Minovsky particles, last I checked, blocked radiowaves, and interfered with but did not negate IR, but somehow left the optical spectrum alone. Which is rather why every UC MS relies almost entirely on optical sensors, with long-range ship sensors being predominantly infrared, since it provides better contrast against the background of space.Seraphic wrote:A second reason why I wouldn't use shelling in space is because targetting would have to rely on optical sensors, but that's the exact spectrum range that Minovsky interference would screw up. =/ You notice all the massive missile shelling in CCA, but they hardly hit anything unless it was a giant rock.
So, frankly, finding your position via optical sensors would be a snap. And all of the strategic targets I mentioned would also be plotted with high degree of accuracy due to their relatively immobile nature.
Being able to shoot above terrain would be a bigger factor if 1) accuracy was good, because an artillery shell is going to need a direct hit against a hardened target like an MS and 2) communication was sufficient to allow for accuracy. Unfortunately, Minovsky particle distribution ruins communication, and MS mobility prevents other options for direct hits.Seraphic wrote:As mentioned before, what I find attractive about an artillery gun attack in a MS scenario is that the gun has an arcing trajectory, so it can shoot around the terrain basically. MS would have no cover from that. And if your gun is good enough, you can shell the MS well outside of their counterattack range. And while they're weakened from taking artillery fire, send in your own MS or something. Combined arms, like MrMarch said. (And I would love to see an A-11 MS killer!) =p
Combined arms does, of course, beat one-trick ponies any day of the week and thrice on Sundays. Which is why the US Marine Corps and other intelligent militaries introduces the combined arms dilemma at the fire team level (four infantrymen), and just makes it a bigger problem for enemies as the formations get bigger.
Sadly, the closest Gundam ever gets to combined arms is still within the MS community, with the close-combat/ranged combat teams, such as the GM/GM Cannon (or GM/Ball), and the Gyan/Rick Dom.
You still have to define what you mean by "artillery", however; modern armies use it solely to refer to high-angle indirect howitzers, but most "artillery mobile suits" operate primarily as direct-fire elements; you don't often find a Guntank firing at a target the pilot can't see. In fact, I can't think of a single case where that happened; I don't remember the Guntanks in 08th MS Team lacking line-of-sight on their targets.Seraphic wrote:Mostly, I just wanted to discuss a simple artillery gun, and not a "mobile weapon" but those seem to be very rare cases in Gundam. For the hell of it, you can just discuss anything that can employ artillery-based tactics.
As for A-11 MS Killers...there's a reason that the Federation Ground Force's aircraft are said to have been the most effective means of destroying Zeon's MS until the introduction of the GM.