Tigrii

I don't think having infantry riding does help tanks spot.

In follow-up to the SPW/PGD post, I would like to point out that mounting infantry on tanks also has it's uses. This is an assault tactic, whereas HTs are more focused on transport. The obvious drawback is that the tanks don't have armored passenger compartments. However, this usually doesn't make too much difference against different threats compared to HTs. AT guns/rifles:Tanks offer much better protection due to their much thicker armor and ability to fight back. HMGs:Infantry will often be "swept off" due to lack of passenger protection. However the same thing will often happen with HMg bullets going right through the HT, and the tank won't get KO'd. Small Arms: HT better in this field. However, infantry will only be "swept off" a moving tank when pinned. Long range rifle/LMG fire isn't going to pin them. They may become cautious, but not much more. In addition to the small protection difference, tanks are immune to most anti-HT light weapons, and possess multiple MGs and cannons to fight back at the threat with. They are also fully tracked, so can deal with difficult terrain better. A typical tank descent assault begins with a turn of the tanks bombarding enemy positions for a turn with HE. Then, with the enemy pinned, the tanks charge the position and the infantry assault off with the tanks delivering point-blank supporting fire. The infantry will become shaken or at least cautious, and will take some losses, but usually carry the enemy position. (This scenario assumes 1 Tank-Descent platoon attacking 1 defending platoon). Often players but Crack or Veteran assault units for this role, such as the American Parachute Demo squads, the British Recon Assault squads, or the German Jager squads. This allows them to deal with the inevitable morale trial caused by riding on an exposed tank and assaulting an enemy position. Also, these squads are SMG-heavy.

I have done a lot of tactical experimentation with halftrack-mounted infantry, and here is what I think about it: 1. Never use them in a direct assault on an infantry position. They get cut down as sson as they disembark. The halftracks get shocked from point-blank fire and often die by grenade. 2. Even the lightest gun or even an HMG kills a HT and slaughters the passengers with ease. Your overwatch must make absolutely sure that there are no remaining threats to the HTs before you commit them. You should keep them behind a hill or woods or something until overwatch is done. 3. They are useful for moving infantry to good jumping-off positions for assaults. Just as paratroops don't drop directly on their objective but land nearby, assemble, and assault on the ground, so do halftrack infantry. The halftracks help bypass long stretches of open ground in the approach to the enemy. Halftracks are immune to rifle and LMG fire, which can stop a foot infantry assault. 4. Generally, HTs aren't worth the cost due to their fragility and the fact that you wind up conucting ground assaults anyway. They can be useful, however, and you can consider buying them attached to armored infantry units, where you get a discount. Examples include German Panzergrenadiers and American Mechanized infantry.

I hope he doesn't practice insider trading

You're not suggesting using sharpshooters for reconnaisance? </font>

Use minimal forces to scout. Half-squads, not squads, tank hunters, sharpshooters, all the little light guys. As to the problem of AT guns KOing your armor when it moves to kill a threat, that can happen with well-sited guns. The best way to counter it is to keep mortars overwatching your armor and to try to keyhole specific tanks to the target so that they can bombard without being engaged in return. In a recent QB I keyholed a 105 SP Gun to an enemy MG trench and routed them, despite an 88mm AT gun being 25m from the MGs. Hope this helps.

Just a quick point and question; This demo attack relied a lot (as all attacks do) on overwatch fire and massed squad fire. The posts back suggested countering the overwatch fire by attempting to "outgun" the overwatch with defensive heavy units. I am wondering, wouldn't it be better to try to conduct a reverse slope defense? even a small hill can support an entrenched platoon on the rear face. The direct fire assets would be virtually useless against such a position, and the arty spotter would have to do a non-LOS barrage, thus greatly reducing quickness and accuracy. How would the attacker counter such a defense?

AFAIK, night fights give morale a big negative modifier. Especially unseen shooters or big tanks cause troops to run off.

Useful post overall, a few differences between this situation and the average battle: 1. You made a lot of use of house shadows, where in reality the crossfire would deny them to you. 2. You rarely get to assualt MGs in this manner in a real game unless it's a slaughter. They are well behind the enemy MLR in houses, trenches, etc. and you must live with the sound contact firing at you while you penetrate the enemy MLR.

A common and very nasty tactic is to put a couple HMGs in a trench in a good LOS vantage point near the back of the map. As has been covered in other posts, these HMGs are virtually impervious to elimination or even detection. I wonder if any of you have any thoughts on how to deal with them. They pose a difficult problem because even the trench they're in is invisible from over 200m, and since they're at the back of the map they are defended by a MLR at least 200m in front of them. All you get is a sound contact, and the usual technique of area firing into the patch of cover nearest the sound contact doesn't work because they're in a trench in open ground, and could be anywhere. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that it takes several direct hits from a mortar or tank gun to even shake an entrenched HMG. While all you get is an invulnerable sound contact, they are mowing down and pinning your infantry. How to deal with this problem?

I don't know about your second half, but if you are having trouble getting your FOs to be able to effectively enage enemy troops, this might help. Don't try timed preplanned barrages, they take way too much foresight to make them work. Just put a FO on a hill with optimum LOS. If it's a radio FO then you can load it into a vehicle and move it to a different LOS point if it becomes necessary.

I have had self-immolating Hummels several times in CMBB. The kill record gave them credit for themselves!

Since early tanks don't have very infantry-deadly guns, moving infantry in a skirmish line supported by a firebase on your rough hill works fairly well. Machine-gunned infantry pins, but they eventually get up and keep moving. It's harder once you get close, though, and then you need smoke (also, driving vehicles back and forth can create "smokescreens"). Another thing to keep in mind is that even a slight dip that you can hide your infantry in is great cover. You don't always need woods and such.

Running is fast but tiring, and you can only use it in secure locations. What I do is run across open ground for a turn, and then move. The troops slowly rest during command pauses etc while moving, then if needed they can run again.

It would probably be quicker to go around than to wait 5 minutes for the engineers to realize that they should throw their charges.

Imagine you are playing a 1250 point TCP/IP Meeting Engagement against an equal opponent. How long would you take to set up? I am wondering because some of my opponents tell me I set up too fast and I want to see if that's objectively true.

Just put them in the trench visually. It will still say in "open ground" or whatever terrain the trench is in, but as soon as the setup phase is over that will change to "in trench".

In an extension of the building destruction technique, it can work to line up an anti-armor asset so that it is shielded by the dust cloud, but then has an instant flank-shot setup when the dust cloud istantaneously vanishes, which should take out almost any tank.

I can't believe no one has mentioned this: using normal inf. trenches as AT obstacles works almost exactly like an AT trench. Tanks crossing them go a lot slower and have a high bog chance.

A unit in open behind trees has degraded LOS thorugh them (and so does a unit targeting it) but it doesn't get any woods protection or concealment bonuses.

Too hard to tell without screenie. Post one, if you can.

DROP THE OLD HEX-GAME MINDSET!!! THIS IS CM!!!

There are lots of alternate uses, but the idea is to have a place to fall back to. The fallback defense works when your initial position's occupants ambush the enemy, annihilate/rout/pin them. Then, you withdraw, just as you have seemed to win, because you must get out now, while no one is shooting at you. If you stay, th enemy will bring up tanks and call down arty, and you'll get creamed.

For steppe advance, I'd use this technique: move up infantry towards objectives. I fno one shoots at them, great, they get there. If something does, keyholed armor in advance route overwatch kills the threat, the infantry recovers, and you resume the advance. As for armor in cities, a tank zooming down a paved street at max speed is immune to thrown weapons, and even most fausts, due to it's speed. You can drive right past enemy infantry safely. The problem occurs when the tank gets to it's objective, and then stops, located by the enemy, without infantry support. A useful tactic is to go on roun-trip shoot-em-ups with units like MGMCs, MG-heavy tanks, and recon vehicles, MGing soft targets you past without worrying about return fire (or mines, on pavement).

To all the people who say things like "attack it with pioneers" and "get flank shots with light guns" it is almost impossible against an opponent of equal skill. The presence of a KV means the Axis player must be a lot better than the Allied to have any chance of KOing it. Any player with brains will guard the heck out of his biggest, most valuable investment, and open ground/MGs and the KV itself with HE, MGs, and canoster will stop cold any clever pio charge. As for towing guns around it's flanks, I'd like to play the player who can't kill an unsupported, blind HT or truck.