided to go back to grind my M37.  As a Tier III arty, I'm placed in noob battles a lot.  The biggest problem is that when I go into arty mode, I can't see the area right in front of my gun.  So when I see a target (and my targeting oval is green) and fires, I would sometimes hit someone right in front of me. This is a pretty serious problem because I have to pay the fine AND my own repair since they TK me mercilessly afterwards.


So I was wondering how do you guys avoid situations like that as an arty?

Unforunately you cant fix stupid. the only fix is for people to learn not to camp infront on an Arties gun.

Luka_Govisky, on Apr 29 2012 - 20:13, said:

why would you shoot the tanks guarding you?

The only good news is that as your gun gets bigger you won't have to worry about them TKing you afterwards. They probably won't be around after the explosion to shoot at you. Of course, depending upon how close they parked, you might not be either. Splash on the HE rounds gets larger too.

If you think this behaviour will be gone in higher tiers, think again...

2 days ago, an IS-4 has decided it would be a great idea to park in front of my Obj 212. A 203mm shell later, he proceeded to rant about n00b arty players... I'm sorry, but it's your responsibility to not park in front of a big gun.

Yeah well I guess most of these players have no clue how arty works and just wanna protect you.

im pretty sure the trajectory line turns gray if there is a friendly in the way.

Battlecruiser, on Apr 29 2012 - 20:33, said:

hahaha

On topic - the minimap is hard to use, but if you focus just one eyeball on it you might notice that Heavy tank icon sitting on top of you.

[edit]
Even if you do notice it, shoot anyway... unless the splash will kill you too.  

the other day I was in a tank on province and I was sitting down in like K8, you know where I mean. I was chillin' there, shooting at people and then all of a sudden KABLOOEY! I was dead. I was in a state of utter shock for a few seconds, it was so surprising. Then I realized "oh, that Hummel was right behind me" and I had a pretty good laugh, it was amusing in retrospect

I like when they park next to you to "protect" you and get counter-barraged by accident from the other team. Word to the wise if you see the arty shoot and scoot move your ass.

2_minutes_hate, on Apr 30 2012 - 01:17, said:

I particularly love when my own allied arty does this.  Had a match about a month ago where my GWP was sharing arty duties with a Priest.  I set up in a nice bush and start looking for counter-battery shots.  The Priest just starts blazing away without moving.  

Not surprisingly, he gets atomized by enemy arty before I've actually fired my first shot.

I'm pretty surprised though, when I'm suddenly left with 30 hitpoints, a crippled GWP and a half-dead crew.  I drop out of arty mode and sure enough, there's the smoking hulk of the Priest.  Dead from counter-battery fire.  Parked ten feet away from me.  WTF.

zaelin, on Apr 30 2012 - 01:09, said:

Not reliably.  I've had a tank move into my line of fire and park 5 meters in front of me as I was lining up to nail a counter-battery shot or something else that requires concentration, and only realized it when I blew him to kingdom come.  The line never changed from green.  

1) no one should ever park within the front 90 degree arc of a friendly SPG closer than 50 meters.  

2) that line should always turn FLASHING RED if it passes near a friendly.

I often Platoon with friends and they have arty just as I do. One thing I do is to not sit close to the arty piece. Sit a ways off where you can watch around him for approaching zippy tanks. Never! Ever! Sit close to an arty piece! Not only are you subject to an accidental hit from their guns if they rotate and shoot at something. You can and do take hits intended for them from counter arty.

zaelin, on Apr 30 2012 - 01:09, said:

it doesn't.  i have shot people in front of me that way as well

this really happens to you?

I mean I can see occasionally hitting someone due to them running in front of you, but so often that you post about it?

Odd.  I've seen it happen to others but I've never done it to someone else....that I'm aware of

People forget or don't know, you protect arty by being a square or 2+ ahead to spot and counter mediums and lights :X

watched a GWT shoot a patton directly in the engine less than ten seconds into a round the other night, cause he didn't know the guy was there. i can't decide what the best part is:

• that i was - literally - in the process of driving my t110 between them
  
• that it was the most fun i've ever had on province.

Just had this happen in a pitched battle

target was red - line to target was green - dots were green and tightly bunched around the target

killed a green priest  - outside display - between me and the heavy

guess the sniper display for arty doesn't consider friendly tanks as obstacles

(it considers destroyed tanks as obstacles)

this may actually be a programming oversight

BTW IRL you would expect the gunner to yell "friendly in target" or something to that effect

The issue with the aiming line might simply be that they're not directly in the center of the shell's trajectory.

Think of trying to squeeze a shot past a big rock.  The actual shot line might just barely clear it, but you're leaving 2/3 of your dispersion circle plastered across the boulder.  Still shows as green, but it's hardly all clear.  Maybe the line clears the friendly by an inch, but if the shell goes low it'll nail them??

If you see the circle changing while you aren't moving your gun, someone is obviously moving in front of you. If you only see part of the circle but aren't in front of a rock, someone is in front of you.

You call them noob games, but you are noob if you don't see these obvious signs that your shot won't go where you want it to.