Engineers

[JellyBelly]

Hello

I just bought the game on Saturday. I was playing the first German mission, but most of my tanks either get killed or get their tracks shot off or the mines damage them at the first passage across the anti tank ditches. Almost everyone is dead or tracked at the first trench.I must be doing something wrong.

Can engineers repair the tracks or remove the mines? Can engineers build bridges, place mines etc.

Also will high explosive shelling destroy the mines.

[Sneaksie]

On certain surfaces, for example swamp, vehicles may bog down and there is nothing you can do about it. You can save the game prior to fording or crossing a swamp if you want to make sure they all make it. You can't place mines, build bridges or repair tracked vehicles since it requires at least hours of work at least and very problematic under fire (but surviving tracked or otherwise damaged vehicles will be repaired between missions).

On the other hand, you can clear a path of mines. Minefields usually consist of two types of mines - anti-tank and anti-personnel, triggered by different weights. Obviously, a tank can set off anti-personnel mines without harming itself and 'carve' a safe path for infantry until it encounters an AT mine. Infantry can safely pass on top of AT mines (human weight isn't enough to set it off) and you may think that the path is clear.

Infantry will try to clear their path of mines, but the chance of successful de-mining depends on movement speed (crawling is advised) and their Scout skill.

It's OK to do so while having time, but here you are under heavy fire. So it's better to try to clear the area of mines by powerful explosions which should set them off (bombs, large caliber shells) or just the count the losses. For gameplay purposes, you can just rush your vehicles through the trench pass on the left flank - most of them should make it and survive the air strike - and then gradually advance on enemy positions taking your time. Don't rush with infantry or it will be massacred (lots of anti-personnel mines before the trench, heavy enemy fire), bring them after silencing most enemy guns and HMGs and calling arty on the area before the trench to set off mines (optional).

[JellyBelly]

Thank you Sneaksie.

[sand digger]

Are engineers better than ordinary infantry at clearing mines though? Sneaking any advantage?

[Sneaksie]

Sneak, Move and Attack (while in crawling position) commands will do, but not the default Assault command. Scout skill is used for determining the chance of successful defusing, so the Scouts will have more chances of surviving since they have higher Scout skill.

[Paulverisor64]

Are engineers better than ordinary infantry at clearing mines though? Sneaking any advantage?

Is there any advantage to using Engineers?

[Sneaksie]

Since the Scout skill is being used for determining chance of successful de-mining Engineers don't have advantage over regular troops in this task.