Using PGM munitions?

[RobAPol]

Hi All,
I'm currently playing the Basra scenario and my task force has had some initial successes. I now want to deploy PGM amunition against the enemy. I have one laser equipped FIST-V unit for the job, but I'm unsure as to its deployment.
Firstly whats the range of the laser? And how do I know which enemy units I can lase? I wouldn't want to target enemy units with PGM when a laser cannot be brought to task. Is there an easy way of achieving this?

Thanks
RobP

[Deltapooh]

I believe the range is 5km for the FIST-V. Right-click on the M981 check its LOS. You should see a redline confirming all vehicles it see. You can target these.

PGM is hard to set up, but can be devastating. I once used them on Basra to take out some Enemy M9 ACEs deployed beyond my boundry. I used regular artillery to destroy the BDRM-2s. Then fired a single battery of PGM. Knocked out every ACE even though my intent was to take out one or two vehicles. :D

Warning: FIST-V are high-priority target for the enemy. So whatever you do be very careful.

[Pat Proctor]

DP pretty much hit it on the head. Here is the "long version", FYI.

To see what your FIST-V can see, right-click on the FIST-V and select "info". Red lines will be drawn to positively ID'd targets. These are targets that the unit can, potentially lase.

To see the range of your laser, right-click on the FIST-V and select "Vehicle Specs". Click on "Laser Observer" to jump down to that portion of the info page. Unless we made an error in the database, the value should be "5000m" for stationary targets and "3000m" for moving targets (actually taken from the technical manual for the G/VLLD or the FM 6-30, I'm not sure which).

So, any stationary targets to which you have a red line that are within 5km of the FIST-V are fair game.

Now, not all targets can be killed by PGMs. For instance, dismounts cannot be lased because there is no reliable reflective surface big enough to bounce a laser designator off of. If you right click on your target, select "Vehicle Specs" and then scroll down to the Indirect Fire pKs, you will see a PGM percentage. If it is 0%, that target cannot be designated for PGMs.

[Pat Proctor]

BTW, the ATF PGM model is more forgiving than real life. In real life, you also have to have 45 degree or less angle from gun to target to observer. Otherwise, the PGM round cannot reliably see the laser spot.

There are other considerations, like how far from the aimpoint a target can be, and how fast a target can be moving, that are generalized but replicated in ATF, as well.

[kbluck]

So, any stationary targets to which you have a red line that are within 5km of the FIST-V are fair game.

Some additional questions about how the game handles PGM, as long as you're talking on the subject:

Does the designator effectively "lase" all IDed targets simultaneously (abstraction), and the game selects the true target by whichever vehicle is closest to the impact point for the PGM mission?

Side effect of the above: if you select individual pieces and fire one round each, it seems to me that it is thus possible (albeit "gamey") to have multiple PGM missions in the air simultaneously to the same or different targets, even with only one designator in action. True?

If the target is moving, the game selects the correct target by whichever target is closest when the mission is created, or when the round arrives? What happens if the target moves out of parameters or range?

In the case where pK is set to zero, I presume there won't be any positive indication to the player that they are wasting their round? Will the game "skip" such targets and choose the next closest non-zero target?

It seems to me that an artillery heirarchy or "group" firing a PGM mission will fire one round from one tube only. Is this accurate? Same for Illum? Is the effect DP describes of "knocked out every ACE" an artifact of earlier versions that didn't have such a limitation?

Doesn't it take 2x as long to fire a PGM mission? Is this applied to load time only, or compute time, or all of them?

Whew. PGM sure is complicated.

--- Kevin

[Pat Proctor]

To answer the general question, there is a level of abstraction.

At the time the round impacts, the observer decides, based on all of the targets he can see that are within laser range AND within the footprint of the impacting round (about 1km), which is the highest payoff target.

It is possible to "game" the simulation and fire a volley of, for instance, six PGMs simultaneously. The single observer will then lase them all onto targets. But the simulation discourages this by only planning one PGM for any "group" of units selected. You would have to individually plan every gun to do this.

It DOES take 2X longer to load AND compute a PGM. In real life, impirical data here at NTC suggests, it takes about 100X longer to set up a PGM shot.

[kbluck]

At the time the round impacts, the observer decides, based on all of the targets he can see that are within laser range AND within the footprint of the impacting round (about 1km), which is the highest payoff target.

Aha! That solves a lot of mysteries for me. Is it based on target value alone, or is there some additional weighting for threat value or range or anything else?

I presume the same rule applies for moving targets, so you need to anticipate where the desired target will be when the round impacts when setting up the mission?

--- Kevin

[RobAPol]

Thanks very much All, these answers have been most comprehensive. My attack shall now continue in ernest. :)