NLAW

[Zipuli]

Hey!

Liked the fact that NLAW is no longer an ATGM, but rather non-ATGM top-attack weapon, as it should! Also the toned down penetration works better than the über-overkill one we had previously.

But now the weapon accuracy is nowhere near the real deal. Previously as an ATGM it needed no ratings for fire control, range finder etc. But now as non-ATGM weapon, as the unit carrying the NLAW (team usually) has still no control nor range finder stats, it makes the weapon very inaccurate - in open terrain I get ~30% in defence, with enemy tanks moving quite slowly!

Now, the weapon itself, nor the team, has any LRF -equipment as they don't need it in real life, as the projectile fired is "sort of a missile" that has "no" ballistics (i.e. the range is irrelevant for the projectile to score a hit, and the height the projectile flies stays the same). So the computer in the launcher needs only information if the target moves, and this is done by tracking the launcher movemenet, which will give the lead, and "missile" will be fired in correct (predicted, if target speed and heading stay the same) spot. OK, that is how it works in real life...

BUT!

In game if a weapon class is NOT an ATGM, then it needs LRF -rating to be accurate, otherwise (especially the few first) rounds fired have dramatically less accuracy vs. if the unit (team etc.) is equiped with LRF. So the game seems to consider the shot fired as being "dumb", which means that it is handled the same way as any projectile that has a trajectory. Like the above description of the weapon principles tells, this is not the case in real life (i.e. if you don't know the range you may fire short of the target or over the target).

To test it I gave NLAW teams a LRF (22) and played NLAWs vs. tanks battles. Results were that vs. a fast moving target (moving some 19mph/more) I got ~65% hit chance from unsuppressed, stationary NLAW teams. Against slower moving vehicles the percentage was ~75-85. This was closer to the real thing accuracy wise, as the weapon is very accurate and missile fast, but of course a lot depends on the firer's training level and the target's movement. Still maybe a little less than one would think, considering that the projectile reaches max range in 2 seconds. This can be (poorly, but still...) compared with a tank (with decent FCS, that calculates lead) firing sabot round to some 2000-3000 meters depending on muzzle velocity.

So, in short I would say that the game has the weapon very much undermodelled, and the reasons may be (I wouldn't know I didn't program it):
-the game considers the missile "having a trajectory" similar to other non-ATGM weapons, which leads to the weapon inaccuracy, especially on first shot (from the team)... My test with the LRF -stat supports this hypothesis
-or if above is untrue, then the NLAW weapon stats (accuracy) are way off

Hope this made sence and helped. Currently I've used the LRF (22) to make the teams worth using, and it works OK, especially vs vehicles either stationary, or moving at slow speeds. With faster vehicles I still think it's a bit low %... I will try with better weapon accuracy stat too.

Zip

PS. Ah, and the weapon has no thermal sight itself, so vision 40 for NLAW team would mean that the team has a hand held thermal imager or the country in question has made thermal sights for the weapon. In case of Finland (the one I used in the tests), the weapon will have only II night sight produced locally, so vision 15 should be used.

[DRG]

Adding a LRF to a dedicated AT unit is fine in theory but that will NOT work when the weapon is used as part of a normal infantry squads weapons as happens in a number of cases in the British OOB. Give a LRF rating to a squad and it will be applied to every weapon ( as it does in a small AT unit but with much less noticiable effect when the units small arms etc are fired )

If the weapons accuracy is too low then that's the number that needs increasing

As for the 40 vision in the Finn OOB. I really do not know why that was given. It should have been 15

Don

[Zipuli]

So ATGM and non-ATGM weapons are treated the same way, but it's the ATGM -weapon's very high accuracy that gives the very high first round kill % rather than anything in the weapon class "ATGM" (example, weapon 1 is ATGM, 2 is not, both have accuracy 90 and firing unit has no LRF, FC, etc. then both should have same hit % all the time if both have same range etc. etc.?)? If this is so, then OK, but if ATGM as weapon class gets some accuracy bonuses, I think these should be applied to NLAW's weapon class too.

BTW why does ATGM accuracy tend to decrease after each fired shot against same target vs. the normal behaviour of getting higher % with non-ATGM weapons after each shot? Or am I just seeing things?

Zip

[Mobhack]

Missiles don't use the 1-2-3 shot ladder of normal guns.

However, a second ATGM shot opportunity will have less time remaining in a move since the first one took up 20-30 seconds - so is generally less likely to hit (though a shot at a disabled target may still get a high %age). And a second shot in a row from the same spot is more likely to be spotted and avoided, and/or return fire made at the launcher before the missile impacts.

It's better to leave any second ATGM shot opportunity (if you shot in your phase) for the opfire phase IMHO. 1 ready shot is a guaranteed opfire opportunity - a launcher on 0 opportunities may well not fire opfire, if low experience.

I generally prefer to leave my ATGM on a filter for MBT type targets, especially if the enemy is coming at me, and so any with 2 shot opportunities will be guaranteed to fire twice in opfires.

Cheers
Andy

[Zipuli]

"Missiles don't use the 1-2-3 shot ladder of normal guns."

And this is to represent that the firer doesn't need to guess the range to the target, right? The 1-2-3 is there (especially seen with low RF units) to "simulate" the firer getting the range correct with the first few rounds? If so, it could be good to remove the 1-2-3 shot ladder from NLAW's weapon type, because it has no trajectory and the range (20-600m) has no relevance in hit %? Or add another weapon type (anti tank non guided missile, top-attack? sounds fun)?

Zip

[Mobhack]

And laser range finders, if inside 2xrange in our games (not the original code) use a 1-2 ladder (they ignore the first stage).

Giving an NLAW a laser RF would therefore reflect the guidance, but as Don pointed out, if you give an infantry team one then all weapons in the unit get the benefits. Also an increase in FC (to allow for moving targets) - ditto, the weapons of the squad would benefit. Which is really why they were ATGM when first done.

Making weapon accuracy say, 255 (max for a byte) might help - but the accuracy to hit will still probably be pulled down quite a bit if fired at > 1/2 weapon range due to the way the code works. Try it as an experiment (It may make them rather more expensive when run through the Cost Calc though!). But there may be a value that ups the to-hit reasonably noticeably, while not adding to cost too drastically (50)?.

Cheers
Andy