Destroying Tanks with Infantry

[John_d]

Also, 315 from Jason's scenario pack is good practice for AT infantry tactics. Although it also shows up the major weakness of AT infantry- they can't move much without dying. You have to keep them concealed.

Possible Spoiler.......

On 315, try playing as the Germans and driving around the Russian positions instead of trying to fight through them. It takes 10 mins for the German tanks to get around the Russians, but you can easily win the firefight in the remaining 15 mins once the Russians no longer have the advantage of the terrain on their side

[LightningWar]

I used to play on a ladder where the best player would push your tanks around with his infantry. The guy was truely a great player. I think he ended up playing for a couple of years and his record was something like 212-3.

[NameUsedBefore]

How could he do that? Did he just know all the schematics (sp?) of infantry vs. tank combat? Or was it that he put more money into infantry with AT abilities then simply ATG's and tanks themselves?

I've always found that most people who are very good in strategy games tend to have their own unique ways of doing things. That's why strategy games are so great (RTS or wargame), IMO.

[Other Means]

Jason mentioned PIAT's (which are CW AT weapons seen in CMAK) before so I thought I'd add my 2 peneth about them as they're my favorite AT weapon.

Cons:

Poor range. 50m is about the best you're going to get with them.

Irregular reload time. This simulates the action of the PIAT where it was a little down to luck if it re-cocked itself.

Pros:

VERY stealthy. You can use them from the smallest patch of woods and unless your oppo is watching very closely he won't notice it firing. There's no sound or rocket trail.

Good penetration. I've had them go straight through the front of 80mm StuG's, which is better than a T34/76 :mad:

No backblast: They can be used from buildings.

Cheap. Each CW platoon comes with 1 for about 12pts. Great for defense, especially coupled with the points above.

Of course, this is the wrong forum for them but what the hey.

[NameUsedBefore]

PIAT can penetrate the front of a StuGIII?

Isn't the PIAT like a propulsion-through-springs design? Or does it have charges like a mortar-round shot out of a mortar...?

[Sergei]

Originally posted by NameUsedBefore:

PIAT can penetrate the front of a StuGIII?

Isn't the PIAT like a propulsion-through-springs design? Or does it have charges like a mortar-round shot out of a mortar...?

It is propulsed by a charge. The spring just detonates the charge and receives all the recoil (recocking itself with that energy). This is different from Bazooka, which is basically just an empty tube and produces a backblast.

[Bruce70]

Pretty sure it's spring loaded, so I imagine there is quite a loud thwack IRL.

[NameUsedBefore]

I remember seeing one fired in some sort of video and it just looked very awkward (and innaccurate, at that) coming out of the tube. I just couldn't possibly fathom it of being any use against tanks but I guess it was...

[SgtMuhammed]

Originally posted by Bruce70:

Pretty sure it's spring loaded, so I imagine there is quite a loud thwack IRL.

No Sergei is right. It is a spigot mortar. The spring initiates the charge which propells the round and (hopefully) recocks the spring.

The first time a friend of mine told me about them I envisioned something like a giant lollipop that shot the candy at you.

[Xenophile]

Isn't the best early Soviet AT weapon the Ampulomets - at least in CMBB, if not historically? I've had Pz IVs die against them. Hard to spot, much better range than other infantry AT weapons and they scare the pants off German infantry, too.

[-E]

Originally posted by NameUsedBefore:

I have little experience with flame-throwers. They are hard to maneuver and often you DON'T want to maneuver them during anysort of engagement because they're slow and easily shot-up. I've seen it used against infantry, which utterly demoralized them, but not against tanks...

[securityguard]

Originally posted by Xenophile:

Isn't the best early Soviet AT weapon the Ampulomets - at least in CMBB, if not historically? I've had Pz IVs die against them. Hard to spot, much better range than other infantry AT weapons and they scare the pants off German infantry, too.

Ampulomets scaring infantry and killing PZ4's? Can I have your version of CMBB?

They are effective against open top vehicles certainly, but anything else will merely shrug them off. Molotovs in general have almost zero effect on infantry.

Fun tank hunter story: In my friends core force campaign, I had a crack russian tank hunter with one of those winged RPG's. In the midst of battle I told the crack to Fast movement command right up to a stug - while getting shot at from every concievable angle. Mid-run he throws his RPG and hits the Stug so incredibly correct that the Stug explodes vicicously. The tank hunter team then dives into a crater and kills over 20 guys with a SMG. Granted, they were green, but it was completely confrontational and utterly insane.

[Sergei]

Originally posted by securityguard:

Ampulomets scaring infantry and killing PZ4's? Can I have your version of CMBB?

They are effective against open top vehicles certainly, but anything else will merely shrug them off. Molotovs in general have almost zero effect on infantry.

You'd better check it for yourself. Ampulomets are ten miles above the worthless Molotov coctails when it comes to AT firepower. In the game, that is. They can kill any German tank from any aspect in 1941 (open top or not, doesn't matter, they penetrate the real armour!).

It's quite funny, actually; I don't recall anyone noticing this when CMBB first came out. Maybe it was altered in some later patch...

[NameUsedBefore]

I used ampulets (sp) to great effect in the "Blitzkrieg" (Barbarossa) campaign. They can take out tanks and tie up infantry.