Combat Mission Shock Force 2 – Fire Support Parameters Guide

A quick reference taken from the manual to explain fire support.

Guide to Fire Support Parameters

All credit goes to Saint Mattis of Quantico!

Artillery Parameters

These are the Parameters for Artillery Missions. Which Parameters are shown for a specific request depends on the chosen support asset (for example, Smoke Missions are only available for assets that actually have smoke ammunition available):

Target

Sets the size and shape of the area to hit:

• Point Fire – focuses on a single Action Spot or specific enemy unit.
• Area – one click for the center and one for the perimeter Line – requires two clicks, one for each end of the line.
• Number – sets the portion of the Asset to use, from 1 to the total number in Asset (usually 2, 3, or 4).

Mission

Responsible for establishing initial Rate of Fire (ROF) and sustained ROF:

• Emergency – no spotting rounds, otherwise like Heavy (not available for pre-planned artillery strikes).
• Harass – very slow ROF to conserve ammunition.
• Light – slow ROF, remaining at slow ROF.
• Medium – medium ROF, then going to sustained ROF.
• Heavy – max ROF, then going to heavy sustained ROF.
• Precision – single round, fires up to one precision guided shell per tube at the target. Only available for Pojnt Fire targets. No spotting rounds, and Adjust is not available.
• Smoke – medium ROF, firing smoke ammunition to create a smoke screen rather than explosive ammo to damage or destroy the target.

Duration

Determines number of rounds to use per mission:

• Quick – 2-4 rounds.
• Short – 6-12 rounds.
• Medium – 12-18 rounds.
• Long – 20-28 rounds.
• Maximum – exhausts ammo supply.

Type – sets the munition mix based on the target type:

• General – generic setting.
• Personnel – weights in favor of airburst antipersonnel rounds.
• Note: Planned artillery strikes as well as strikes or- dered on a TRP can airburst if set to a “personnel” target. This simulates the use of timed fuses. Not all shells will airburst, although airburst capability is much more common in modern war titles.
• Delay – establishes when to start the support, prep time inclusive. 

The options are:

• Immediate – no extra delay.
• 5 Min – sets for 5 minutes min 10 Min – sets for 10 minutes min 15 Min – sets for 15 minutes min.

Air Mission Parameters

These are the Parameters for Air Missions (which Parameters are actually shown depends on the selected Air asset):

Target

Sets the size and shape of the area to hit:

• Point – focuses on a single Action Spot or unit.
• Area – one click for center and another click for perimeter.

Mission

Responsible for establishing the scope of the attack:

• Light – lighter Munitions.
• Medium – mix of lighter and medium Munitions.
• Heavy – medium Munitions with a smattering of lighter.

Type

Sets the munition mix based on the target type:

• General – favors unguided HE munitions.
• Personnel – favors HE munitions.

Delay

Establishes when to start the support, prep time inclusive. The options are:

• None – no extra delay.
• 5 Min – sets for 5 minutes min 10 Min – sets for 10 minutes min ect.