Anti-Tank weapons!

[Muggles]

As I sit here waiting for the full version to arrive in the mail I thought I might get some advice on taking out tanks w/infantry!

So far I've been fairly successful in taking out Sherman's with Panzershecks. I do this by grouping them together and when a sherman approaches moving them to the edge of a heavily wooded area, then engaging. Now this is fine and dandy but how do I use Panzerfausts? I know I have them but I don't think I've ever seen one fire... do I have to make them shoot them or do they do it on their own at close ranges?

Side note: There is nothing like watching a perfectly launched panzersheck take out a Sherman from the locked view... *satisfied groan*

[gredeker]

Originally posted by Muggles:

As I sit here waiting for the full version to arrive in the mail I thought I might get some advice on taking out tanks w/infantry!

So far I've been fairly successful in taking out Sherman's with Panzershecks. I do this by grouping them together and when a sherman approaches moving them to the edge of a heavily wooded area, then engaging. Now this is fine and dandy but how do I use Panzerfausts? I know I have them but I don't think I've ever seen one fire... do I have to make them shoot them or do they do it on their own at close ranges?

Panzerfausts (and gammon bombs, and demo charges, and rifle grenades) are all controlled by the Tac AI, and are pretty much out of the player's control. Generally, the squad with a panzerfaust available has to be at around half or less the range of the weapon (e.g., 50m for panzerfaust-100's), not suppressed, and they will fire. It seems that units with multiple panzerfausts are more trigger happy, and will sometimes even shoot one at enemy infantry.

[Muggles]

Hmmm... intersting. ;D

Thanks!

Another newbiefied question:

Do the little helmets represent men in the squad?

If so I had (what looked like a grenade) take out 5 guys in some close in fighting last night.

[Juju]

Originally posted by Muggles:

So far I've been fairly successful in taking out Sherman's with Panzershecks. I do this by grouping them together and when a sherman approaches moving them to the edge of a heavily wooded area, then engaging.

Side note: There is nothing like watching a perfectly launched panzersheck take out a Sherman from the locked view... *satisfied groan*

Uhuh, just you don't expect this to work very well against a human opponent. Unlike the AI they rarely ever send unsupported tanks near woodlines that may hold multiple panzerschrecks. At least not before they had some infantry check first.

[Monty's Double]

Ambush, remember to use the ambush command. AT weapons are much more accurate at ranges of 50m or so, but teams will often open fire much earlier if you let them, giving their position away and effectively signing their own death warrants. Remember that zooks and schrecks in buildings will suppress themselves with the backblast, and can even set the building on fire. PIATs don't have this problem, but are pretty inaccurate, so they need all the advantages they can get.

Oh, yes, and the helmet does represent the number of men left in the squad (unless you've replaced the interface screen with a mod, in which case your squad icon could be anything from a hamster to a cheese sandwich).

And another thing, it probably wasn't the grenade which took the men out, grenades rarely cause casualties, but they do suppress squads very well, and this often leads to big casualties, as their opponent gets a "free shot".

[109 Gustav]

Originally posted by Muggles:

If so I had (what looked like a grenade) take out 5 guys in some close in fighting last night.

Was the enemy unit an engineer squad? Engineers have demonition charges, which are very powerful. They are used like panzerfausts and gammon bombs; the tacAI chooses when to use them.

[Kanonier Reichmann]

Originally posted by 109 Gustav:

[Was the enemy unit an engineer squad? Engineers have demonition charges, which are very powerful. They are used like panzerfausts and gammon bombs; the tacAI chooses when to use them.

Yep, those damn "demonition" charges are killers... especially when the squad throwing them chant demonically at the same time and have their HQ leader named Damien.

Regards

Jim R.