Wirbelwind on defense

[Samhain]

This is probably old news, but just in case:

I've found that in town/village defenses, the German Wirbelwind is stunningly effective. It's quite a bargain, given its rof, ammo count, blast rating, armor, and speed. Assuming you've taken care of the enemy's heavy armor and at guns, just maneuver the Wirbelwind around to hot spots in your defensive line, keeping it between buildings to avoid flanking shots and far enough back to avoid zook/piat fire if possible. It does an absolutely awesome job at stopping massed infantry advances dead in their tracks.

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I rode a tank, held a general's rank

When the blitzkrieg raged, and the bodies stank.

--Rolling Stones

[IntelWeenie]

The Ostwind is a good alternate if you're worried about light enemy armor. It is nearly as good vs. infantry and better against armor. I once even took out a Sherman with a flank shot with one of these puppies!

Now if only the allies had M15 and M16 halftracks.....

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Cats aren't clean, they're covered with cat spit.

[Samhain]

In a QB yesterday, I took out an American armored car and HT with a Wirbelwind (forget which ones specifically), so it will handle light armor threats too.

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I rode a tank, held a general's rank

When the blitzkrieg raged, and the bodies stank.

--Rolling Stones

[Medieval]

I think your thoughts are valid. Certainly, it is an excellent infantry killer with its high ROF and power. You need to PROTECT this baby, though. As you point out, keep it way back under cover.... and it will be your best friend.

Andy

[Samhain]

Definitely. I always leave my light armor in hiding/behind good cover until the heavy armor and big guns of the enemy are out of commission, if possible. After that it's a matter of watching out for zook fire and point-blank infantry hits, but I always support my armor with troops and vice versa when possible, so that's not a problem usually. Combined arms win the day.

One thing that helps preserve light AFV's is thinking of them a bit like fast, motorized HMG or mortar squads (with obvious differences such as transport capacity, of course). HT's, armored cars, etc. are as good as tin cans under a lot of situations and are as good as cardboard against tanks, TD's, AG's, AT guns, etc.

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I rode a tank, held a general's rank

When the blitzkrieg raged, and the bodies stank.

--Rolling Stones

[This message has been edited by Samhain (edited 11-01-2000).]

[109 Gustav]

If you do get a wirbelwind, keep it away from .50 cal MGs! I learned this one the hard way, .50s can really do the job on any armor up to about a pz IV.

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No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you where you are weak. Only the enemy tells you where he is strong. And the rules of the game are what you can do to him and what you can stop him from doing to you. -Ender's Game

[Samhain]

I heard somewhere that a .50 bullet can go straight through a V8 engine block, so I'm not surprised.

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Hope you got your things together,

Hope you are quite prepared to die. --CCR

[Guest grunto]

don't forget the sdkfz 7/1... it also has a quad 20... it's just slower and more thinly-skinned.

but you could probably get more than 2 sdkfz 7/1s for the price of a single whirblewind.

andy

[Samhain]

I might try that, but I've already learned the hard way just how thin-skinned HT's and other light AFV's are, so using even lighter ones seems like a risky tradeoff--but point taken. With a Wirbelwind in the right situations (i.e., no enemy armor, at guns, or zooks nearby), I know I can just temporarily park it in front of infantry concentrations without fear of any small arms or light machine gun fire.

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Hope you got your things together,

Hope you are quite prepared to die. --CCR

[This message has been edited by Samhain (edited 11-04-2000).]