Offensive support units

[Tigrii]

I just played an all-infantry QB where I lost as the German attacker. What support weapons do you recommend to use against MG's in houses or guns near the back of the map that are immune to close attack?

[Guest Mike]

Nothing is immune to close attack if it is on the map - you just have to....er.....well get close to it!!

Against MG's - tanks with HE.

Against guns (that might kill tanks) - artillery with HE, including on-board spotted mortars.

[ParaBellum]

Mortars against gun positions.

15cm SIGs for the rest.

[Michael Dorosh]

Sometimes, staying out of the LOS of enemy units is the only thing you can do. There is fire, and there is maneuver.

[demoss]

Even 75mm IGs can do some damage. It only takes a few shells to level a small building. 150mm sIGs are sure nice, though, especially if you can advance them to contact in woods (generally speaking, guns are invisible until they open up if moved with MTC).

For gun positions, though, I'd have to concur that mortars are the way to go (though tanks work, too, as long as they don't get killed BY the gun). It doesn't matter that much how big the shell is, you just need to drop one right on top of it. Especially in woods. Mortars are great because they can be out of sight of the target.

[Halberdier]

Originally posted by Tigrii:

I just played an all-infantry QB where I lost as the German attacker. What support weapons do you recommend to use against MG's in houses or guns near the back of the map that are immune to close attack?

Guns. Big Fat Guns. On Tanks. Big Fat Tanks.

I like the ISU-152 for support despite its crappy ammo supply. As the Germans I love the Brummbaer which has lots of HE ammo. Smaller caliber guns work too, but tend to use up too much ammo (I play huge QB's where ammo depletion is common). Lightly armored HT's and sIG's are too vulnerable. Flame tanks are also excellent against MG's and other infantry, but for enemy Guns I use morter or light artillery, unless I can get an assault gun safely in LOS.

cheers!

-gabe-

[YankeeDog]

Yeah. Big @ss guns. Against MGs in buildings, DF HE is much better than mortars or off-board artillery (against MGs in trees, mortars are much more useful). If you're on the attack, you're usually talking about Self-Propelled guns, though occasionally you can make use of a towed gun with a little luck and finesse.

The problem with area firing into buildings with SPGs is that it tends to make the SPG vulnerable to attack by enemy armor or ATGs. One counter to this is to try to find a position for the SPG that gives it a 'keyhole' firing position, meaning that it has LOS to the target area and very little else. This isn't always possible, though.

Here's a neat trick with the (I)SU-122 & 52 and other SP guns with a slow ROF: try to find a terrain feature that allows you to hide the SPG behind it in full defilade, but that gives you LOS to the enemy-held building when you crest the rise.

Use the "pause" commande to have the SPG crest the rise at the very end of a turn. The following turn, order the SPG to "area fire" on the building, and also order it to reverse back down the ridge. This way, the SPG will crest the rise, pop off a single round at the building, and then reverse back into safety, minimizing it's exposure to AT assets.

This tactic is especially useful with BIG SPGs like the SU-152 and the various german 150mm SPGs - their reload rate is so slow that they spend the better part of a turn reloading after firing anyway, so you might as well reverse them back down into safety while they reload. In addition, a single 152mm round into a building will usually at least pin any infantry units inside, temporarily silencing any outgoing fire.

For the ultimate in DF HE fun, try a Sturmtiger. . .

Cheers,

YD

[Tarquelne]

Infantry only? Attacking? ... and you have time to be careful? Mortars mortars mortars mortars mortars.