Slitherine

I had an artillery unit that received a hero with +1 spotting...does that make the arty unit more powerful? If so, how?

Unfortunately, it does not. It only allows that unit to see one extra hex. Probably the best hero for artillery would be Range +1, or Move +1 if it is towed artillery.

Sadly, a spotting hero on an artillery unit is useless: no one spots with artillery units (except the AI), and the increase from one to two hexes is not enough for the unit to see impending threats quickly enough to operate without the protection of other units. Indeed, a spotting hero on an artillery unit is worse than useless, because it takes up one of the three hero spots, and thus decreases by one-third the odds of getting a +1 range hero. If this is the first hero on the unit, you might as well disband it and purchase a fresh unit. Artillery units gain experience very quickly.

cw58 wrote:the best hero for artillery would be Range +1, or Move +1 if it is towed artillery

I agree - move allows towed artillery to keep up with the grenadiers and pioneers (I had 2 move heroes on one gun in Allied Corps which was very handy to keep the LRDG and SE units company). Range 4 (or 5 if you get 2 range heroes) is good for counter battery fire, and a range 2 Stug 3B or a 3 range nebelwerfer are very handy.

For me, the best use of a spotting hero on artillery is to convert it to a Stug or other heavily armoured gun so you can move it a bit further forwards when you need the extra view. It's a bit of a toss up whether to disband it or not. I usually don't think it's worthwhile, but maybe if playing through the Eastern Grand campaigns and you got the spotting hero in 39 or 40 it could be more useful starting again.

robman wrote:If this is the first hero on the unit, you might as well disband it and purchase a fresh unit. Artillery units gain experience very quickly.

While in the past I'd never considered disbanding a unit with a hero, here I honestly have to agree. Heroes are a function of kills. In the Grand Campaign you have to have far more kills to get your second hero than the first, so, you might as well start over. This is even more correct for artillery - and strategic bombers - since it can take awhile longer for your first hero to appear vs. other units because you're often suppressing your targets & not killing them.

Thank you for all the replies!

I have restarted the scenario with the hopes that I will get a different hero that is NOT +1 Spotting!

The developers of this game should make a change to restrict Spotting heros from being awarded to artillery units, similar to how Range heros cannot be awarded to most units (I think Range heros can only be awarded to artillery and anti-aircraft?).

b52pilot1 wrote:Thank you for all the replies!

I have restarted the scenario with the hopes that I will get a different hero that is NOT +1 Spotting!

The developers of this game should make a change to restrict Spotting heros from being awarded to artillery units, similar to how Range heroes cannot be awarded to most units (I think Range heroes can only be awarded to artillery and anti-aircraft?).

Although some consider it "cheating" or at least a tad unsportsman-like, when you see your units nearing a Hero benchmark, you can save your game, and simply re-load until you get an appropriate hero. It would serve the same function as restarting the scenario without the potential of undoing other heroes already received earlier in that same scene. (Of course, taken to the extreme, you can pack your key units with +3A heroes or +1R heroes and have a jolly time decimating the enemy, lol)

TSPC37730 wrote:While in the past I'd never considered disbanding a unit with a hero, here I honestly have to agree. Heroes are a function of kills. In the Grand Campaign you have to have far more kills to get your second hero than the first, so, you might as well start over.

That's a very good point, especially for Strategic bombers and artillery where early experience gain is rapid. Also, disbanding a unit is definitely not cheating in anyone's book, so it is an option for all players.

It's a bit less clear cut for tac bombers since they don't have such rapid experience gain, and they can benefit from initiative if your country has an option with active air attack (so no use for Italian ones) and spotting is quite useful on any aircraft.

I've said before that +1 ammo would be genuinely useful for strategic and tac bombers as an alternative to initiative and for spotting on artillery - maybe for version 1.25?

DrkCon wrote:

b52pilot1 wrote:Thank you for all the replies!

I have restarted the scenario with the hopes that I will get a different hero that is NOT +1 Spotting!

The developers of this game should make a change to restrict Spotting heros from being awarded to artillery units, similar to how Range heroes cannot be awarded to most units (I think Range heroes can only be awarded to artillery and anti-aircraft?).

Although some consider it "cheating" or at least a tad unsportsman-like, when you see your units nearing a Hero benchmark, you can save your game, and simply re-load until you get an appropriate hero. It would serve the same function as restarting the scenario without the potential of undoing other heroes already received earlier in that same scene. (Of course, taken to the extreme, you can pack your key units with +3A heroes or +1R heroes and have a jolly time decimating the enemy, lol)

Can you explain what to look for, this Hero benchmark?

See this thread: viewtopic.php?t=31739

You can see a unit's kill count at any time by selecting the unit and clicking its icon in the control bar. So, for example, if you get a spotting hero on an artillery unit and its kill count is 300-something, you are likely to have a long, long wait before another hero arrives. Since artillery units accumulate experience very quickly but kills very slowly, this is the kind of situation where it might make sense to start over, one way or another.