Can someone explain arty priority?

The_Chieftain: In my case, my first question is "Is there anything currently in my arc of fire?"   If there is, I don't care how bad a target it is. Unless there's some ridiculously important reason for me not to shoot, I'll fire the round. It takes not much longer to zoom in if I shift the hull than it does to load a new round. May as well be doing both at the same time. Note that just because you think a 'better' target is right next to you it does not mean that the artillery piece can actually hit it. You may be at the very edge of their arc of fire.   After that, it comes down to a couple of different issues for me. The first question is "Do I want to take a gun out of the fight?" or "Do I want to take on a dangerous target." There are times when I'll use the shot to remove a weak target just so that there's one less gun aiming at my colleagues, or so that it gets killed before it successfully escapes to reposition to shoot again later from hiding. If it's a case of finding a dangerous target, then it comes down a bit to behaviour. An aggressive, apparently well-handled medium may well be more dangerous than a plodding heavy. Even if it's harder to hit, I may well take the crack at the medium, in the knowledge that my team are better handled to deal with the slow frontal assault than fleeting and relatively tough target maneuvering to the side. Or, if there's no particular maneuver threat, then I just go for the big armor/big gun, and aim for the T95/Jagtiger/E4 whatever.