Best way to use flamethrowers.

[Mark_McLeod]

Now that we have been blessed with the 4.0 upgrade that adds the flame thrower my question is how do i effictively use them. Also another question is can they shoot through the walls of buildings?

[A Canadian Cat]

Flame throwers are best used to burn stuff.  Sorry I just couldn't resist

They have a very short range so they are best if they stay a bit behind and are brought up to finish the job so to speak. If you are winning the firefight but in a dead lock bring up the flame throwers and break the dead lock. The are also really good when assaulting buildings - from the outside....

You know I have never tried firing one from inside to the outside so I actually don't know the answer to our other question.

 

[MOS:96B2P]

6 hours ago, Mark_McLeod said:

Now that we have been blessed with the 4.0 upgrade that adds the flame thrower my question is how do i effictively use them. Also another question is can they shoot through the walls of buildings?

I looked up my notes for some experiments I did with infantry flamethrowers under Engine 3 in CMBN & CMRT.  The US M1A1 flamethrower has a range of 44 meters (about 5 action spots).  So you have to maneuver the US flamethrower team to within 5 A/S of the target.  The US flamethrower is good for approximately 12 shots of flame.  I suppress the OpFor with other assets, maneuver the flamethrower team to within 5 A/S and then use Target Briefly for 30 seconds (About three shots of flame).  In theory you would be able to repeat this drill four times before going empty.  Also of interest, a flamethrower will not KIA, WIA or suppress friendly troops.  On Target Light the team will fire their rifles and not the flamethrower.

German flamethrower:  Range: 28 meters (about 3 A/S)  eight shots. 

Soviet flamethrower (in CMRT of course): Range 38 meters (about 4 A/S) six shots.   

@Heinrich505 is the forum's resident pyromaniac and may have additional information .       

 

Edited April 18, 2017 by MOS:96B2P
Edit: I forgot this part. No they will not shoot through a solid wall.

[MOS:96B2P]

6 hours ago, Mark_McLeod said:

<Snip>  Also another question is can they shoot through the walls of buildings?

Forgot to answer this part and my original post did not "Edit" correctly.  No, a flamethrower will not shoot through a solid wall.  However if the wall has at least one door or window any troops inside are toast .  

[Glubokii Boy]

On the defence they can be a real pain in the ass for enemy infantry when deployed in ambush possitions inside a built up area (village, town).

Especially if the enemy does a poor jobb with recon and suppression. A single flamethrower can decimate an entire squad very fast.

Against armour i have found them to be a´ not super-weapon '. It usually takes several bursts to KO a tank. They can do it for sure but in my experience usually not with a single burst.

[MikeyD]

I've found flame throwers to be one of those 'for demonstration purposes only' weapons. Useful in that one instance in that one scenario where luck was on your side. But usually the guy just dies before he does any good (or bad). Granted, I'm a lousy commander and seem to only be getting worse over time. I'm a veritable Mark Clark!

Edited April 18, 2017 by MikeyD

[Erwin]

36 minutes ago, MOS:96B2P said:

Forgot to answer this part and my original post did not "Edit" correctly.  No, a flamethrower will not shoot through a solid wall.  However if the wall has at least one door or window any troops inside are toast .  

Have hardly used any.  Can they not set the building on fire as in CM1?

[MOS:96B2P]

6 minutes ago, Erwin said:

<Snip>  Can they not set the building on fire as in CM1?

Nope no building fire or spreading fire in CM2.  At least not yet.  There are sometimes small smoldering type flames left behind but it has no effect on troops being able to re-enter and use the room/area that got hit.     

[Erwin]

So sad...  That is the best use for flamers.  As you said, they are easily killed unless used vs enemy that is already so suppressed that you could probably more easily wipe em out with an Assault.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Erwin

[General Liederkranz]

They're good against bunkers. And they can be great at reducing casualties when you already have enemy infantry pinned down inside a trench or a building and large-caliber HE isn't an option. Rather than sending in an assault team to root out the enemy in this situation, a flamethrower can often kill or rout them without losses. Much less chance of one guy shaking off suppression and massacring your assault team as it closes in. So I'm not sure there's a whole lot flamethrowers can do that nothing else can, but in these situations they're a much less risky alternative to SMGs and grenades at point-blank range.

[Cobetco]

yeah as cool as the flamethrowers are, they are only really useful against hardened fortifications, which CM has very little of. not that i'm complaining about that, i don't think that would make for interesting scenarios. however in FI 4.0 in QBs at least the skittish AI likes to flee into houses, so flamethrowers can be good for mopping up those guys. but its mop up work not assaulting.

[A Canadian Cat]

3 hours ago, MOS:96B2P said:

Forgot to answer this part and my original post did not "Edit" correctly.  No, a flamethrower will not shoot through a solid wall.  However if the wall has at least one door or window any troops inside are toast .  

I actually read his post the other way around. I thought he was asking if the flame thrower team was *inside* the building can the fire at targets outside. Upon reading it again I see how you interpreted the other way.

So, can they fire from inside to the outside? Through a window or door obviously.

[MOS:96B2P]

4 minutes ago, IanL said:

<Snip> So, can they fire from inside to the outside? Through a window or door obviously.

Yes.  A flamethrower  team, inside of a building, can shoot flame at a target on the outside.   

[slysniper]

One way to use them that has not been mentioned is in woods and dense concealment locations.

On defense, they are great, set them up as part of a ambush. when not moving they are great at catching the enemy on the move and getting the first burst in and winning a fire fight quickly.

I recall one unit on defense in a large woods supported by other infantry on its flank killing 30+ men when the enemy tried to assault my line.

On offense, much harder to use and keep these units alive. but here are a few tricks.

Place smoke to allow them to move into range and set up. As the smoke clears, they then have a fair chance of being part of the fire fight.

Sometimes terrain can give them cover to move to a location that they cannot be seen from but allows them to fire to a adjacent hex from the desired target. Firing on a adjacent hex will normally pin or cause enemy troops to rout.  So this is a one way to have them impact a battle without risking them to almost sure death.

 

[Mark_McLeod]

Wow thanks for the help everyone. All my questions were answered. Ya when I talked about shooting through the walls of buildings I ment my flame throwers were on the outside of the buildings. The reason I ask that is because I while ago I had a discussion asking about the best way to clear a certain building type with no windows and one door. I was hoping my flame troops would be able to just burn them out but I see that's not possible. Well once again thanks for all the info and help it was nice logging on in the morning and seeing all the replies!

[mjkerner]

6 hours ago, MikeyD said:

Granted, I'm a lousy commander and seem to only be getting worse over time. I'm a veritable Mark Clark!

Or C3K/Ken. 

[Erwin]

"...terrain can give them cover to move to a location that they cannot be seen from but allows them to fire to a adjacent hex from the desired target."  Yes, area firing at units in a location that you can't see (and the enemy unit(s) can't see the flamer) is xnt use.  Generally, dense urban Stalingrad type situations.  Hmm, wish we had flamers in CMSF "Mosul" and "Ramadi" in RL.

Re: "...best way to clear a certain building type with no windows and one door."  I thought that one could fire thru a wall with a door or window(?)

[Mark_McLeod]

After messing around more in quick battles against the AI I have found that using the flamethrowers in a pioneer squad is much more effective than just the team. The reason of corse is the rest of the squad can suppress. Aswell as there's only a 6-8% chance that your flamethrower gets shot first compared to the 50% the special team has. 

[Ivan Zaitzev]

Why Italians don't have flamethrowers? I hope BF is not holding them on purpose to beef up that Italian module they talked about some time ago.

[Ithikial_AU]

I've had some limited success using them inside towns/urban environments but even there you have to get the jump on the enemy. Terrain on fire is still way up there on my wish list. CMx1 days, it was a 'great gaming nightmare' when your prime firing position suddenly became an inferno forcing your troops to redeploy. Keeping tabs on wind direction and strength was even more important.

[Mark_McLeod]

Ya flamethrowers burning buildings would be sooo awesome. 

[DougPhresh]

I'm remembering the old Close Combat games where a flamethrower would make a building uninhabitable, that's something I'd like to see here.

e: and grass catching fire in the x1 series! Dry conditions in CMBB didn't just mean dust clouds and easy going for tanks, it meant that those wheat fields and tall grass could go up in an instant, especially with the Ampulomet!

Also the lack of flamethrowers for Italy when Italy has a specialized assault engineer formation is pretty funny.

Edited April 20, 2017 by DougPhresh

[Erwin]

And in CM1, fire would spread...

[Freyberg]

Flamethrowers are quite useful in forests, too.

They don't do all that much, but they're cheap and if you know there's some enemy hiding in a general area, a few bursts of flame can degrade their morale and really loosen up an ambush position.

[MG TOW]

Here's a good example of someone put on the receiving end. Nasty ambush position, the flamethrower possibly changed the outcome of the game.

Combat mission flamethrower ambush