COMBAT MISSIONS: Unit Tactics - SPW 250/251

[Manx]

For those of you who may be new to the forum - i am attempting (with the help of the forum), to put together a compilation of the various tactics that players use with the vehicles that are found in Combat Mission. So far i have managed to do about 8, so there's plently more to do The units already covered can be found at the COMBAT MISSIONS site.

Right, time to move on to a new vehicle - the German SPW250/251 Series Halftracks.

Sharing YOUR tactics and battlefield experiences with these units in CMBO, would be much appreciated.

TIA

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COMBAT MISSIONS - Resources For Combat Mission

COMBAT MISSIONS

[Beer_n_Pretzels]

Nice Vehicles. The frontal armour can ward off MG hits unless it is the mighty 50 cal. I think the 251/1 is a dedicated troop transporter, while the 250/1 is more useful to shuttle teams around the battlefield and as a recon vehicle. The MG's are certainly handy to suppress troops and ruin the paintwork on Allied Tanks!

[Gremlin]

The standard MG's on the 250/1 and 251/1 lack the power and high ammo counts of the Allied M3's and M5's with .50 guns, but they're still useful as mobile MG's for suppressive fire. As with all vehicles, they should be kept at a distance from any enemy infantry. The open tops and light armor make it easy to knock these HT's out.

As with all HT's, these HT's are useful for rapidly moving squads, whether to establish a MLR, seize key terrain first, or bring up reserves at a vital moment. They can help slow-moving weapons teams keep up with the rest of their platoons.

The armor on both series is roughly equivalent, and only good at stopping small arms fire. The older SPW 250 series tends to be a bit faster, but the 250/1 can only carry a team, while the larger 251/1 can carry a full squad.

Both series offer the advantage of multiple variants like mortars, flamethrowers, 20mm guns, and 75mm howitzers. The howitzers are both short 75's primarily using HE rounds, but they carry a few hollow charge rounds for anti-armor use; the penetration capability is fairly weak, though, and best used against other light vehicles.

The best way to use these specialty variants is in a support role, later in the action when enemy tanks and AT assets have been eliminated or are out of LOS or range. The 75 can be used to demolish buildings or hit dug-in troops, the 20mm can be used for quick suppressive fire, the flamethrower can be used against troops and also used to intentionally set fires to deny access to an area or create smoke to block LOS, and the mortars have the advantage of speed that standard infantry mortar teams lack. However, these mortar HT's are high on the TacAI's targeting priority list and are usually eliminated quickly.

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I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.

--Eisenhower