Some general gameplay questions

[Markus86]

Hi,

I have some questions, concerning some things I experienced, while playing the game during the last few days. Maybe some of you can help me out, if I did something wrong, if these incidents are bugs or even supposed to be the way they are.

1. Panzerschreck teams

Are Panzerschreck teams supposed to fire their anti tank rounds at infantry? I experienced this several times. Without a cover arc, they open fire at infantry. And no tank was close or even in sight. Do these rounds have some kind of blast effect? (the team was experienced)

2. Squad seperation, concerning anti tank weapons

I had a squad with one Panzerfaust. When I tried the Antitank-split command, two soldiers were separated but the Panzerfaust staid with the main squad. The game behaved the same way, even after loading. Is this a bug, randomness, or some kind of game logic?

3. hedge cutting

A 2 men antitank team engaged a m5a1 light tank. God knows why they decided to choose their small arms, with a panzerfaust on their back, but they managed to kill an unbuttoned crew member. The tank panicked (I guess) and reversed. In reverse gear the tank cut through one of the really big hedges. Is this correct?

4. snipers

Are the game snipers supposed to be real snipers, or something like designated marksmen? I mean they went thought training, got equipped with optics and especial accurate rifles, they got or made themselves camouflage clothing, ... At some distances they should be deadly and real moral killers. They should have a bonus in counter sniper operations. They shouldn't kill randomly. Etc. They don't feel right in the game. What do you think?

Thanks.

[YankeeDog]

Hi,

I have some questions, concerning some things I experienced, while playing the game during the last few days. Maybe some of you can help me out, if I did something wrong, if these incidents are bugs or even supposed to be the way they are.

1. Panzerschreck teams

Are Panzerschreck teams supposed to fire their anti tank rounds at infantry? I experienced this several times. Without a cover arc, they open fire at infantry. And no tank was close or even in sight. Do these rounds have some kind of blast effect? (the team was experienced)

Yes, Rocket AT teams ('zook or 'shreck) will use their rockets against infantry, especially IME in the approx 150m-50m range envelope (from what I can tell, closer than 50m, the rocketteer tends to resort to his sidearm). The rocket does have some blast effect, and can certainly hurt enemy infantry, but it's not particularly effective as an anti-personnel weapon. Exception would be against infantry in buildings or behind hard cover like a wall, which can "catch" the rocket and can also create secondary projectiles when the rocket explodes. As such, it is generally best to keep Rocket AT teams hiding, or on a very short cover arc, until Armor shows up. Current lack of a some sort of Cover Armor arc, and how nice it would be to have this added to the game, has been discussed here on the forum ad nauseam.

2. Squad seperation, concerning anti tank weapons

I had a squad with one Panzerfaust. When I tried the Antitank-split command, two soldiers were separated but the Panzerfaust staid with the main squad. The game behaved the same way, even after loading. Is this a bug, randomness, or some kind of game logic?

This sounds like it might a bug. Generally speaking, when you split an AT team off of a German squad, the AT team takes all, or at least most, of the squad's Panzerfausts with it and my understanding is that this is the way it is supposed to work.

3. hedge cutting

A 2 men antitank team engaged a m5a1 light tank. God knows why they decided to choose their small arms, with a panzerfaust on their back, but they managed to kill an unbuttoned crew member. The tank panicked (I guess) and reversed. In reverse gear the tank cut through one of the really big hedges. Is this correct?

Known bug. Tanks equipped with the Cullen Hedge-breaching device (aka "Rhino" currently breach hedges in both forward and reverse. Hopefully, we'll see a fix soon.

4. snipers

Are the game snipers supposed to be real snipers, or something like designated marksmen? I mean they went thought training, got equipped with optics and especial accurate rifles, they got or made themselves camouflage clothing, ... At some distances they should be deadly and real moral killers. They should have a bonus in counter sniper operations. They shouldn't kill randomly. Etc. They don't feel right in the game. What do you think?

Snipers have also been discussed a lot here. In general, my opinion is that the 'snipers' in the game are intended to represent more of a designated marksman than a bona fide sniper -- bear in mind that the U.S. Army had no formal sniper training program or doctrine in WWII. The Germans had more formalized sniper training, but in general I think true snipers would not be wasted in the type of engagement CM typically represents.

At any rate, there have been a number of issues raised with snipers. Personally, I have had a fair amount of success with them and find them to be fairly effective as long as I am careful with placement and don't expect too much of them. However, one major issue I do have with them (which many others have raised as well) is the tendency of the 2nd man in the sniper team to fire on enemy targets, thereby revealing the sniper's location. IMHO, the 2nd man should fire only if enemy are every close and in imminent danger of overrunning the sniper's position. Hopefully, this is something that can be tweaked in a patch...

[xian]

1. Yes they are. Especially at units within buildings, and they can be very effective against infantry. That said, I have found this to be an issue on occasions. I believe they are more likely to fire their 'schreck' rounds at infantry if they are well supplied with AT rockets.

2. This doesn't seem right. Usually the Panzerfaust will be taken by the AT team. If there are several fausts available then they will be more spread out between the teams.

3. Tanks can go through hedges but not boccage. It was probably just a hedge.

4. I tend to agree with you, and I'm not sure how they are currently programmed to behave.

[Michael Emrys]

Are Panzerschreck teams supposed to fire their anti tank rounds at infantry?

This is a problem with game logic that is yet to be resolved. Realistically, one would expect them to use their weapon that way only if the infantry was behind some kind of cover, like inside a building or bunker, and there was nothing around more deserving of an AT round.

I had a squad with one Panzerfaust. When I tried the Antitank-split command, two soldiers were separated but the Panzerfaust staid with the main squad. The game behaved the same way, even after loading. Is this a bug, randomness, or some kind of game logic?

Probably faulty game logic.

A 2 men antitank team engaged a m5a1 light tank. God knows why they decided to choose their small arms, with a panzerfaust on their back, but they managed to kill an unbuttoned crew member. The tank panicked (I guess) and reversed. In reverse gear the tank cut through one of the really big hedges. Is this correct?

No. Unrealistic and probably a bug.

Are the game snipers supposed to be real snipers, or something like designated marksmen?

The latter. There are no true snipers in the game as the term is rigorously applied.

Michael

[A co]

When you split off the anti-tank team, did they have rifle grenades? I think a man with rifle grenades is sometimes designated in the squad as an 'anti-tank' man. If rifle grenades are less powerful than the Panzerfaust, they at least have longer range.

[Erwin]

I find it quite common to split off an AT team and find they have less AT capability (if any) than what is left in the squad. IIRC it happens mostly with the larger German squads of 9+ guys.

The other points have been mentioned many times.