Boot Camp: Tanks and Heavy AFV's

[Gremlin]

(Author’s Note: Below is an article that originally appeared as part of the Boot Camp series on Manx’s sadly defunct Combat Missions site. It was written quite some time ago, and I’d surely make changes and additions to it if I had the time, in light of all I’ve learned since writing it. Still, I think it will be useful for newer players. Unfortunately, I have no easy way to post the original explanatory images that accompanied it. Enjoy!)

Heavy Hitters: Tanks and Their Kin

One of the most enjoyable features of Combat Mission is its inclusion of numerous armored fighting vehicles (AFV’s), all carefully modeled after their historical counterparts. Unfortunately, just figuring out what the names of some of them mean—let alone how to use them—can be challenging, particularly for new players. In this installment of Combat Mission Boot Camp, you’ll get an overview of the AFV’s in Combat Mission. Since half-tracks and other light vehicles were covered in the second Boot Camp article, we’ll focus on their big brothers: tanks, tank destroyers and tank hunters, assault guns and close support tanks, self-propelled guns, flak vehicles, and armored cars. We’ll look at their basic uses and some fundamental tactics.

One thing to bear in mind: despite an AFV’s official designation or what it was originally designed for historically, many were used in multiple roles, and the same can apply to their use in CM. For example, many versions of the German StuG (“Sturmgeschütz,” or “assault gun”) were effectively used both in infantry support and tank hunter roles. As with everything in CM, don’t feel restrained by what you read; experiment to find out what works in practice.

Similarly, it’s important to remember that a vehicle’s official name or designation isn’t as important as its vital statistics. Whenever you select a unit, press “enter” to view detailed information about it. You can access the vehicles you’re interested in through the scenario and Quick Battle generators, too. These are the most important things to note about each vehicle you’ll be using:

* Armor strength: Note both the thickness and angles, as steeper angles create greater armor effectiveness. Also note if the vehicle has unusually weak sides compared to frontal armor. You’ll want to keep these facing away from the enemy.

* Speed: Mobility is a key to survival and keeping up with running troops.

* Weapon type: Particularly note the muzzle velocity, as higher velocity generally indicates better armor penetration capabilities. Note that gun caliber alone isn’t as important: short and long 75mm guns, for instance have very different muzzle velocities.

* Ammo counts: Note the number of high explosive (HE), armor piercing (AP), tungsten (T), hollow charge ©, and smoke (S) rounds. AP, T, and C rounds are the ones you’ll want if you’re going to engage other AFV’s. HE rounds are best against troops.

* Blast number for high explosive (HE) rounds: A higher blast number means more damage inflicted.

* Turret speed: Faster is better, since you can aim quicker, particularly when you or the target is moving.

* Silhouette: The smaller the silhouette, the harder it is to be spotted and hit.

* Ground pressure rating: The less ground pressure, the less likely the vehicle will bog in snowy or damp terrain.

* Presence or absence of a gyrostabilizer: Having one makes aiming while moving easier, though it’s easiest to score hits from a stationary position.

* Presence or absence of a turret: Without a turret, the vehicle has to rotate to aim at an enemy, which reduces its ability to react quickly and deal with multiple threats.

* Presence or absence of a top: Open-topped vehicles are particularly susceptible to damage from mortars, artillery, and nearby infantry.

* Number of machine guns: The more and the larger the caliber, the better.

Tanks

Tanks are the mainstay of your armored forces and come in a wide variety of types intended for different roles. Tanks can typically engage both armored and soft targets (infantry and unarmored vehicles), but some are clearly more suited towards one role or the other. The best role for each tank can be determined by flexible experimentation, but here are some general guidelines. If most of the ammo allotment consists of HE rounds and the muzzle velocity is relatively low, the tank is better suited to supporting infantry by blasting enemy troops and demolishing buildings they might be in. A tank with lots of AP, T, and/or C rounds, coupled with a high-velocity main gun (preferably 76mm or larger) is probably better suited to taking on enemy tanks, particularly if your tank has thick, deeply sloped frontal armor able to withstand return fire. A faster tank is also better suited to dealing with relatively quick-moving armor threats, as opposed to slow-moving infantry. In fact, fast light tanks may have weak armor and small guns, but their speed can let them rush by a lumbering heavy tank, like a Tiger, to get a flank or rear shot, where armor is generally weaker than in the front.

It’s beyond the scope of this article to discuss individual AFV’s in any depth, but here are some tips to tell American Sherman tanks apart, since that can be confusing at first. “HVSS” (horizontal volute spring suspension) decreases the tank’s ground pressure rating, meaning it’s less likely to bog in snow or damp ground. A “+” in the name means it has greater armor than its standard counterpart. A “W” in the name refers to “wet stowage” for the ammo, with the ammo racks protected by glycerin to reduce the Sherman’s tendency to “brew up” (burn) when hit.

Here are few basic tank tactics, and these often apply to the use of other AFV’s:

* Strength in numbers: A couple tanks with similar or near-identical fields of view clearly have a better chance against a lone target. Conversely, try to avoid exposing a single tank to more than one enemy AFV at a time.

* Front forward: Always keep the front of your tank towards the enemy, since the front almost always has the best armor protection.

* Flanking: Try to hit enemy vehicles from the side or rear. Simultaneously engaging a vehicle with multiple tanks from widely different angles can assure that at least one has a shot at the enemy’s weaker sides.

* Surprise: Stay hidden until ready to engage the enemy. Patience is a vital virtue here. (However, there’s a little something to be said for the intimidation value of a Tiger or Sherman Firefly on a hill overlooking the battlefield.)

* Overwatch: Just as infantry should advance while being covered, tanks should do the same, with one tank or group of tanks advancing, while another temporarily stays back and watches over their shoulder.

* Infantry protection: Don’t drive a tank near a tree line or building that hasn’t very recently been explored by friendly troops, or you could get a nasty surprise from a bazooka, Panzerschreck, PIAT, or anti-tank gun.

* Hull down: With its hull hidden behind a slope, the tank presents a much smaller target. The “hunt” command often works very well to get in a hull-down position: hunt up a slope that stands between you and the target, and the tank should stop with just its turret exposed if it spots an enemy.

* Buttoning: Closing the hatches can prevent the crew from getting “shocked” by the loss of their tank commander, but buttoning dramatically decreases the tank’s field of view. It’s usually better to leave the tank unbuttoned, unless it enters an intense small arms crossfire or artillery/mortar barrage. There’s always the danger from sharpshooters, though, which you also should use against enemy tanks.

* “Tophat and lowsky: “Hunt” up a slope, reverse back out of sight, hunt back up, and repeat, preferably in a slight zigzag. This leaves you exposed for a minimal amount of time (hopefully enough to get a shot off) and brings you back into view in a different position. Make sure you don’t move so much diagonally as to expose your flank when you crest the hill; you want to crest the hill facing toward the enemy, not at an angle.

* Shoot and scoot: Stationary tanks almost always have better accuracy, yet they almost always survive longer when they stay in motion, moving out of enemy sight and reappearing in an unexpected location. Taken together that means: fire while stationary and then get the heck out of there to try again from another position.

* Smoke: Smoke screens from artillery or massed on-map mortars can provide cover, allowing you to rush armor to a new position unseen.

* Area fire: Use the “area target” command when you want to demolish a building or hit infantry units that are closely bunched.

* Roads: Staying on roads, particularly paved ones, in damp or snowy terrain can lessen the chance of bogging. Vehicles also move fastest on roads in any conditions. Watch out for the threat of anti-tank mines placed on dirt roads, though.

Tank Destroyers

A tank destroyer/hunter/killer is an AFV specifically intended to attack other armor. (The German ones will often have “jäger” or “jagd” in the name, referring to “hunting.”) Instead of dealing with these separately, we’ll look at them as a group for convenience. Tank destroyers, or TD’s, typically have long guns with high muzzle velocities and lots of AP ammo. Other than that, they vary quite widely: some will have open tops, some will lack a turret, some will have armor only thick enough to stop small arms fire—basically just an anti-tank gun on a mobile mount. Those without turrets, like the German Hetzer or Jagdpanzer, are best deployed in groups and back a bit from potential targets, to minimize the need to rotate as much when forced to take on multiple targets. Those with minimal armor, like the German Marder II and Nashorn, are best used defensively as the equivalent of anti-tank guns. You should use their mobility to reposition them in ways that surprise the enemy and achieve flanking shots, but don’t ever directly engage the enemy in a slugging match, as your vehicles will easily get knocked out by heavy machine guns, not to mention tank guns. Open topped TD’s, like the American M10, need to take extra care against infantry close assaults and mortar or artillery fire.

Assault Guns/Howitzers and Close Support Tanks

Assault guns (“Sturmgeschütze” in German) and assault howitzers (“Sturmhaubitzen” in German) were generally designed as infantry support vehicles. They were typically built around older medium tank chassis and lacked turrets. The most notable examples of this type of AFV in CM are the German StuG and StuH in their various guises. These vehicles, particularly the StuH’s, are well used as heavy-duty firepower against infantry. Depending on the gun and ammo allotment, assault guns can be quite effective against many medium or light tanks, too. They’re also useful for taking up covering or overwatch positions behind turreted tanks. Since they’re farther back, they don’t need to rotate as much as they switch their aim between multiple targets, since the angle between them will be relatively small.

Close support tanks, like the British Cromwell VIII and Churchill VIII, are also used in the infantry support role: their large-caliber guns with slower muzzle velocities are well suited to blasting troops or buildings with HE rounds. Their turrets let them aim faster than turretless assault guns, but they usually only have a few hollow charge rounds to deal with armor threats.

Self-propelled Guns

Self-propelled (SP) guns are field guns or howitzers mounted on a tank chassis and often provided with only light armor and an open top. Adding mobility and armor to these guns gives them better survivability on the battlefield than their stationary counterparts. Still, as with light vehicles like half-tracks and scout cars, many SP guns can be knocked out by heavy machine guns, not to mention AFV main guns. Use them only in areas that are clear of anti-tank threats, and take advantage of their mobility to reposition them frequently. Their main purpose is attacking infantry, and they’re excellent for destroying buildings with the “area target” command. Some of the prominent SP guns in CM are the American Priest and M8 Howitzer Motor Carriage, the German Wespe and Hummel, and the British Sexton.

Flak vehicles

Flak vehicles mount anti-aircraft (AA) guns. (“Flak” is the German abbreviation for “Flugzeugabwehrkanone,” or anti-aircraft gun). In CM, these include the German Wirbelwind (20mm guns) and Ostwind (37mm gun), both built around a tank chassis with medium armor, and the Sd Kfz 7/1 (20mm guns) and Sd Kfz 7/2 (37mm gun), which are unarmored trucks with rear-facing guns. AA vehicles, particularly the armored Wirbelwind and Ostwind with their huge ammo allotments, are among the most versatile vehicles in the game. The Ostwind especially can easily knock out lighter vehicles, including light tanks, as well as deal with heavier vehicles from the rear or flanks. AA guns are excellent for attacking infantry, and the 37mm Flak gun can demolish a light one-story building in just one turn. Of course, these vehicles can also help ward off fighter-bombers, should the battle include them.

Armored Cars

Armored cars are wheeled vehicles with light armor, excellent speed, and good off-road capability. Examples include the German PSW 234/1 (20mm gun), PSW 234/2 (aka “Puma,” with a 50mm gun), and PSW 234/3 (turretless short 75mm gun), American M8 Greyound (37mm gun), and British Daimler (40mm gun with all AP rounds). Armored cars are excellent for scouting, close infantry support, and fast flanking runs against tanks, since the guns on many of them can knock out a tank from the side or rear. To make up for their light armor, make sure to use their speed to your advantage when faced with AFV’s: take a shot, get to cover, and then take a shot from a new location.

Summing It Up

Learning the characteristics and capabilities of the many vehicles in CM can be a bit daunting, but also great fun. If you’d like to learn more about their real-life counterparts, two highly recommended books are Peter Chamberlain and Chris Ellis’ British and American Tanks of World War Two and Peter Chamberlain and Hilary Doyle’s Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two. Both are published by Cassell and available in paperback. Probably the most important thing to remember about vehicles (and all units, for that matter) in Combat Mission is that you should experiment to find what works best for you.

© 2002 by Scott Osborne

[ March 05, 2002, 10:00 AM: Message edited by: Gremlin ]

[Gremlin]

Bumped for newbies who haven't seen it and might find it interesting.

[WS6TADRIVER]

not new to gaming but still useful

[Wingmanx]

I agree that was an interesting read, whether you're a newbie or no I imagine. I see that it mentions a previous article concerning halftracks, is there any way to obtain that one too or was it unfortunately lost when the site went down?

[BigDog944]

Nice piece, but the stuff about C (cannister) rounds being useful against hard targets is incorrect. They are devastating against infantry to ranges of about 100m, though, with their shotgun like effect.

[Sergei]

Originally posted by BigDog944:

Nice piece, but the stuff about C (cannister) rounds being useful against hard targets is incorrect. They are devastating against infantry to ranges of about 100m, though, with their shotgun like effect.

With C he means Hollow Charge, which still in CMBO days was marked with that letter (the article is written for CMBO). In later games that would be HC.

[BigDog944]

Originally posted by Sergei:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by BigDog944:

Nice piece, but the stuff about C (cannister) rounds being useful against hard targets is incorrect. They are devastating against infantry to ranges of about 100m, though, with their shotgun like effect.

With C he means Hollow Charge, which still in CMBO days was marked with that letter (the article is written for CMBO). In later games that would be HC. </font>