Stark wrote:
So either use the map or pay attention. Arty players NEVER seem to pay attention to their area security, so they've got nobody to blame but themselves when they get raped so much.
Mainly because if the enemy get close to them the artillery is fucked. They only have one option, run away, and since they're slow as mollasses that doesn't work too well. Against Air, the main arty killer, their only defence is pretty much to sit their and call for AA, assuming their own AA is taken out which is the first thing any competent Air player does.
Secondly, units in WiC are, for lack of a better word, expendable. I don't have to worry about harvesting some more resources, spending said resources on anything but units or wondering if the enemy is now going to have more units that I can afford. All I have to do is wait for a little and then I get to deploy fresh and shiny units again, and deploy them away from the enemy!
You're not going to lose the game because your army is destroyed and now your base is defenceless, you're just going to be sitting out of the game for a minute or so. Getting your units killed is kinda like the sin bin in rugby.
I don't see the point (beyond 'zomg pritty') to not use the map most of the time as arty, and things like a swarm of parachutes are pretty obvious. This is harder to do without q-menu requests, but you get all the targeting info you need anyway.
'zomg pritty' sums it up really. With artillery I like to rain death down from afar, while gloating and watching the bodies fly. Muahahahahaaaaaaaa!!!
I don't use the map, i use the mini-map. Just as good as the map but letting me get the benefit of cool graphics, it's also easier for me to use my TA.
Anecdote time - I've parked TRUCKS next to arty. I've wiped out arty posts with UAZs. Why? Arty players don't pay attention, and mapedge security is usually awful.
Then those guys don't deserve to play arty. Getting wiped out by helo's or a few tanks that broke through is understandable, but getting killed by jeeps?!
As for my retard ancedote. There was one server where for 3 rounds in a row I was Russian support starting with 2 Heavy Artillery pieces and by the end of the round I had secured both Research and Gas Station by myself with AA and TA reinforcements. The US side only moaned about us having 2 players from the same clan on our side and that must be why we're winning.
All those things make it the WORST position, since EVERYONE knows that's where you are. I mean, random TA to that hill usually gets kills totally blind, because idiots think 'let's rally here on top of this hill where the arty always is lol'. The obvious fire arcs make it worse: it's instantly clear when there's arty active there, so blam they're all dead.

For US artillery everyone knows where you are anyway for 2 reasons:
- The massive smoke trails behind your missles, not to mention the big orange dots on the mini map.
- It's very easy to scout ahead. Any number of TA abilities (arial recon, para troopers, etc) and fast moving helos that can deploy, go along the edges of the map and then go through your entire deployment zone in a minute or two make it very hard to hide.
There's no where to hide and you can't run, so you might as well take the position that gives you the best firing possibilities.
The very idea of arty players who can't pay attention to their area security and don't move around is bizarre. Hell, when I play support I divide up my guys - against coordinated action it's bad, but the REAL threat to arty players is random shit like roving choppers or infantry, so they can never get more than one unit at a time. The range is long enough that they can all hit a given target.
True, a lot of noobs don't pay attention to their area, but once the enemie's in there you can't really do much anyway.
I actually love noobs dropping paratroopers on me, as they only use one and one paratrooper artillery isn't enough to kill my heavy arty, which they inevitably try and then let me know they know where I am, so I can escape while I call down a laser guided bomb on the building they're hiding in (or napalm on the forest if I'm Russian).
This said, I've noticed very few arty players these days. Support guys seem much more focussed on the 'useless repair swarm' and the 'useless HAAA swarm'. I mean, when 70% of your team is HAAA, it's time to change tactics. When you've seen a guy with a HAAA and five repair vehicles try to assault a position, you've got to wonder why they don't change roles.
Yeah, it's so sad that few people appreciate causing big explosions, and be damned with the armour players that demand they have 2 other players backing them up or they wont be able to do well. It's especailly annoying when there's HAA swarms on your side and when it gets to the end of the round there's only one opponent playing air.
Lonestar, it's sad that so few air players do as I do and use a scout chopper and drop arty reqs everywhere. Often I'm the only one using q-menu beyond 'oh noes i'm going to die where are teh choppers' - but as air I see all kinds of targets, and I like to drop arty requests on each one. I often don't have time to kill them myself, with having to constantly bail out armour players from Apaches...

And can you believe people actually seem to think the scout chopper needs MORE spot range?
I've seen players that take detachments entirely of scout helos and do surprisingly well.
Regarding why most players don't take scout helos, it's because they're playing for themselves. Scout helos dont kill as much as others helos and that's all most pubby players think about. From my experience there's only a few non-clan players that consider the team.