Halmbarte

I would also like to see the Bundeswehr and the People's Army, but they won't be included in this module... so don't have too high expectations!

We already have PT76... Although I don't recall any formations that include them instead of adding them as individual vehicles. 
This one got taken out by DPICM and the crew bailed. 

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How did I miss this? 
 
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While researching M48A5 for the game I discovered the US had converted an insane number of old M48s to the 105mm A5 standard. Some two thousand I recall. I remember arguing at the time the longer the (fictional) war went on the more the US would be in need of attrition  replacement vehicles so, logically, the more M48A5 would show up on the battlefield. We see the same thing currently in Ukraine. The more the war goes on the older and crappier Russian tanks show up.

At least in CM it won't be necessary to follow your Chieftains around with a repair truck.

My practical notes/reminders, with a view from the Soviet/russian side vs Germans or Americans, depending on the game being played. 
Using Sov tactics to beat the Germans/NATO in RT/CW:
Time spent on recon is never wasted.
Time and resources spent killing enemy recon is never wasted. 
Have a plan and execute it. 
Don't be obvious/use obvious locations. If there is a 6 story tall tower that offers an awesome observation point, yo'd better believe I'm going to service that with indirect and/or direct fires. Ask yourself 'where would I put my FOs & ATGMs/AT guns if I was the other guy. then put some fires on those points. 
The artillery fire plan supports the maneuver plan. The maneuver plan dictates the fire plan and these must be mutually supportive. If resources allow it, plan the maneuver fight around the fires fight. 
A company of Sov tanks spots better than any single German/NATO tank. If you're fighting a 1:1 tank duel you're doing it wrong. 
Take away the better spotting offered by the German/NATO tanker habit of fighting unbuttoned. MGs & VT will get them heads down to decrease their situational awareness. 
When you attack, attack! Don't poke him with one finger at a time. Make a fist and crush the enemy with overwhelming force. 
Use a platoon to crush a squad > use a company to crush a platoon >> use a battalion to crush a squad. Fair fights are for suckers.
Keep pressing attacks until they aren't feasible anymore, reinforce victory! The Germans/Americans never have enough troops/tanks. 
Just because you have mass doesn't mean the only way forwards is a frontal assault. There are other ways to victory that don't involve sticking your dick into the meat grinder until it jams. Recon routes that bypass the enemy, infiltrate infantry. The Germans/NATO never have enough troops to cover every avenue of approach. 
AT if you're playing the Sov: 
RT: Your best AT weapon is your tanks. Your infantry doesn't have any good AT weapons outside of close assault. Use your infantry to get spots on enemy tanks and relay that info to the tanks. Don't be afraid to dismount tank crews so they can push forward and get their own spots. On the attack push AT guns forward aggressively to support the attack. 
CW: RPGs will knock out a M60 from the front. Your man portable ATGMs (>AT3s) are even more scary. Use infiltration tactics to get the ATGMs forward into range to support attacks. Make sure to protect the carriers since they are stuffed with reloads and make big boom if hit. 
Take your time, don't be in a rush to die. You'll probably run out of people, tanks, and/or ammo before you run out of time. 
 
Urban warfare: 
Don't move in the streets. Mouseholing is optimum, then back gardens, then alleyways. Stay out of the streets. Use supporting weapons to create mouseholes and gaps in walls if you don't have engineer support.  
Don't go in through the front door. If you can arrange it start at the top and clear down. 
Suppress every building that has line of sight to your maneuvering force. If you can't suppress or smoke it don't move that way.  
Conversely, if defending in an urban area don't occupy the outer row of buildings. Instead occupy interior buildings that can support each other when attacked. If you have engineering assets use them to mousehole interior routes so you don't have to go outside. 
Engineers are indispensable in urban areas. Use them to prep on the defense and to mousehole walls when attacking or counterattacking. 
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That's really rolling a critical failure. I've used that exact mechanic in a pen & paper role playing game where Mexican Federales had mortar support but their forward observer called in the spotting round on his own position. Their ambush of the PCs did not go so well after that...
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[off topic mode] Mine is when my Forward Observer is killed by one of its own spotting round. ☠️ [end of off-topic mode]

Six Chieftains drag racing at Operation Market Harborough  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPE4iI4k_gs
I do hope they simulate the Chieftain engine whine in the British add-on

Ehhh, area fire at obvious superb places to put infantry is ok in my book. 
If you put an FO in that church tower that provides great observation to the entire match, don't get upset when I blast the snot out of it as soon as I have a LOS. 
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For urban combat I have a few general principles I like to follow.
1. Use steel, not flesh. Make the infantry do as little of the heavy lifting as possible. If you have tanks and artillery, use them. Obviously it will always come down to the infantry eventually, but that's no excuse to make them do more work than necessary. Ammunition and lines of fire permitting, I like to hit each floor of every building with at least a couple of tank rounds before sending my infantry in to clear it (and I mean every building, not just the one's I know have enemies in them). And don't have any scruples about leveling entire city blocks with artillery. 
2. Stay out of the streets. Move from building to building while avoiding stepping out into any streets that are watched by enemy fire. Enter buildings from the side that is facing away from the enemy. If there are no entrances on the side where you need them, create new entrances with demo charges or tanks.
3. The more infantry you use, the fewer you lose. Single fireteams are likely to be wiped out without accomplishing much if they encounter multiple full enemy squads. Send multiple squads or fireteams into a building (or multiple adjacent buildings) simultaneously in order to maximize the firepower that they can bring to bear at once against any enemy that they encounter.
4. Be prepared to accept losses. Urban combat is a nasty business. Even if you do everything right you are likely to take significant losses, especially when fighting a peer or near-peer opponent such as in CMBS.

This dismounted tanker, who is engaging a platoon of T64s with his .45 service automatic. I salute you, sir. 

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This dismounted tanker, who is engaging a platoon of T64s with his .45 service automatic. I salute you, sir. 

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It's annoyingly hard to find exact details on upgrades to the Chieftain, probably because there were lots of them and it was a very gradual process across the entire fleet:
In 1975 all British Army earlier Marks of tanks except Mark 1s were upgraded to Chieftain Mk.5 standard as part of the 1975 "Totem Pole" programme. "Exercise Totem Pole" was carried out in six-to-nine phases depending on the Mark of vehicle being modified (Chieftain Mk.5's already had some of the required changes incorporated at the factory) between 1975 and 1979 and included fitment of the Marconi Improved Fire Control System (IFCS), replacement of the searchlight with the Barr & Stroud Thermal Observation Gunnery System (TOGS), along with modifications for using FSAPDS ammunition. Upon completion of each phase the vehicle received an additional suffix to the designation, e.g., "Chieftain Mk.3/S(Y)2" denoting a Mark 3/S having completed the first three phases of "Totem Pole". including addition of Clansman radios, fitting of TLS, fitment of Muzzle Reference System (MRS) upon replacement of L11A3 barrel with L11A5 barrel, and fitment of 750 hp L60 Mark 8A. These vehicles were re-designated Chieftain Mk's.6 to Mk.8. (Wiki)
The number of potential variants is bewildering, to say the least. Note the modifications for using finned amunition already in the 70s while the ammunition but not purchased until well into the 80s for unknown reasons. 
The big outstanding issue is the laser which was fitted to some Chieftains before 1975 but on the same time it isn't clear if it was part of the Totem Pole package (it seems not). Also note that the Chieftain has some other (unique?) things going for it in the gunnery department during the game's time period, like compensation for bore deformation.
As for protection it's again bewildering, with some sources claming the Chieftain was extremely well protected (presumaby because of the extreme armour slope and low profile for a Western tank) while others even claim it was poor. Unlike with the gunnery there were no significant armour upgrades until Stillbrew in the 80s.
Anyway, Battlefront say they have good British sources so I'm sure this will be cleared up.

That's good news. The T55s & T62s retrofitted with laser RFs are scary when you have M60s with optical RFs that are doing steamship ranging (over, under, straddle, fire for effect...)
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Another armor penetration simulation. This time it's 120mm L15A5 vs T72 Ural @700m
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This dismounted tanker, who is engaging a platoon of T64s with his .45 service automatic. I salute you, sir. 

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This dismounted tanker, who is engaging a platoon of T64s with his .45 service automatic. I salute you, sir. 

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This dismounted tanker, who is engaging a platoon of T64s with his .45 service automatic. I salute you, sir. 

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Can't be worse than Dragon...
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He has been witnessed. He rides thru the streets of Valhalla, shiny & chrome...
 
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He has been witnessed. He rides thru the streets of Valhalla, shiny & chrome...
 
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The driver decided not to bail out for some reason? He's ok, right? It was just a AT5, after all. 

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I believe my point remains, hits from a lot of AT weapons will hit the composite armor on the front of the T64 and better tanks and fail to pen. 
It’s a similar situation to WWII, where multiple Allied tanks can take Panthers and Tigers from the rear & sides but need to be lucky for a front pen. The problem is the Sov brings a whole heaping helping of composite armored tanks, not the dribble drabble the Germans struggled to field in WWII. 
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As it turns out you can kill T64s w/Dragon! All it takes is a hit in the right place. In this case, the rear deck. 
The ammo didn't go up immediately, it took a few seconds to fully cook off. 


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