Artillery

Artillery is a collective term for weapons that fire High Explosive Shells or Rockets in a high arc at very distant targets. The term is mostly used to refer to the heavier varieties of these weapons, capable of launching shells with diameters measured in inches over distances of several kilometers. It technically also applies to certain small (and even hand-held) weapons.

Artillery is typically used to soften an enemy position prior to assaulting it, or delay an enemy advance. Since the shells travel at a very high arc, and are often fired from very far away, they have several disadvantages compared to direct-fire weapons. Nevertheless, the explosive power of artillery shells is massive compared to similarly-sized direct-fire weapons, and artillery shells are typically fired in salvos to "saturate" an area with explosions - potentially killing many targets with a single salvo.

In addition to firing high-explosive shells, artillery can also fire Smoke shells to conceal a large area from enemy view - assisting a large friendly assault or withdrawal. Other shell types (such as Napalm or White Phosphorus) also appear from time to time, typically fired by enemy artillery.

Artillery is moderately common in ShackTac missions. For the most part, enemy artillery will shell friendly (player) forces throughout a mission. On occasion, friendlies may have a Mortar Team on their side as artillery support (most common in ArmA 2 and post-2018 ArmA 3). Grenade Launchers, while not necessarily considered true "artillery", are nevertheless carried by Fireteam Leaders and Squad Leaders in almost every single mission. Finally, enemy heavy artillery pieces are occasionally a mission-objective to be located and destroyed during Raid-type missions.

When friendlies have access to artillery, they may have a Forward Observer on the ground or in the air whose only task is to ascertain enemy positions, mark them on the map, and coordinate fire-missions with the artillery team (or with off-map artillery).

Specifications
The dry definition of "Artillery" would be any unguided weapon that fires at a target indirectly. In other words, it does not require a line-of-sight to the target, and can (and often does) fire upwards at a steep angle, over any obstacles that might be present. The "unguided" part of this definition serves to distinguish artillery from guided missiles, which belong to a completely different group of weapons.

This definition is still relatively broad, and includes weapons of very different sizes - but they are all used in a very similar way. The main difference is the effective range, accuracy, and mobility of the weapon, as well as the damage potential of the projectiles it fires.

Mortars
One of the more common types of artillery in ShackTac are Mortars. These weapons look like a short barrel, perhaps a meter in length, with a detachable base or Bipod to prop it up. Mortars are light enough to be carried by Infantry; A two-man or three-man Mortar Team will be tasked with operating one. Mortar teams remain some distance behind friendly forces (if possible), as they are incapable of defending themselves properly in combat.

Mortars typically fire an ~80mm High Explosive shell, but can also fire Smoke shells. Their effective range is around 1 kilometer, but they can fire further than that at reduced accuracy. The targets are either called in by a Forward Observer (if one is available) or by the combat Squads themselves, and will typically be marked on the map using the abbreviation "TRP" or "TGT". Mortar teams must estimate the direction and range to the target before firing, and mistakes can very easily lead to Friendly Fire.

A mortar shell can kill infantry at a significant distance from the impact point, and may even damage or destroy unarmored or lightly-armored vehicles. Multiple direct hits to a building can easily destroy it. Mortars are not powerful enough to reliably destroy armored vehicles, and are rarely used against them.

Heavy Artillery
Heavy Artillery (or "Large-caliber Artillery") is almost never seen physically in ShackTac, but takes part in a few missions. It is mostly an off-map asset used by the AI-controlled enemy to soften or delay the players. Heavy artillery is never (?) used by the players themselves, although friendly "off-map" barrages have been seen in past missions, possibly initiated by the Game Master as part of the mission scenario.

Heavy artillery is exceptionally powerful. It fires a large number of shells, and they cause massive explosions that can knock out buildings in a single hit or eliminate a large number of targets. This is one reason why its use is so limited in ShackTac - it can make things too easy for the players by eliminating a substantial number of opponents for them.

Heavy Artillery can fire a variety of shells, including Smoke, Napalm, and White Phosphorus. The latter two, while very rarely used, can be extremely dangerous to Infantry.

Rocket Artillery
An important variant of Heavy Artillery (see prev. section) is Rocket Artillery. These weapons have multiple barrels loaded with high explosive rockets. They fire all of these rockets in rapid succession, saturating the target area with a multitude of deadly explosions within a very short period of time. The rockets are highly visible as they fly through the air, but then the blazing trails disappears and the people in the target zone can only wait for the sudden mass of explosions that follows.

Rocket Artillery is as rare as "normal" Heavy Artillery in ShackTac videos. It may appear in the service of either BLUFOR or OPFOR, as the scenario dictates. So far, Rocket Artillery has only been seen to use High Explosive munitions, although in real life there exist rockets with different types of warheads.

Grenade Launchers
Almost every single mission in ShackTac features Grenade Launchers, typically carried by the Squad Leaders, Fireteam Leaders, and other command officers. Certain vehicles like the LAV and certain types of Boats carry fully-automatic Grenade Launchers that can fire in rapid succession.

Grenade Launchers are defined as artillery only in the broadest sense of the word, as they use a similar mechanism to launch their grenades, and typically fire in an arcing fashion that does not necessarily require line-of-sight to the target. Automatic Grenade Launchers in particular are used like Artillery to saturate an area with explosions. Nevertheless, Grenade Launchers aren't typically referred to as artillery pieces, primarily because the explosions are nowhere near as large or as powerful as any other artillery weapons.

Munitions
Artillery is mostly used to destroy Infantry and Light Vehicles at the target area. For this task, it will use High Explosive shells or rockets. In addition, most types of artillery weapons can fire a variety of different warheads to provide a different effect, including non-damaging effects such as smoke or illumination.

High Explosives
The vast majority of Artillery barrages involve High Explosive shells or rockets. A High Explosive warhead simply contains a large amount of explosive material (typically TNT), and detonates on impact with any object. Since artillery shells are relatively large and heavy, the explosion is typically both impressive and powerful. It can hurt or kill Infantry at a large radius from the impact point, can destroy Light Vehicles with ease, and has some chance of disabling heavier vehicles. A large shell can potentially destroy a building in one hit (or a few at most).

Every type of Artillery weapon can fire High Explosive shells. Grenade Launchers (incl. automatic ones) typically fire HEDP shells instead, which also release a large number of fragments and have a slightly better effect against armored vehicles - but these are not normally considered artillery weapons in ShackTac.

Smoke
Artillery can lay down a large cloud of Smoke by firing specialized shells. This occurs rarely in ShackTac, typically by player-operated Mortars and Grenade Launchers. Smoke can be used this way to provide concealment for a large friendly force to move through an open area without being effectively engaged by the enemy. Artillery will usually fire smoke directly at the enemy position, although Grenade Launchers can be used differently.

Flares
During night missions, artillery can fire Flares to illuminate an area for a short period of time, making it easier to spot enemies attempting to move through that area. A single flare shell is fired high into the air; When it reaches the apex of its arc, it triggers a chemical reaction that causes the shell to glow very brightly. Simultaneously it deploys a parachute that allows it to drift very slowly down to the surface. After a certain amount of time passes (usu. around 2 minutes or so) the shell's chemicals are depleted and it is extinguished.

Grenade Launchers are the primary source of flares during night missions, and will be used constantly for this purpose when flares are available. When Mortars are available during night missions, they will provide longer-lasting (and brighter) flares, but take a longer time to fire (and may be busy firing High Explosive shells at the enemy most of the time anyway).

Napalm and White Phosporus
Finally, on extremely rare occasions, Artillery can fire two types of unconventional warheads - Napalm and White Phosphorus - intended to cause lasting damage over time.

When these shells impact, they begin to burn any exposed Infantry caught in the impact area, which can be several dozen meters wide. Napalm works by spraying petroleum jelly over the target zone and then setting it on fire, whereas White Phosphorus scatters extremely hot particles that will quickly burn holes into a person's skin. As far as ArmA is concerned, the two shell types are technically identical, with the only real difference being that White Phosphorus produces a lot of smoke (that is its primary purpose). The effect on the targets is to cause them to burst into flame. These shells have no apparent effect on vehicles or buildings, but may affect any soldiers inside them.

Both of these shell types are extremely rare, seen in only a handful of videos across ShackTac's extensive video history.

Usage
Heavier artillery is not used by the players themselves, and can only be utilized by the Game Master at his own discretion. Lighter artillery, and particularly Grenade Launchers, are used frequently by the players, although the methods vary from one weapon to another.

Grenade Launchers
Grenade Launchers are typically carried by each and every player in a leadership position, from Fireteam Leaders and upwards. They may carry a variety of shells, particularly HEDP, Smoke and Flare grenades.

Most Grenade Launchers are under-barrel mounted, and the player may switch to them almost instantly. In Low-Tech scenarioes, players may instead be carrying a separate grenade launcher slung over their back - which makes switching to the GL a lot slower.

A special sight on the launcher allows the weapon to be aimed at targets further afield, but is not absolutely necessary for close-up targets. Flares are instead typically fired straight up (or almost straight up) over the desired area for illumination, in order to give the flare a higher arc apex and thus make it last longer in the air.

Explosive grenades (HEDP) have a certain minimum range, which varies from model to model. If the grenade impacts with a target before reaching its minimum flying time, it will deactivate entirely and will not explode.

Mortars
Mortars are carried by a specialized 2-man or 3-man Infantry team called a Mortar Team. Their only responsibility is to operate the weapon. A Mortar Team typically stays well behind the rest of the force, in a position that is completely obscured from enemy fire (if one is available). Platoon HQ may occupy the same position with them.

Mortar operation requires one person to load the mortar, while another aims and fires it. A third person may be present to lead the unit and facilitate easier communications with the rest of the force, and/or to protect the Mortar Team's flanks.

Mortars must be set up before they can be fired. This requires placing a tripod on the ground, and then installing the mortar barrel on top of it. The mortar must then be loaded with the appropriate shell. When a mortar needs to be moved elsewhere, it must first be unloaded and dismantled. Each member of the team carries a different piece of the mortar, with shells being distributed to as many members as have enough room to carry them. A vehicle (typically a Recon Vehicle such as an unarmed HMMWV) may be used for transport and for carrying additional shells.

The actual operation of the mortar differs between different versions of ArmA. It always requires determining the distance and direction to the target. Whoever relayed the target information may also request the exact number and type of shells to be fired. The Mortar Team will announce when it begins to fire, and will also announce when it is done firing, to reduce the chance of friendly units wandering into the target zone as it is being struck by shells.

Heavy Artillery
Heavy Artillery is not directly available to the players. It is fully in control of the Game Master, and will only fire when the Game Master decides that it should. Heavy Artillery pieces may not even be present on the map at all - the shells may be fired from an off-map asset such as a heavy battleship out at sea.

It is currently unclear whether the commanding officer of the player-controlled Side can even request an artillery barrage when it is available, or whether the Game Master only fires the shells when the mission parameters require it.

Enemy-controlled Heavy Artillery does often appear on the map, and may fire at the players constantly during a mission. In this case, it is solely directed by either the AI or the Game Master.

Artillery as a Mission Objective
The enemy may have Heavy Artillery assets on the map that double as a mission objective to be destroyed. The players will spot these assets, mark them on the map, and (if instructed to do so) destroy the weapon using Explosive Charges, Anti-Tank Launchers, or any other weapon capable of destroying vehicles.

In some scenarios, the artillery must be destroyed in order to stop it from shelling the players themselves. In other situations, it must be destroyed before it can attack some other target.