Artillery emplacement very effective against stationary targets. Must barrage to attack.
The M2A1 Howitzer Team is an elite artillery emplacement. In skirmishes, it is only available exclusively with Advanced Infantry Battlegroup (which itself requires either purchasing the Hammer & Shield DLC pack, or unlocked with Merit).
Once the battlegroup perk M2A1 105mm Howitzer Emplacement is attained, the
Like other artillery units it has access to High-Explosive Barrage. As it is a heavy artillery unit, these barrages are devastating, with massive damage potential and large area of effect. These explosions even create yellow cover in the form of craters in the ground. The range of these barrages is extremely large, so in most cases it can be built in a fairly safe position.
This unit cannot normally auto-attack or attack ground. However, if the Free Fire Drills battlegroup perk is attained, this emplacement will be able to automatically attack enemies spotted within 110 range of it (this is much smaller than its barrage range), alongside gaining the ability to attack ground. Note that this attack (including attack ground) has a cooldown which is indicated by an icon after firing.
As with most heavy weapons, if the emplacement is damaged sufficiently the crew members can be killed and the weapon abandoned on the field, meaning any player including the enemy can then re-crew it. This is rarely an issue however due to the nature of artillery emplacements, as it is likely placed very close to the HQ territory.
At veterancy level 1 it gain a choice between the Charged Shells or Artillery Support passives. Charged Shells enhances its barrages significantly, including adding a debilitating effect to vehicles. Artillery Support buffs nearby friendly infantry after firing. See below section for more info.
1200 XP
2400 XP
4800 XP
All USF units can choose between one of two veterancy abilities specific to them, upon reaching veterancy level 1.
Charged Shells: Passive ability. Enhances the barrage ability of the unit with increased area of effect and adds a debilitating effect to vehicles it damages. Increases the area of effect radius of its explosions by 2. Shocked vehicles receive -60% speed and rotation, -80% acceleration, and disables weapons for 3 seconds. Overall an incredible boost to the howitzer's barrages, further enhancing its dedicated artillery role. The debilitating effect for vehicles is incredibly powerful considering the wide area of effect of each barrage. Charged Shells only applies to barrages, not auto attacks / attack ground.
Artillery Support: Passive ability. The player's own nearby infantry units will gain substantial combat bonuses after the howitzer fires. These include +40% speed, -50% received suppression, and -20% received accuracy for 20 seconds. The bonuses do not stack on repeat volleys, and the duration of the bonuses do not extend either (but if the duration runs out, it can be regained again if the howitzer fires). Note that any barrage, auto attack, or attack ground counts for creating this effect. These bonuses are quite massive and can be extremely powerful it utilized properly, though it can be difficult to do so as it requires many things coming together in the late game, including building and leveling up a howitzer, as well as having nearby infantry ready to go.
45
60
Note: Zeroed-In barrage is not available in skirmishes.
High-Explosive Barrage: Active ability. Fires off several explosive rounds at the target area, with a large blast radius for each explosion. As it is heavy artillery, it is most effective against stationary and garrisoned infantry targets, though it can deal significant damage to various vehicles too. Each explosion deforms the terrain, creating yellow cover in the form of craters.
105mm-howitzer-normal-us | Near | Mid | Far |
---|---|---|---|
Range | 36 | 37 | 110 |
Penetration | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 |
BL 5.5-Inch Howitzer, Obice 210, and M2A1 105mm Howitzer
Howitzer emplacements saw minimal use due to their low durability, particularly in artillery duels against mobile artillery. We are partially reverting the health nerf to allow emplaced howitzers to better survive counter-barrage fire from on-map artillery and give players more time to react if they are being raided.
Health increased 480 to 600
Free Fire Drills
Free Fire Drills did not offer enough reward to the player when they built their howitzers closer to the front-line where they could be attacked by the enemy if the line was pushed. We are significantly increasing the rate of fire to encourage putting the howitzer closer to the front-line when this Battlegroup ability is selected.
Command point cost reduced from 3 to 2
M2A1 105mm Howitzer auto-fire reload speed sped up from 15 to 10 seconds
Auto-fire ready-aim time reduced from 2 to 1
February 27 2024 (1 Year Anniversary)
M2A1 105mm Howitzer Emplacement
Barrage range increased from 250 to 300
Wind-up decreased from 0.25 to 0