Methodology

[KG_AGCent]

Here's a questions that's been burning (yes, I know, they have medicine for this) inside my head for a while; When preparing for an armor engagement while in a game, do you work your tanks in pairs, groups or singly? If you work in pairs/groups how much offset (distance between the tanks) do you like to have? Explain. If you work singly, what do you do, if anything, to achieve fire superiority? Explain.

[British Tommy]

Very much depends on the map and if I'm defending or attacking.
If I'm attacking I like to have small groups of armour and I use the leap frog method of advance. That way at least some of my advancing armour is covered. In defence I go for hull down positions where possible. I also like to keep some armour as a mobile reserve in case my line gets smashed in one area.
Hope this helps! :salute:

[ER_Chaser]

I guess this severely depends on the players' styles. (his own and his opponents)

Of course, again, this will also depend on the situation: tank engagement ---- meaning tank vs. tank or tank vs. stronghold or tank vs. inf or other?
Further, what is your support situation? Plenty? Ahead? Arear? or no support?
Further what is the general situation? Desperate or leisure? etc..

[KG_AGCent]

I guess this severely depends on the players' styles. (his own and his opponents)

Of course, again, this will also depend on the situation: tank engagement ---- meaning tank vs. tank or tank vs. stronghold or tank vs. inf or other?
Further, what is your support situation? Plenty? Ahead? Arear? or no support?
Further what is the general situation? Desperate or leisure? etc..
Describe how you handle each situation.

[Palantir]

More to the point is: what are good tank tactics in CM?

[ER_Chaser]

Describe how you handle each situation.
OK, for my style: in general, unless desperate, I never use tank to engage enemy tanks, unless I have overwhelming superiorty (be it quality of quantity, for example: 10 T34/85 vs. 1 Tiger or 1 Tiger vs. 3 T34/41/42/43(early)).

I almost never use tank to engage strongholds that have AT ability frontally. From side or back, one is enough, basically you are hitting a sitting duck.

When used against infantry: one to attempt first, to check out whether they have AT gun supports. That one usually is dead. If cleared out of AT guns, use as many tanks as possible to neutralize the infantry targets in as few turns as possible.

I also never go ahead using tanks alone without plenty of infantry support. When infantry support is proper and well positioned, my tank's task is to knock out enemy infantry, and my infantry's task is to knock out enemy tanks --- or at least keep them away from engaging mine. When the enemy tanks were ripped of inf. support, proceed to surround it and eliminte it.

When I do not have enough support, do not engage. Retreat and wait for chance. No one is a superman, there are situations that you cannot win and must control damage.

[Fionn]

Any answer to this question which fits within the parameters set by the questioner is doomed to be a woefully incomplete answer.

Obviously, one cannot cover all of the vicissitudes of tank combat and command of same within the confines of "general" platoon frontage and cohesion set herein.


In addition, describing how one would handle each situation in detail is the sort of thing doctrinal thinkers have struggled with in weighty tomes over the past few decades and it cannot be, meaningfully, rendered down to such an extent that it can fit within a single forum post without watering it down so much as to make it virtually meaningless.

If you ever read On War you will see that to get the main gist of Clausewitz's arguments needs only a few pages. To support his assertions, argue the exceptions and the seeming exceptions is what takes up the other several hundred pages. And it is precisely those arguments which enlighten the reader.


The only answer which I think can make sense within the confines of a forum post and yet encompass the myriad situations is that all one needs to EVER do is apply the most basic of tactics appropriately, cohesively and always. Once that is done victory follows.

[Fionn]

When I do not have enough support, do not engage. Retreat and wait for chance. No one is a superman, there are situations that you cannot win and must control damage.

Hmm, not sure I'd agree with this. So long as your attack takes more out of the enemy than it costs you the offensive is ALWAYS the best thing to do. In almost all situations, no matter how outnumbered, it is possible to attack and do the enemy, relatively, more damage than one suffers ( of course sometimes one cannot do more damage but if one looks beyond the simplistic and merely attritionist viewpoint of relative losses one can see that even an expensive engagement which "fails" in attritionist terms can sow the seeds of victory by shaping the next phase of the battle decisively in ones favour.)

[ER_Chaser]

:) I said, that is just me :) ... The point is that I have a strange belief: that if I do anything depending on luck, I will fail :D ... So I never take chances whenever possible :p

[KG_AGCent]

Any answer to this question which fits within the parameters set by the questioner is doomed to be a woefully incomplete answer.
And I am not looking for any such answer, simply some general ideas you have in mind when you approach a game or hard lessons learned that have caused you to alter the way you play. ER-Chaser's post was an excellent example of what I am trying to get you people to divulge.

I too, do my best to avoid armor-on-armor clashes preferring to close assault with infantry, PzSchreck/Zooka or AT gun. My infantry's sole purpose in life is the destruction of enemy armor/vehicle assets. My tanks sole purpose in life is the reduction of enemy infantry forces. Anybody who is successful in this game realizes that when your infantry is gone, the game, in most cases, is lost.

I try my best to operate my armor in pairs whether on defense or offense and usually as support for an AT gun as force multipliers. If I can manage, an HMG too to get a tank commander to button up before I expose any AT asset.

Another method I am trying, and have had some success with is a lateral (referencing the FEBA) hull-down-hunt in pairs. I am still working on the technique, but it appears promising.