Offensive Support (continued)

[Tigrii]

I tried using some of the tactics suggested in reply to my previous post and they worked great! I got a bunch of 50mm mortars (which can keep up, being Medium speed class!) and a 150mm Inf. gun. I made a flanking movement supported by half of the mortars and the 150 and it worked great. Only one question: How to kill pillboxes with infantry and support? Also, my flanking movement almost petered out because my troops were tired out by constant ADVANCE-ing. Shouldn't they tire less easily?

[ParaBellum]

Glad we could help you a bit, Tigrii.

To your questions:

1.) How to deal with pillboxes?

It depends on WHAT kind of pillbox you're facing. If it's a MG pillbox, kill it with direct HE fire from tanks and/or guns.

If it's a gun pillbox it's a bit more difficult. Use a group of tanks to kill it but expect to loose at least one, especially if you face 88mm pillboxes. A better way is to drop smoke and flank the bugger.

2.) Do NOT use the 'advance' command all the time. Use it when you expect enemy units to open fire and when you have to cross (hopefully) short distances of open space. Whenever possible use the 'move' or 'move to contact' command and be sure to get your men some rest before an assault.

Once your men are in a good position use 2-3 minutes to let them rest and give your support units (mortars, tanks, guns...) the opportunity to soften up the defenses with some area fire.

[Halberdier]

The best ways to attack pillboxes is to either flank them with your infantry, or direct fire from tanks.

Flanking with infantry is a bit hazardous, since pillboxes often will have its flanks covered. The AI player is pretty good about setting these up very close to the rear map edge with supporting pillboxes or guns/MG's. Covering it with artillery smoke is probably the only way to get your infantry close to it, though once I was able to get a Pioneer squad around it through cover. Remember to get your infantry to the side or rear of the pillbox <30m and give them a couple turns.

The most succesful method that I've found is to use a tank to use direct fire on it. Even smaller calibers eventually get a firing slit penetration. This is very easy as the Germans since the only bunker gun that I've seen is the 76.2mm/L17 gun. I haven't yet had the pleasure of encountering a 75 or 88mm bunker as the Soviets - whose tanks don't even have smoke!.

Use Move or Move to Contact, unless you are under fire. When I do use Advance, I do it for short ranges. If you are covered by smoke, use M or MtC.

cheers!

-gabe-

[manchildstein (ii)]

indeed... at say ... 400 meters... a 20mm-armed scout car can more often than not take care of a MG pillbox...

[Mud]

The CM-traditional, if arguably gamey (did tanks /really/ coordinate this well?!) approach to confound an AT pillbox is to have two or more groups of tanks attacking over a wide angle. One group goes forward, fires... and while the AT gun rotates to track them, it backs off while the other group approaches its firing point.

MG pillboxes do indeed have trouble with 20mm cannon. A quad-20mm AA halftrack can be hell on them. Although... aren't small guns being toned down somewhat in the patch, or is that just morale impact vs tanks? *shrug*

However, if all you have are infantry and support, both can be problematic. Hopefully, you have numerical superiority and the map offers sufficient flexibility so you can flank -- they can't shoot out their sides or back, and the back is especially vulnerable. If there's no cover anywhere near it, see whether you can instead entirely bypass the area it covers, or minimize the time spent in its kill zone. This isn't a game in which you /have/ to kill everything.

Advance -- yeah, minimize use of it, and watch your guy's status -- if they're tiring or tired, consider getting them rest before they hit exhausted. If memory serves, the more tired they are, the slower they recover and the more they're hampered, performance-wise. M or MTC some troops forward while others cover and (if not too busy) rest so you don't get caught with a mostly-tired force.