How do you use AT-weapons?

[Piecekeeper]

How do you best use the AT weapons...hold fire?...sneak?...rush?...flank?...and so on. Having problems to use effectively.

[molo]

I try to hide handheld teams in bushes, crouched or prone, but it doesn't always work as they sometimes get lasered.

As far as ATGs go, it seems like the AI tanks spot their smoke long before you can hit them about two thirds of the time.

[Moon]

AT weapons can be easily eliminated if deployed in the open. Once spotted, the enemy will usually focus on them and they are not as mobile as a tank to change positions.

So first of all, you want to put them in spots where they cannot be seen by anyone else from a mile. Let other units do the scouting. Put an AT gun behind a building and let the enemy tank rumble past it, then fire a flank or rear shot.

Hiding INSIDE brush is also a good approach.

Even though AT guns are not very mobile, they CAN move, and you can use this to your advantage, too. Find a good hiding spot, behind a hill or building for example, then move out, fire a few shots, and move back into cover.

There is a LOT to try out and I guess one of the fun things of TOW is that you can (and should) experiment for yourself what works.

Martin

[ChrisND]

ATGs:

1. Stick them in the bushes. This assures they will get to start the engage when they want to.

2. Have a damned good gunner on them,and don;t engage until you are sure of accurate hits.

3. Have extra men nearby to replace casualties.

4. Half the battle with ATGs is their intial placement. Don't stick them on out by themselves. They need to be tied into the defensive network of other ATGs, infantry, and tanks with mutually supporting fires. Resist the temptation to put them on top of the biggest hill or some other prominent position with great LOS, because then after they expose themselves the entire enemy force will be able to engage them.

5. Put serious thought into their placement. Sticking them in a linear manner with only frontal shot chances, they are gonna lose against heavier tanks. Put them in a position so that the enemy HAS to put them in a disadvantageous position to engage them at all. I'll make a diagram, or rip some images out of some army field manuals, to show what I am talking about.

6. If things get too hot or you are anticipating a violent response, un-man the gun and have the crew run like hell into defilade. Then run back and man it when the heat is down.

7. Ammo usage: If you have tanks at long range that you can't hurt with AP but you have APCR, bean them with the AP (or even HE), until the crew is zeroed in, and then switch to APCR to make the kill.

[ChrisND]

Here's a really simple version I pulled out of my digital hindquarters:

[MikoyanPT]

Nice Normal Dude

[Dennis50]

Cool ..do you think we could talk dude into drawing up a map like that for each of the single missions ?

Gunz

[Moon]

Great stuff, Dude!

Martin

[HardRock]

ATGs were often a one kill wonder too. Once they fired and were spotted...armored columns came to a stop until the supporting inf took them out.

[Nikki Mond]

In this game, behind lots of cover. Forget looking for an avenue of fire. They'll get waxed before they fire a shot. Nope, butt them up to a wall especially one blocked by a building behind a row of trees. Should a vehicle happen by then the ATG will score 1 or 2 kills.

[K9crump]

Man, I am having no problems at all with my ATG's. They have been performing great and have been lasting to the end of battles. Sometimes the crew might get killed, but hardly ever get destroyed. They have been very valuable to me. I play on the hardest setting.

Mike

[ChrisND]

I am easily bribed with cookie and beer...

Seriously though, I don't have the time this month, except for scattered crappy drawings, maybe later.

[R33GZ]

Thought you guys might be interested in this.

I was watching a programme on the Battles around El Alamein the other night.

There were gun crews maning 2pdr AT guns that waited until the panzer 3's were right on top of them, easily within 15metres before they opened fire... and when they did, they were ripped to shreds.

There was a bit of propoganda footage taken the next day showing them firing at these wrecked tank carcasses with the AP rounds going straight through and hitting ground about 100meteres away (they were firing through the sides on tthe tanks)

I know TOW isnt desert warfare, but I think the tactics employed in terms of letting the enemy get close is pertinent.

Who knows, I could be totally off the mark... Im still waiting to get XP for my Mac so I can get playing.