Drawde

I'm a relative newcomer to Combat Mission - I bought CMBO earlier this year, when it came out in the UK, and bought CM2 last week - so I'm not exactly the most skilled player. However I've had absolutely no success using early-war Soviet light armour (BT-5/7, T-60, BA-10, etc.) effectively, and would like to know whether it's just that I'm not using them in the right way, or whether I should stick to T-34s, KV-1s etc! Their armour is so thin that unless they're very lucky -any- Axis cannon will penetrate them, so they usually die in a few hits. The 20mm cannon (on the Pz.II etc.) is the worst, as it has a very rapid firing rate and an A.P. of 25mm, more than most Soviet light units - so it can take out most of them with a single burst. I've tried using them as fast attack units, to flank the enemy - placing them to the side of my main attack, in cover, then sending them out at high speed when my main attack is underway, in the hope of attacking enemy armour from the side. However they inevitably get knocked out before they can fire more than a few shots, even when infantry and heavier units are engaging the enemy. Their speed doesn't seem to help them much. I've tried using them as "motorised AT guns", placing them behind my main force to provide extra firepower whilst not being in front-line combat themselves, however the AI will inevitably spot them and pick them off, usually in preference to firing at the heavier units. I've found that the tankettes and other MG-armed light armour units are handy for supporting infantry, or protecting heavy armour from infantry (providing you keep them well out of the way when any enemy armour is near, or they'll get picked off as mentioned before). However the cannon-armed ones seem to be of little use. Is this just my lack of tactical skill in using them, or did they meet a similar fate in real life? I played a quick battle - an assault on a small town - as the Italians today and found that their light tanks (one with 45mm cannon, another with a rapid-fire 20mm) are surprisingly effective. I was fighting a Soviet AI player, with a computer-selected assortment of units fairly close to the selections I've tried playing with as the Soviets - a couple of T-34s, 4 or so T-60s, and a mix of other light armour, plus some infantry. My force was 5-6 each of both types of light tank, plus 4 MG carriers, and a reasonably-sized infantry force. I expected my tanks to be decimated, however to my surprise the armoured force defeated the Russians with only 2 losses (one of which was to tank-hunter infantry near the end of the battle) plus 1 immobilised. Most of the enemy shells ricocheted off their thicker front armour. The infantry force only engaged the enemy in the last few turns. Was I just lucky, or have others found the Italian tanks to be similarly effective against enemy light armour? I'd imagine that any substantial force of heavies like T-34s would give them trouble, though.