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Infantry Command and Support Weapon Tactics

by Pz_J_Dietrich

 

 

Command Teams

These are the most important units of your Army and you should try and keep them alive at all costs. The most important unit is the command team that you are in. If your main command team is killed then you will be at areal disadvantage as morale within your Army will drop. If this happens you will soon notice that your Army will became afraid, panic and just give-in, then you’ll be finished for sure. Never really should you position your main command team on the front, just place it alittle behind the front line but not far. This will protect your team and keep your Armys morale high. If needs be try and buy more than one command team as you can not be every where on the battlefield at the same time. Without a command team nearby your units will sometimes start to become affraid and that can lead onto panic attacks. This can happen if they are under heavy attack or if they are on the assault as your command teams radius does not cover them. Command teams are also needed if you are forced to advance on enemy positions or attacking the enemy in hand-to-hand combat as they stop your men from becoming scared and panicing. Always try and include a command team if you are going to storm a building or enemy unit as your forces will have a lower chance of breaking under the pressure. If buying a command tank think about what it is capable of first. They cost more points as a tank without a command crew in it and dont have the morale or experience as a SS or FJ tank does and that could be a downfall, so be careful and think about your points. Remember, keep your main command team alive at all costs!

 

Flamethrowers

These weapons can be devastating when placed in a defensive or in an abmush roll aswell as being able to cremate the enemy when on the assault. They have the firepower to eliminate whole infantry platoons aswell as being able to take on enemy armour and other such units. The infantry units flamethrower is nothing like the heavier version which can be armed on some enemy armour and half-tracks. The 1st diffence is range, the infantry version has only half the range at 30m’s and hasnt the great indirect fire capability like the heavy FT. They also havent the armour penetrating power but still they do a good job. These units should really to bought when the map is built up or dense with tress, where tanks have little room for LOS to cover infantry units and also to manoeuvre. You can easily find that even the toughest of tanks can fall prey to just a single infantry man with a small flamer. These units are most effective when placed with other infantry units as they have no long range weapons to fight with and can easily become target practice for the enemy. The most effective use of the flamerthrower is the Russian Engineer platoons, the 1st pick for any Russian commander. Theres teams are brutal in close combat being armed with SMG’s, sniper rifels, Lt MG’s and a small flamethrower, they can lay down a wall of lead aswell as being able to burn the enemy into surrendering. The Russian Engneers make the best use of the flamer and for 60points you cant go wrong as the German flamethrower units cost up to a massive 57points and that’s for only 2 men! If, when being Germans, you buy a flamethrower team guard them with your life cus they’ve cost you a arm and a leg and they can easily become KIA’s.

 

MMG & HMG Teams

These teams are excellent for defensive operations as they can devastate enemy infantry units with a wall of lead. These teams should always be located in areas where enemy infantry units are possible to attack as they can stop even the toughest of enemy infantry, aswell as placing them in positions to cover your advancing Infantry units. When placing MG/HMG teams in areas of close-quarter fire-fights its always best to give them alittle support by other infantry units, just to stop them from becoming pinned down. HMG’s can fire upto 10 rounds per burst and fire every-other second, and German MG teams having around a 10 second reloading time giving you excellent defensive and suppression fire over your opponent. At all rangers these guns can be extremely accurate and devastating, and with a normal ammo belt containing 250 rounds and with some HMG’s having upto 2500 rounds they have no promblem fending of large numbers of infantry. For the Germans there is two types of Infantry machine guns, the MG34/42 and the HMG34/42. One of the main differences between the two is not only is the HMG more accurate and fires more rounds per burst but is that the MG fires a lot quicker but isnt as accurate. This means that the MG can scream out more bullets into the enemy coursing them to become pinned down, course the enemy to panic and break. Never buy these units if your mission is a pure advance as these teams are slow to move and set-up aswell as having no real close-quarter weapons. Try and only move these teams if necessary, their place in a battle is a fixed position.

 

Panzerschrecks

German Panzerschreck’s can be a Russian Commanders nightmare. Having a maxium range of 125m’s and an effective range of 125m’s these 2 man units can be a real pain for your opponent. Being able to hid in just about all areas of a map, these units can just wait on ambush until a suitable target appears and then drive an 88mm projectile straight into the tanks hull. Panzerschreck teams should only really target enemy armour as they are given only short amounts of ammo and you cant really afford to waste them on infantry targets. Still the Panzerschreck can be just as deadly to infantry as it is against armour. You can also use your Panzerschreck teams to target enemy AT guns and other units which are placed within buildings. Panzerschrecks can be a good idea for trying to kill hidden AT guns and other fixed units instead of trying to kill it with your armour which may leave you open for an enemy tank. If you have more than 1 Panzerschreck team and find that 1 team has been killed and the other is out of ammo, you can use the team with no ammo to pick it up off of the dead Panzerschreck unit. You will then receive extra rounds for your Panzerschreck and the killing goes on. Try and always place your Panzerschreck teams with some sort of infantry or armour support as they can become pinned down and suppressed by enemy infantry which all out number the 2 man Panzerschreck teams. Even tho the Panzerschreck can kill a tank from its maxium range it is still best too wait that little bit longer and get the enemy just alittle closer for that shell with its name on.

 

Anti-Tank Guns

Anti-Tank guns can be the back bone to a good soild defensive line and also make excellent support weapons. Being able to hid in most buildings and fields Anti-Tank guns can sometimes be more devastating than a main battle tank, do to the fact that most have the same caliber weapon as most medium and heavy tanks but have the ability to fire faster. At just a small cost to your Army you can buy a weapon that is capable of killing the most expensive and toughest of enemy armour aswell as being able to fend off infantry units. AT guns covering open fields, buildings or flanks can make all the diffence between winning and loosing as they can easily hold back or disrupt enemy forces on the attack and give you time. When placing AT guns or anyother fixed weapons, remember that your playing a real person and not a computer, don’t place them in stupid positions that will make them an easy target. When positioning fixed weapons think what you would aim for if you was the other player. Try not to place them in to obvious locations like say, the only building on the map or the highest building which happens to have an excellent LOS because these all should be hit 1^st by your enemy to clear the way. Also if placed in a field or building and on ambush mode and a target appears select the gun and target the enemy. When you read that the gunner is aiming his gun quickly place the gun back onto ambush mode as this will hid the gun from enemy sights. The gunner will still carry on aiming his gun until the round is fired and then reload while the rest of the gun crew is on ambush. This will hid the gun for aslong as possible. To get out of this tactic if on the receiving end all you can really do is to pull back while trying to find the location of the gun by the smoke coming from its barrel, after it has fired. Another way is to just try and take whats its throwing at you and look out for the smoke from the gun in the direction you think its coming from then attack that spot. Remember if your not sure about a building that you think my hold an AT gun or any enemy unit for that case just blast the building and clear a path. Let your infantry units try and find fixed enemy weapons as their a lot cheaper than armour and can give you the chance of distracting it before you finish it off with a heavy weapon maybe.

German Anti-Tank Guns

From the start of the game to the end the German AT and Anti-Infantry guns are the best. Their harder hitting, better trained and depending on which gun it is their faster to reload. The German 88AA gun which is one of the best AT guns in the game and can fire and reload within 6 seconds! This means that you can fire roughly twice before your enemy can fire once and reload. Also the 88AA gun has the quickest 180degree rotating time that means that it can position and aim its gun faster than anyother fixed support weapon, and that’s a great advantage over your enemy. The AT version of the famous ‘88’ is just as hard hitting. Given ‘SP’ rounds and unlike the 88AA gun the 88AT gun is able to be placed within builings making it much harder for the enemy to spot and can be place just about anywhere on the map. The German 88’s are the best, no tank can take much of a beatting from the long barreled 88mm not even the JSIII’s, you want a AT gun that can knock-out a JSU or JSII from any range you want an 88 AT gun! The German 75mm even tho not as hard hitting as the 88’s is still a formidable weapon that can fight the heavy Russian bears even from the front. They maybe not able to knock a heavy tanks out with a single shot but they can cripple, damage, and even knock the tanks main gun off making it not much more than scrap. The 75mm is an good alround AT gun that is cheap and affective and when entering the game is an excellent buy for fighting against the heavy KV’s and later SU’s from repsectable rangers. The 50mm AT guns are good, having lots of ‘SP’ rounds and a fast reloading time of around 6 seconds they are a good weapon to attack the T34’s which can cause problems for your armour of the time. Once the likes of the SU 122’s enter the game this AT guns should be shelved and a more powerful gun should be bought, the 75mm.

 

Russian Anti-Tank Guns

Russian guns are about average, they lack the armour penetrating power of the German AT guns but they do their job. The Russian 85mmAA gun isnt anything like the German 88AA gun, it hasn’t the power or reloading time and sometimes just wont fire on German heavies just because it cant do damage. On the other hand this gun is available very early in the game and can have an excellent kill ratio against the weak Pz III’s and Pz IV’s. Again, like the German 88AA this weapon can not be positioned within buildings do to the size of the weapon its-self and must be placed out-side in open terrain. The Russian 76mm like the German 75mm is a good alround AT weapon being able to take on most German Armour in the game aswell as infantry. This weapon can be place within most buildings and depending on the time of year this fixed weapon is excellent for Light to Meduim tanks and can easily take on the enemy tanks of the early years. The 57mmAT gun is infact more powerful than the Russian 76 and 85mm AT guns. For some reason this gun can fire a smaller caliber shell faster and harder than other heavier fixed AT guns. An example of this is when you target a German Tiger VIE tank from the front. All Russian AT guns will get a black target ring over the tank apart from the Russian 57mm. This gun will get a yellow target ring meaning that it has the power to do some damage and has a chance of knocking the 60ton tank out. The down side for this weapon is that they are only available with poorly trained crews and have little amounts of ammo given. But for the price you pay and the power that is given to you, you have an excellent weapon against even the Tiger VIE in the middle part of the game.

 

Infantry Guns

Fixed Infantry guns are infact more powerful that you may think. They do have the power to knock out some tanks even in late war games so they should not be used just against soft infantry targets. The German version of the 75mm Infantry gun also is armed with ‘HT’ rounds that are designed for use against tanks. The Russians arent given these shells but still, like both guns on each side, have the power to kill if not cripple. 75mm Infantry guns are not only cheap but have an excellent reloading time of around 6 seconds and can be placed just about anywhere on the battlefield.

 

Half-Tracks 

Half-Tracks in the game are just about useless apart from maybe 2 or 3. Half-Tracks can be expensive and also can be killed by even the worst trained enemy infantry. If going for a Half-Track the ones that you should go for would be either the Rocket Firing, Flamethrowing or Mortar model Half-Tracks. The Rocket Firing model is the best of the lot, being able to kill whole units of infantry with a single rocket and able to kill even the heaviest of Russian Armour. The down side to this Half-Track is that it really needs to be as close to the target aspossible as its not very accurate and only is given 6 rounds. Never in a game have I ever seen a Rocket Half-Track reload and ready to fire after its 1^st 6 rounds have been fired. Overal these Half-Tracks are devastating if used well. Flamethrowing Half-Tracks have to be 2^nd best. Like most flamethrowers these can wipe out lots of infantry aswell as being able to damage, cripple and kill enemy armour with indirect fire. They have the same long 60m’s range as all heavy FT tanks but arent given the same armour protection. Use this Half-Track was you would a Flamethrower tank, like in woods or built-up areas. The Mortar version of the Half-Track isnt anything special, just that it can carry more mortar rounds aswell as having the excellent 360 degree firing AA MG34. Use this unit as you would a normal mortar team and move as close to the enemy giving you accurate fire, also use its AA MG34 as along range support weapon for advancing infantry units. If the enemy starts to rain down with mortar fire make use that you back away as quick as possible as even the 50mm mortar can score an easy kill against this type of unit.

 

Mortar Teams

These teams are excellent for direct and indirect suppression fire against enemy positions that maybe coursing trouble to your units. Mortars are not only useful in the suppression of enemy infantry and fixed units, but also in the crippling and destruction of some enemy armour. Mortars teams should be used to pin down enemy units aswell as laying down smoke screens in which you can cover youreslf with in an advance or withdraw. If an enemy position is sighted you should begin to lay down shells into that position while you begin to manoeuvre your forces in a flanking position or direct firing positions. Each side is given 3 sizes of mortars from 50mm to the massive 120mm which is capable of destroying some fixed turret tanks, many German models. The smaller the caliber mortar the more rounds in which are given and the less effective range is has. 50mm mortars are weak and only really effective at very close range, say less than 100m’s. They are given massive amounts of ammo and can do a fairly good job in keeping your enemy pinned if within close range and have the ability do destroy German Half-Tracks and fixed units. 82mm mortars are the basic models and are suited to most fighting terrains. They are excellent against enemy positions and are capable of coursing mass damage within the enemys forces. They have a better effective range than the weaker 50mm and are given good amounts of HE rounds aswell has smoke rounds. These 82mm mortar teams can also be armed with effective SMG’s and rifels depending on the type of team you buy. 82mm mortars can also be found on German Half-Tracks in which they are given more ammo and better firepower in terms of direct anti-infantry fire. 82mm mortars are effective against all Half-Tracks and fixed units. 120mm mortars are the most expensive and the most effective mortar theres is for both sides on CC3. They have the ability to not only kill infantry and fixed weapons like AT guns, but they have the firepower to cripply and even kill some enemy armour, mostly German. For the Russians in the early years of the war a 120mm mortar can be a excellent weapon for attacking enemy armour like the formidable FT tanks which you don’t really want to try and face. They also can be deadly against most light and medium tanks aswell as being able you cripply some German late war tank destroyers like the Jagdpanther and Jagdpanzer IV’s. Against infantry the 120mm mortar can turn even the toughest of infantry units into yellow bellys leaving the way clear to attack and take some prisoners.

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