Rocket Arty is too abusable - ruins games

[Raventhefuhrer]

I'm here to make the case that rocket artillery needs something approaching a revamp. In most games, in most circumstances it's fine, and works as a great tool for popping open an entrenched position. However, it can also be abused and when that happens the games quickly turn toxic and destructive.

I'll feature two replays of games I played in, but I want to stress that I was not the one getting rocketed. This isn't a rage post made after getting a few nebelwerfers dropped on my clumped up infantry post, but the culmination of my opinions gathered since the closed beta. These games were both against the same player, playing the 17th SS, with a specific deck built for abuse. His name is 'Marduk', but I only say that so you can understand the replays better - I don't blame him for abusing things, I blame the game design. And that's what I want to change.

First, his deck: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=932379133
Yes, I know, it looks really dumb. And let's be honest - it's not a real deck, it's a 100% cheese deck, for a cheese playstyle. You can see it in action in the replays below, and I encourage you to watch both, but I'll add my annotations.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/dfhc264jagbboe7/Nebelwerfer_Abuse_1.rpl3
4v4 on Bois de Limors. I started on the opposite side of the map, but ended up having to redeploy to help the guy getting Nebelwerfered. Very frustrating, he just rockets you back to the stone age and pushes you off with elite Stugs. Luckily Marduk's poor AA net allowed us to pick off 3-4 Nebelwerfers with artillery and planes. Still, by the time I deployed over there the nail was already in the coffin for that side, but we managed to win in other areas to clinch the victory.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/4a495qisd9j6h2u/Nebelwerfer_Abuse_2.rpl3
3v3 on Caumont L'Evente. Again, I'm on the opposite side so I don't experience the barrage directly. In this game, Marduk starts with a Nebelwerfer and rockets McMacky's starting force before overrunning it. Macky had a botched opening, and didn't deploy well so fair enough - but it's worth noting that Marduk has 2 Nebelwerfers before phase B, and all 6 Nebelwerfers in his deck out before phase C. His strategy is to build a critical mass of rocket arty to where he can just drop it on top of any movement to prevent attacks and kill/damage units. Notice the 352nd players quadruple Sk 18 sitting in the back shelling at will, gleefully out of counterbattery range... that's a cancer of a different sort, but a topic for another thread. Also, this replay is 40 minutes long but I left shortly after McMacky quit so only the first 25-30 minutes are relevant.

Okay! Phew, if you at least skimmed those replays and my notes, I'm impressed. So the thing to notice is that in both replays, the player in front of Marduk ragequits. And you know what? I totally don't blame them. Being on the receiving end of rocket artillery just sucks, particularly if it's being spammed and abused like it was in these two games. This tactic essentially ruined the game for the two players on the receiving ends, and degraded the quality of the game for the rest of the players (who had to deal with a leaving teammate). Let me just say, obviously in this situation we featured Nebelwerfers but most rocket artillery is the same way, to one degree or another.

I know someone is already typing about how this is a niche deck and all you need to do is push in the ground and he can't repel you. That's a great theory, but in practice it just doesn't work - two Nebelwerfers alternating is enough to basically always be firing one while the other reloads, and it becomes trivial to delay attacks and maul infantry with rocket barrages. Remember, he has 2 Nebelwerfer before A is even over, and 6 before B is over. McMacky tries a few different times to push, with no luck - the panic and suppression is too much, and he's inevitably forced back.

"So what's the solution, Raven?"

I'm glad you asked! Alright, so I like the offensive power of the rocket artillery, and I like how it's a big '**** you' to someone who just digs in and camps all game. In the hands of a responsible player, it's a great tool, but the way the game's set up allows it to be abused. Here are my suggestions - some combination of them are necessary, in my opinion, to 'fix' rocket artillery. In no particular order.

• Increase Aim Time - Rocket Arty (and all arty, tbh) shouldn't be a 'panic button' that lets you rain brimstone down on any offensive. As it exists right now, artillery is capable of being reactionary... Meaning, you see a unit moving, it's trivial just to arty it as a reaction to harass the enemy at all times. In my opinion, arty should take much longer to aim, making it more of a planned move to break up stationary units, or pepper some woods before an attack.

• Increase Supply Cost - Artillery is too trivial to rearm right now. I'd advocate the resupply cost of rocket arty (and all arty >_> ) to be increased dramatically. I've played over 300 games in Steel Division + Beta, and I have never once run out of supply. Make arty cost a lot more to resupply, and people will be less casual about its use.

• Decrease Availability - Why is it possible to take so many dang arty pieces in a deck? In Red Dragon the 'good' artillery came 1 or 2 per card, with only 1 or 2 cards allowed. In Steel Division, everything else's availability was slashed but artillery availability increased 2 or 3 fold. What gives? Lower artillery availability, so it's more punishing to lose an artillery piece.

• Look at moving things back a phase - Okay look, the entire point of the phase system was to create three distinct time periods over which the battle gradually ramps up. The concept is amazing but I believe gets cheapened by the way the decks are structured. Why should you be able to take a Nebelwerfer (let alone 3) in Phase A? Doesn't that defeat the whole point of the phase system? Move the heavy artillery - guns, rockets, everything) back and move it far back. I'd like to see all of those types of units only come out in Phase C, while mortars and light howitzers are the kings of A and B. This would allow a more gradual ramp-up, and (I believe) more satisfying gameplay.

Please comment, discuss, etc.

Edit:
Here's another replay from a game I played today: Pay attention to Bash (Windhund Division, in the middle) http://www.mediafire.com/file/emv82sj8o6qc2d3/(Panzer)werfer_Abuse_3.rpl3

Basically, Bash starts with two Panzerwerfers, and gets a tank-busting Stuka as well. Same situation as before - rocket-artillery destroys someone's start, makes him ragequit, and then game quality becomes severely degraded for everyone else.

Why do we let these types of units come in phase A? They do not add anything to the game except the potential for 'dickery' in the early game. It's not assymetrical balancing, it's bad balancing.

 

[Rojan]

First three fixes for all artillery is fine. Last one is not. There is one deck in the entire game that gets phase A rocket artillery and symmetrical balance to limit the flavor of decks is terrible. The reason they gave 17. SS those nebelwerfers was because they lost their Sk. 18's in Phase B. Your entire argument rests upon some garbage-tier deck that relies upon spamming a single unit. If I see some goon spamming rocket arty like that just bomb it into oblivion, or artillery it.

 

[TheDeadlyShoe]

First three fixes for all artillery is fine. Last one is not. There is one deck in the entire game that gets phase A rocket artillery and symmetrical balance to limit the flavor of decks is terrible. The reason they gave 17. SS those nebelwerfers was because they lost their Sk. 18's in Phase B. Your entire argument rests upon some garbage-tier deck that relies upon spamming a single unit. If I see some goon spamming rocket arty like that just bomb it into oblivion, or artillery it.

Windhund gets panzerwerfers.

Rommelzirkus gets rocket aritllery too but its not strong.

 

[Lumpy3]

There is one deck in the entire game that gets phase A rocket artillery and symmetrical balance to limit the flavor of decks is terrible.

this is false. the 116th also get phase A panzerwerfer.

the only thing these units are good for in phase A is early game cheese. there isn't enough dug in positions already 10 minutes into the game to need something as powerful as rocket artillery to stun and advance into.

edit: as TheDeadlyShoe said the 21st also get rocket artillery.

 

[Vyllis]

Its no fun. A bit of artillery is okay, so many available everywhere and for cheap as we have now can just get tiresome to face.
However as you said: There are way to counter it, a good player can get rid of it.

But man, unless they are motivated, it is making casual/regular players not only have a bad experience and maybe quit the match; it is also a way to drive them away from the game.
I remember WG artillery meta cancer (terrible times i tell you) moments and how it made my friends not wanting to touch it anymore and being now uncertain about getting SD.

You can also take a look of one of the several thread about artillery problem:
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/artillery-ratata.1023699/


Note: I already fought versus a similar cheese deck full of platoon leader and artillery.
I won with superior air spam but i do not want to face this boredom shit again... really, no thank you.

 

[Rojan]

Windhund gets panzerwerfers.

Rommelzirkus gets rocket aritllery too but its not strong.

this is false. the 116th also get phase A panzerwerfer.

the only thing these units are good for in phase A is early game cheese. there isn't enough dug in positions already 10 minutes into the game to need something as powerful as rocket artillery to stun and advance into.

edit: as TheDeadlyShoe said the 21st also get rocket artillery.

Yeah my bad, I forgot about the 116. getting a panzerwerfer. The 21. little clown car amalgamation thing is hilarious but not really a huge threat. But anyways, early game rocket artillery doesn't make or break the game. The extreme meme scenario presented by the OP is not a reliable tactic and can be shut down easily.

 

[Lumpy3]

The extreme meme scenario presented by the OP is not a reliable tactic and can be shut down easily.

this is true, however, one person having to endure endless rain of rocket artillery while other spread out and take the map doesn't exactly make for fun gameplay. if you watch the first replay he shows, you'll see we win rather easily.

you're also missing the point a bit. the issue OP has is not just strictly with rocket artillery in phase A. it's the overall effectiveness of rocket artillery, and these two games highlight this more because of the strategy employed by the player. Rocket artillery in its current form is not only offensive but also defensive because of various qualities such as aim time and reload speed. the phase A availability was more of a comment on the pacing of the game rather than the core issue.

 

[Raventhefuhrer]

Yeah my bad, I forgot about the 116. getting a panzerwerfer. The 21. little clown car amalgamation thing is hilarious but not really a huge threat. But anyways, early game rocket artillery doesn't make or break the game. The extreme meme scenario presented by the OP is not a reliable tactic and can be shut down easily.

Well, let me unpack this a bit.

First of all, I concede the scenario I presented was a bit 'meme'-like and rare, but when it does happen it pretty much breaks the game. Keep in mind that in both games, the player on the receiving end ragequit. The player in the first replay wasn't someone I knew, but in the second game I was on Discord with my teammate, who is a buddy of mine, and he basically said 'Sorry I can't handle this anymore' and left the game, even though he knew he was screwing his friend over.

Win or lose, it doesn't matter - in one game my team beat the strategy, and in another game we didn't. But the fact that it's possible to build a deck like that, play it, and be successful is just wrong and we shouldn't accept that. Even if you beat the strategy, you still lose because you wasted forty minutes in a cancer match that makes you frustrated with Steel Division. Nobody I was in comms with wanted to play again after those games - everyone 'needed a break'.

I'm not looking for advice on how to beat it, nor do I want to be dismissed based on your assumption that you could beat the strategy. Point is, it shouldn't be a strategy - artillery is out of control, and the replays I posted just show the most egregious example. Even so, if you had watched the replays you'd see that in game 2 a player gets a whole horde of Sk-18 and just spams those as well. Nebelwerfers aren't the only issue here, it's just what I chose to focus on.

 

[Sarin]

Disagree.

They already take ages to load. They drain supply and require a supply vehicle to even reload. It is one volley and then WAIT ..... WAIT.....
That is why he takes so many.

Arty vehicles already take 20 seconds to aim.

Availability is already 1 per card. To take 3 of those he gives up 3 of his slots.
In fact he gives up his entire artillery tab and nearly 1/6th of his entire overall selection, for 6 Arty pieces

He could get 4x FK 18+ on one card in B for example, instead of 1x of those Rocket Arty.
So they should be good.


It only fires in a certain AOE, spread your units out, right out.

Rocket Arty moves VERY slow. So you can counter arty it.
The fact it takes a few seconds to fire off its shots, means you can counter battery it fairly decently. The way it fires makes it easy to spot where it is.
They have 6 strength and move at 10kmph. They die.
You can bomb them, buy an early bomber and as soon as he fires bomb it.
Spread your units out and he can't do shit.



Really it is a one trick pony, kills clustered infantry, panic's units that are grouped up.
Takes ages to reload, takes up tons of availability.
its max range is 1600. So he can't counter arty you, you can however counter arty him.
Costs a lot in supply.
Grens are the only division that can do it. It is their thing.


I just watched the last replay.
Your team mate had most of his units within 200m of each other, Q attacking directly towards the enemy. It took a decent amount of time to aim and fire.

This is exactly what that artillery unit is designed to stop people doing.
Your team mate lost maybe 300 points of stuff, in the open, clustered, against a stug that had already killed the tank and was decimating.

He later fires 2 volleys at a machinegun squad and an unarmoured Jeep.
The machinegun squad after, was still alive, and the jeep only went to panic...

The next thing he killed, was an AT gun sitting out in the open...

Your mate, then got a crappy tank, to go head to head with the far superior stug, 3 upvet and its command vehicle partner.

Next he double artied your friends again clustered stuff, and killed 1 jeep, harming nothing else.
His next single volley, killed ZERO men.
The next double volley. Killed 2 men and HALF panics a vehicle.

By now, between the 3, he has gone through an entire supply truck (spread out over 2 supply trucks being used)
That is 50 points of supply used.

To kill with those reloaded munitions. A jeep and 2 men, and half panic a vehicle.
Meanwhile your team mate does not own a SINGLE PIECE OF ARTY, has not tried to counter battery him, and is driving tanks straight to their death.
Losing points stupidly like crazy.

When he finally does counter battery at range. The rocket arty has to run away.
Probably worth noting, the single sexton kills a fuhrer squad by accident, racking up more points then the reloaded rocket arty has up till this point.

At the 25 minute mark, your mate still has 1 sexton that he barely bothers to fire at times.
He then lets a stug kill 2 tanks in front of his sexton, and then drive close enough to shoot at the sexton... and kill it.

The next kill by a rocket arty, is again an AT gun right out in the open field.
Your team mate then promptly buys another command tank, that he loses in 10 seconds.
The following rocket battery, hits nothing.

35 minutes in. 1 arty sexton was bought, badly used and allowed to be killed by a tank.
No other arty, no attempts to counter battery

Marduk has now spent more points on SUPPLY TRUCKS, then your mate did on artillery to stop him.

Your mate then clusters 7 units within 200m. 4 of them infantry squads.
It gets artied, no unit of it dies, a few men die. Vehicle not even stunned.
2 more following volley, kills 2 squads.
Costing your mate 40 whopping points.

40th minute. Still no more arty purchased for counter battery.
Your friend still walking infantry across open fields.

Your friend doesn't even have a SINGLE UNIT OF RECON, but is walking 5 units at a time side by side across 1000m of open ground towards the enemy.

Your friend took 3650 losses. For 1150 kills.

ROCKET ARTY ONE killed. - A jeep
ROCKET ARTY TWO killed - an AT gun.
ROCKET ARTY THREE - two AT guns.
ROCKET ARTY FOUR was by far the most successful with - 3 infantry, 1 AT gun, a Halftrack and an ACHILLES open top.
That is it. It should also be mentioned that those AT guns were in the open.

555 points worth of rocket arty and 200 points worth of supply.

Managed to kill. DRUM ROLL....

475 points worth of stuff.

In a game where for 95% of the time they were allowed to fire without counter battery....

Stugs are what destroyed your friend.
Him driving countless vehicles into them, head first, wave after wave without any recon.



Nothing to see here.
(i don't play grenadiers)

 

[Raventhefuhrer]

Your post is poorly formatted and comes across as a stream of consciousness. Presumably you were watching the replay and then tabbing out to write as your saw stuff happen. The problem is that you point out flaws in play to try and paper over the issue, which is the reason why most people are hesitant to post replays - unless you play flawlessly, whatever you were doing gets picked apart and invalidated because you made this or that sloppy move.

In any case, I wasn't the one playing so I won't get down into the weeds and comment on the nuance of each point you brought up. The issue with rocket artillery isn't so much what it kills, it's that it constantly pushes you back and disrupts your forces by damaging infantry and panicking tanks. The value of the rocket arty is therefore in assisting other units in getting the kills (I'm pleased you noticed that's what the elite Stugs are for!) and delaying the opponent from attacking by keeping all of his stuff panicked.

Also, artillery aims in 10 seconds, not 20.

 

[Rojan]

Well, let me unpack this a bit.

First of all, I concede the scenario I presented was a bit 'meme'-like and rare, but when it does happen it pretty much breaks the game. Keep in mind that in both games, the player on the receiving end ragequit. The player in the first replay wasn't someone I knew, but in the second game I was on Discord with my teammate, who is a buddy of mine, and he basically said 'Sorry I can't handle this anymore' and left the game, even though he knew he was screwing his friend over.

Win or lose, it doesn't matter - in one game my team beat the strategy, and in another game we didn't. But the fact that it's possible to build a deck like that, play it, and be successful is just wrong and we shouldn't accept that. Even if you beat the strategy, you still lose because you wasted forty minutes in a cancer match that makes you frustrated with Steel Division. Nobody I was in comms with wanted to play again after those games - everyone 'needed a break'.

I'm not looking for advice on how to beat it, nor do I want to be dismissed based on your assumption that you could beat the strategy. Point is, it shouldn't be a strategy - artillery is out of control, and the replays I posted just show the most egregious example. Even so, if you had watched the replays you'd see that in game 2 a player gets a whole horde of Sk-18 and just spams those as well. Nebelwerfers aren't the only issue here, it's just what I chose to focus on.

People spam retarded shit all the time. It is a bad idea. They can spam stuff you don't like such as artillery. It might be annoying as hell to play against (the only scenario that I am familiar with is the 2nd ID spamming the hell out of mortars with veterancy so they fire like machine guns) but there are ways to beat it because it puts the player at a severe disadvantage. Those are wasted frontline points because he will never kill enough of your shit with indirect fire to make up for the fact that you are sweeping his line.

 

[Lumpy3]

They already take ages to load. They drain supply and require a supply vehicle to even reload. It is one volley and then WAIT ..... WAIT.....
That is why he takes so many.

they take a couple minutes to reload, which given their strength is nothing. also the supply usage is minimal. you can fire 2 nebel 41s off of 1 truck for an entire game easily.

Arty vehicles already take 20 seconds to aim.

this is false as well, nebel 41s take 10 seconds to aim.

Availability is already 1 per card. To take 3 of those he gives up 3 of his slots.
In fact he gives up his entire artillery tab and nearly 1/6th of his entire overall selection, for 6 Arty pieces

this is because he chose to take his nebels in phase A. had he wanted to he could have taken any number of cards in B and had more to boot.

t only fires in a certain AOE, spread your units out, right out.

this isn't always possible, as you need to use cover to conceal units from getting attacked by conventional means. you can't just spread everything out into the middle of nowhere.

Rocket Arty moves VERY slow. So you can counter arty it.
The fact it takes a few seconds to fire off its shots, means you can counter battery it fairly decently. The way it fires makes it easy to spot where it is.

yes, you can counterbattery. however, nebels in particular fire fast and have few rockets, meaning by the time you press your artillery hotkey, they aim and shells impact he is most likely moving. because a good player queues up a move order for when their rocket artillery finishes fighting. bonus points if you use a half track to reposition.

Your friend took 3650 losses. For 1150 kills.

ROCKET ARTY ONE killed. - A jeep
ROCKET ARTY TWO killed - an AT gun.
ROCKET ARTY THREE - two AT guns.
ROCKET ARTY FOUR was by far the most successful with - 3 infantry, 1 AT gun, a Halftrack and an ACHILLES open top.
That is it. It should also be mentioned that those AT guns were in the open.

555 points worth of rocket arty and 200 points worth of supply.

Managed to kill. DRUM ROLL....

475 points worth of stuff.

rocket artillery is not strong because it kills. rocket artillery is strong because it panics and stuns your opponent so that his units are not combat effective, so that your units can engage with minimal resistance. it is also powerful because the current aim times allow them to fire on advancing attacking units.



rocket artillery is currently too versatile, allowing a player to break up defensive positions, delay offensives, and dictate the flow of battle with minimal effort and supply usage.

 

[Sarin]

Your post is poorly formatted and comes across as a stream of consciousness. Presumably you were watching the replay and then tabbing out to write as your saw stuff happen. The problem is that you point out flaws in play to try and paper over the issue, which is the reason why most people are hesitant to post replays - unless you play flawlessly, whatever you were doing gets picked apart and invalidated because you made this or that sloppy move.

In any case, I wasn't the one playing so I won't get down into the weeds and comment on the nuance of each point you brought up. The issue with rocket artillery isn't so much what it kills, it's that it constantly pushes you back and disrupts your forces by damaging infantry and panicking tanks. The value of the rocket arty is therefore in assisting other units in getting the kills (I'm pleased you noticed that's what the elite Stugs are for!) and delaying the opponent from attacking by keeping all of his stuff panicked.

Also, artillery aims in 10 seconds, not 20.

I put in what it stunned...

It had NO WHERE near the impact you were implying.

I even put the costs and the kills cost.

You are blaming the arty, when your team mate took 1 arty piece that he barely used and promptly lost.
He fired maybe 10 shells in a 40 minute game at Rocket Arty, and when he did it immediately had to retreat and the arty not even aiming for the Fuhrer squad, killed it.

Your team mate didn't even have recon, he had no arty, he made his units suicide into the enemy over and over and over.

What you said is false. If you didn't expect people to watch the replay and comment, calling out what really happened.
Then you shouldn't have posted the replays.

 

[Lumpy3]

People spam retarded shit all the time. It is a bad idea. They can spam stuff you don't like such as artillery. It might be annoying as hell to play against (the only scenario that I am familiar with is the 2nd ID spamming the hell out of mortars with veterancy so they fire like machine guns) but there are ways to beat it because it puts the player at a severe disadvantage. Those are wasted frontline points because he will never kill enough of your shit with indirect fire to make up for the fact that you are sweeping his line.

you are right. however, mortar spam isn't capable of stunning your entire force in a matter of seconds. mortars are able to be played around as they can only engage a single target at once and aren't as effective against armor as they are infantry.

rockets are a point click "i win this engagement" button in their current state.

 

[Sarin]

yes, you can counterbattery. however,


rocket artillery is not strong because it kills. rocket artillery is strong because it panics and stuns your opponent so that his units are not combat effective, so that your units can engage with minimal resistance. it is also powerful because the current aim times allow them to fire on advancing attacking units.



rocket artillery is currently too versatile, allowing a player to break up defensive positions, delay offensives, and dictate the flow of battle with minimal effort and supply usage.

So he chose not to counter rocket arty, so nerf rocket arty.

The replay doesn't show mass stuns at all, go watch the replay or if you have stop lying.
Or I will just put it up on youtube and everyone can see how false the claims are.

Arty is designed to fire on advancing units .....

So arty, behaved like arty. It is to blame for the opponent not taking arty, or counter arty, or buying recon, or not grouping his units up, or deciding not to drive vehicles headlong into their deaths unsupported.

Right.

 

[Rojan]

rockets are a point click "i win this engagement" button in their current state.

No it is not at all. It is used to soften clusters of defenses so they can actually be attacked. I use it in large forests or towns that would otherwise be suicide to attack without rocket support. I have been on the receiving end of rocket artillery and as long as you bring infantry relief while counter batterying the rockets you are golden. Keep the infantry spread as much as possible, and keep a leader near them as well.

 

[Lumpy3]

So he chose not to counter rocket arty, so nerf rocket arty.

The replay doesn't show mass stuns at all, go watch the replay or if you have stop lying.
Or I will just put it up on youtube and everyone can see how false the claims are.

perhaps this one didn't, but I know for a fact the first replay did. and I know this because i was in the game.

you say he doesn't use his artillery, yet at one point it is almost out of ammunition. also he attempts to counter battery on at least one occasion, with dubious effectiveness. you are using this person's skill as a strawman. not to mention the fact that this person left after around 20 minutes, and was taken over by an AI player afterwards.

Arty is designed to fire on advancing units .....

LOL

 

[Lumpy3]

No it is not at all. It is used to soften clusters of defenses so they can actually be attacked. I use it in large forests or towns that would otherwise be suicide to attack without rocket support. I have been on the receiving end of rocket artillery and as long as you bring infantry relief while counter batterying the rockets you are golden. Keep the infantry spread as much as possible, and keep a leader near them as well.

yeah, it should be used to soften dug in positions. 10 second aim time however does allow it to fire on attacking troops very effectively, and if beta replays still work I can provide several to prove it.

 

[Sarin]

and I know this because i was in the game.

And their we go...

you say he doesn't use his artillery,

In the game I posted about, i put exactly what his one arty did.

I don't think you even read that post, or are even talking about the same replay.

I think you just looked at the post and said "this guy doesn't agree the game my team lost was rigged due to OP arty" and immediately disagreed and said it was OP again.
Maybe go read through what happened in that game and go watch it yourself.

Your team mate, bought 1 arty piece, barely used and when he did he forced the rocket arty to retreat.
Then got it killed stupidly and purchased no more.

While repeatedly zerging units to their deaths with no recon.

The stugs did 10x the work on the rocket arty and then some, 90% of stug kills were not stunned from rocket arty.

 

[Rojan]

yeah, it should be used to soften dug in positions. 10 second aim time however does allow it to fire on attacking troops very effectively, and if beta replays still work I can provide several to prove it.

I know that it is ten second aim time. My original post agrees with the possibility of increasing all artillery aim times by a few seconds. I however just looked at some of my old replays and the rocket artillery pieces are utter supply hogs. There is no need to further increase the reliance of supply. Availability is fine as well. If some idiot wants to spend all game making a little collection of nebelwerfers so they get naval bombarded then more power to them.