I thought I should start a thread about this and see if other artillerists are feeling the same way. This mod is great and I personally really like the new Howitzers and use them whenever I can. However, what I have noticed is that:
a) there are very few maps which actually have any howitzers
b) Their positioning on many of the maps makes them very ineffective/ very limited target area
c) The distribution of guns per team is very uneven. Some maps only 1 team will have howitzers at their spawn. For instance on the War of Trenches Map one team starts with 2 Howitzers and the other team only 1. So this is a clear disadvantage and if the team with 2 can shoot with any sort of efficiency they can keep the other 1 Howitzer out of the game.
So it really would be great if their placement/ distribution could be looked into. Or even introduce a way to move them (though I heard they are scene props rather than reskins of NW cannons, is that right?) There is also the fact that every now and then the ability to function howitzers seems to dissapear for a minute or 2 before returning.
The other main problem which causes problems is a lot of the howitzers are placed right next to spawns and with the way they fire people really don't look where they are going and this results in a lot of Tk's which is bad for the players and the admins who can't tell if it's trolling or deliberate. I have been kicked 2 or 3 times already because some muppet has wandered infront as I fire causing the shell to explode over the friendly trench immediately infront and so mass TK's and the admin assumes trolling before I can even type Sorry in chat.
I hate to be so negative but I really hope this can be taken as constructive criticism and be used to improve the artillery positions on maps. I hope to get some screenshots of various arty positions to emphasize my points.
Thanks, and great mod!