Opfire Filtering; plus other questions

[Gerry1]

I made up a small battle and I have some heavy infantry with 3 x 50mm mortars. In the CD version could I set a filter that would stop them firing their Mortars in the AI's player turn?

Or is there another way to do that?

Also in the tutorial I had trouble with the W command. I couldn't get it to work on the first shot. If you want only a certain weapon, say a MG to fire, what is the sequence of keystrokes to get that to happen on the first shot? I seemed to be able to get it to work on a later shot.

Thanks in advance.

[Mobhack]

If you dont want them to fire the mortars in the enemy turn, then just turn them off the same as you do in the demo game.

W key brings up a screen listing the weapons and their slot numbers. Press the slot number to fire the one particular weapon.

[Gerry1]

Originally Posted by Mobhack

If you dont want them to fire the mortars in the enemy turn, then just turn them off the same as you do in the demo game.

W key brings up a screen listing the weapons and their slot numbers. Press the slot number to fire the one particular weapon.

Thanks.

I am talking about not firing them in the AIs turn. I am thinking of the CD version and wondering can you set the filter to never fire the mortars in the AIs turn? Rather than turning them off every time and then having to turn them back on when it is my turn.

When the W key works for me I see the choice of weapons. But how do I get the W key to bring up that screen for the first shot? When I hit T they fire all weapons and thereafter the W screen works for me.

Should the W key work on the first shot. IOW hit W instead of T for target and it brings up the listing? That didn't work for me.

[Mobhack]

If you need something weird like you are asking for - then you will have to do it in a roundabout manner.

Press T for target, N and P to cycle targets, then W for the single weapon dialogue, then select weapon slot. W dialogue works against the currently selected target.

[Gerry1]

Originally Posted by Mobhack

If you need something weird like you are asking for - then you will have to do it in a roundabout manner.

Press T for target, N and P to cycle targets, then W for the single weapon dialogue, then select weapon slot. W dialogue works against the currently selected target.

Sorry, not trying to be dense but I probably am here.

1) Does the W key just work for Tanks? I tried it now with the German heavy infantry that has Mortars and I hit T but then W does nothing.

2) You say what I want is weird. Not sure I understand so maybe I am missing something else here.

[Mobhack]

1) You need a target selected - use the T key and cycle through what is available using N and P keys. Once desired target is selected, use W to list the weapons, and then 1..4 to select the single weapon slot.

Of course, nothing will happen if the firer has no ammo, or no shots left, or the selected weapon is out of range.

Or just do what I do - turn off any weapons I do not want to shoot and fire. Quite frankly - I dont think I have used the W key in 2-3 years since firing just one thing is something I rarely want to do. Turning one weapon off to save valuable ammo, I do regularly (e.g. turn off a Grant tank 75mm if firing the 37mm turret popgun at a scout car to save valuable 75mm AP, then turn it back on once the scout car is toasted. Who cares about the mgs - too much trouble to turn off and on).

2) You are the first person I have ever heard of trying to not fire something in opfire. If I dont want some element to fire in opfire I simply set range to 1 with the Y key. It will still return fire if the enemy engages it and its in range of course but wont fire voluntarily.

[Gerry1]

Thanks for the info on the Y key. Seems very useful.
You said:
"You are the first person I have ever heard of trying to not fire something in opfire"
I thought that would be the idea of opfire filtering? Does it not have any advantage over your method of setting range to 1?

[Mobhack]

Opfire filtering works on the unit basis - not the weapon line basis.

If you dont want a particular weapon to fire, you need to turn it off.

If you dont want the unit to fire at all, then selecting a range of 1 is usually the quickest way. The unit will of course return fire if the opponent fires on it, if it can - that is how filtering works if it getss shot at in order to allow return fire.

Opfire filtering can be handy for eg making ATGM teams select MBT sized targets but not scout cars, or setting an overwatch circle on say an exit from a town.