Is it only me or are explosive shells completely useless?

[Baller]

Title says it all really

[Inardesco]

Explosive shells operate by lighting a fuse. This means that the shell explodes when the fuse is burned up. This causes some margin of error which has shells explode mid-air or on on the ground.

Its not that effective when the boom is random. Doesnt mean its completely useless.

Personally, I skip explosive shells in favour of the burning and later the quicklime on howitzers.
For mortars, you want percussion shells. Same as explosive shells, except these explode on impact, not on fuse.

[pgeerkens]

Originally posted by Josip Broz Tito:

Title says it all really

Playing on battle Difficulty = Hard:
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I find that explosive shells are useful for counter-battery fire even after researching Carcass Shot.
I don't even bother researching Quicklime because (on Hard difficulty) I find it less effective than Carcass Shot. YMMV.

For howitzers my experience is that:
- Explosive Shells (aimed at ground just *over* the target) is more effective at killing the crew rather than disabling the guns. This does mean another crew might stumble on the guns and start firing them again. It is also less hit-and-miss than either Round or Carcass, so on average disables the battery faster
- Round Shot is absolutely devastating against *limbered* horse artillery, disabling both guns and limbers and killing the (mounted!) crew. it's also preferred against limbered normal artillery - but don't expect the same results as against horse artillery.
- Carcass Shot just doesn't seem very effective against either limbered or unlimbered artillery. Use it against crews that have wandered away from their guns, where it's area effect against the clustered crew now works better.

[operating1]

Originally posted by Josip Broz Tito:

Title says it all really

No, not really, just keep in mind that it's still early in artillery development..! If you are saying only one howitzer battery is near useless, could be an arguable stance, however if you have a grand battery of 4 to 5 12 lb. howitzer batteries makes a huge difference, no matter what kind of battle you are in. Statistically howitzers do not count for many kills in the AAR, but they do tire out enemy units significantly during the course of a battle. It's not till percussion shells emerge that howitzer kill totals start to ramp up. Depending on the terrain, if hilly, howitzers even with explosive shells proves it's worth for either side.. I'll be blunt: "If you want to cry about explosive shells, go get a towel and grow up"..

[AluminumCricket]

I think explosive shells are quite superior. Granted theyre less accurate. When they hit they cause the line to reform, and destroy morale. They're great all the time before the charge. Cant really say i would have won as many battles as i have if i didnt use explosive shells.

[travel]

artillery in general is useless even all teched out you will be lucky to get 30 kills. Sometimes you can focus fire on particularly nasty units and use the bouncing ball to clear a rank. in the time it takes you to do that your lines are charged. In sieges its a different story, canister shot can and cannons can massacre people through wall breaches.

[pgeerkens]

Originally posted by travel:

artillery in general is useless even all teched out you will be lucky to get 30 kills. Sometimes you can focus fire on particularly nasty units and use the bouncing ball to clear a rank. in the time it takes you to do that your lines are charged. In sieges its a different story, canister shot can and cannons can massacre people through wall breaches.

Woah! You need to rethink that position (and learn to better manage artillery).

I routinely destroy AI armies largely through the power of micro-managed Carcass Shot from my 4 batteries of howitzers. Even substantially outnumbered, I often inflict 4 to 6 times as many casualties on the AI forces as my own take - and that;s from proper artillery deployment and usage.
(Playing on Campaign Difficulty = Very Hard, Battle Difficulty = Hard.)