M2 105mm Howitzer

From RelicWiki

This article refers to a unit from the game Company of Heroes

The 105mm howitzer is a stationary, defensive object that requires five points in the infantry command tree. It provides powerful indirect fire support at great ranges.

Stats

MP cost: 450

Fuel cost: 75

Build time: 3

Abilities: 105mm Howitzer barrage. Fires a barrage at the specified location. Can fire into the fog of war. Has a 1 minute cooldown.

Uses

The 105mm is an excellent base-bombing tool. Multiple howitzers can reduce buildings to rubble in a very short period of time. If the crew is killed and the howitzer isn't destroyed, you can re-crew and repair it. It can also fire onto groups of infantry and tanks. It's aim isn't the best, however, and it takes awhile for the barrage to do maximum damage. Taking out a Panzer Command or a HQ can have a serious impact on the outcome of the game. If you manage to take out the HQ and Panzer Command, they can't build tanks or use any command abilities (like calling in a tiger). Also useful for clearing bunkers in preparation for an assault. Having a cloaked sniper as a spotter so you can target infantry is useful. The 105mm can fire across all of Semois, but on large maps you will need to get close enough to fire.

Counters

Letting one of these live for very long can have serious repercussions. It is important to take it out before it can do serious damage to your base. When you take it out, make sure you destroy it rather than just kill its crew. Crew can be easily replaced with an engineer crew, but destroying the howitzer will waste all the MP and fuel they spent on it. You can take it over, too, but because these units are immobile that may not be of much use. Flakpanzers make very short work of these units if you can get close. If it fires on mobile units, move them out of the way. Don't keep any units clumped up in your base to avoid losing everything at once. Watch out for cloaked enemy spotters. Patrol the outskirts of your base with a motorcycle regularly to make sure there is no cloaked spotters calling down fire on vulnerable units. Another tactic for removing them is to use a spotter, and drop a Firestorm (or something like it) on top of the howitzer. A problem with using firestorm is that it often doesn't destroy the howitzer, it merely kills the crew and damages it. Then your enemy can repair and re-crew it shortly.

You can also try and take it out with a stuka. The howitzer is very loud and you can hear when it begins firing. If you think it is returning fire on your stuka, simply move the stuka and fire again. If you believe it may be firing on infantry or vehicles, move them. It takes many seconds for the shells to land.