Gun Gun Gun!

[Poor Old Spike]

GUN GUN GUN

Tiger ace Michael Wittman said he hated enemy guns more than tanks, and I'm sure CM players agree with him because guns can usually get off 2 or 3 shots before they're even spotted.
In this top pic my herd of T-70's suddenly came under fire from a light AT-gun in the trees in the previous turn and holes began appearing in them.
So in the next order phase I jam everybody's brakes on and order them to saturate the gun position with area fire (yellow lines)
Then just 9 seconds into the turn the gun crew run off as the position erupts in a storm of high-explosive tank fire, (not bad considering the T-70's guns are only baby 45mm's)..
That's usually my standard tactic against guns, I stop and return fire on them with everything I've got because they're so deadly and must be taken down without delay, although sometimes i'll let my tanks keep moving on 'Fast' if the gun can be quickly bypassed.
Notice I used mostly area-fire into the ground around the gun position, that's because area-firers will keep on plastering throughout the whole turn, whereas if I used direct fire they'd stop firing if the gun became pinned, because they'd lose their lock on it.
However I do leave a small proportion of the tank force direct-firing (red lines) so they're free to shoot up the running gun crew or anything else..

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/zerotol1.jpg


http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/zerotol2.jpg

[Poor Old Spike]

THE POWER OF THE GUN.

PIC 1 - This 6-pounder opens up on three Stugs..
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/a1.jpg




PIC 2 - The gunners view. It fires several times before the enemy can even spot it and begin trying to return fire..
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/a2.jpg




PIC 3 - Within 2 turns the Stugs are dead. One fired back several times but was no match against the fast-firing highly-accurate 6-pdr, it peppered them with 17 shots (note ammo readouts), most of which hit and penetrated.
"Whoever fires first, wins" - modern Israeli tank doctrine.
"The day goes to the first to plaster his opponent with fire" - Rommel
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/a3.jpg



6-pdr, Normandy
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub1/britat.jpg

[Poor Old Spike]

Russian 45mm ATG
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/gun45AT-stepp.jpg


37mm Pak
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/37atgun.jpg



Normandy - All hell must have let loose here, knocked-out 75mm Pak40 in foreground, dead Waffen-SS man in road, knocked-out Panther down the road, dead Sherman further down road on the left verge facing away..
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/P40-norm.jpg


This might be that Sherman..
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sher-wreck-norm2.jpg

[Pdqport]

Those are some great pics. I play a lot of WW2 skirmish level games with 28mm minis and guys in my group are always griping about how hard it is to spot AT guns, even after they've fired a few rounds. Those pics do a good job showing just how tough it must have been to find the bloody things on a real battlefield.

I like your tactics for dealing with them in CM. I think it will translate well to the tabletop game I play. I've always enjoyed CM because it really captures the essence of the minis game my group plays (it's called Battleground WW2).

[Poor Old Spike]

I like your tactics for dealing with them in CM. I think it will translate well to the tabletop game I play. I've always enjoyed CM because it really captures the essence of the minis game my group plays (it's called Battleground WW2).

Hey I started with minis 30 years ago, but then I got into computer gaming and it made me lazy and i've stuck with comps ever since, just typing in orders and letting the computer carry them out, no having to keep getting the tape measure out to check ranges or having to keep looking on charts..:)

[Pdqport]

We have a small group that still struggles to get together once a month and play with minis. It is a chore though and mostly it's just a way for all of us to escape the wives and kids for a few hours ;)

I do a lot more computer gaming these days, than anything else. CM is great for me because it comes close to the scale and feel of a minis game. I've actually played some CM scenarios as a way of testing tactics for my minis play.

[Poor Old Spike]

We have a small group that still struggles to get together once a month and play with minis. It is a chore though and mostly it's just a way for all of us to escape the wives and kids for a few hours ;)


Luckily I live alone and can play undisturbed for as long as I like til 4 in the morning, my sister and nieces try to visit me sometimes but I easily get out of that by not answering the door or phone..:)
Another thing about computer games are their usually stunning graphics, I recently playtested 'Panzer Command:Winter Storm' and the graphics are so good that you feel as if you're actually there, a totally immersive experience, check it here -

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72321

[Nemesis Lead]

Awesome photos and game pics!

You do love your massed armor. Ever get hit be artillery fire? CM tanks panick and run around like fools.

[Poor Old Spike]

You do love your massed armor. Ever get hit be artillery fire? CM tanks panick and run around like fools.

If they're conscripts/ greens and regulars they may well panic, but veterans and above usually stand their ground.
I usually let my armour groups sit riding out the bombardment if the calibres smallish, but if its 105mm and above I'll definitely move them out of the impact zone.
Luckily, with heavy calibres, a single spotting round will usually arrive a turn before the main barrage, so you get an advance warning to run..:)

Here's a test I did..
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/art-tks.jpg

[Okimaw]

Hey POS, I really like your tac posts, they've been a lot of help to me. I was wondering if you've ever done tests on the effect of the various ATR's on infantry?

[Poor Old Spike]

..tests on the effect of the various ATR's on infantry?

I've just started an ATR thread mate, go check it out..:)

Here-
http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75099

[Pdqport]

Hey POS, I really like your tac posts, they've been a lot of help to me.

I'm digging them a lot too. I think I'll have to dust off my copies of CM and get back into it.

[kawaiku]

I couldn't find the thread here, but somebody here gave the advice that guns dug in or in trenches with a good officer next to them could survive all sorts of shoot-outs. I put it into use in one of my games against Okimaw and it toasted quite of few of his metal behemoths!

[Poor Old Spike]

The German Puppchen is a wicked little thing, just look at its phenomenal penetration.
But its very low muzzle vel (150m/s) means it'll usually miss unless at short ranges

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/Pupp.gif

[Poor Old Spike]

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CM-gunsetup.jpg




BRIT 25-pdr
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub1/25pdr.jpg

[Poor Old Spike]

The Pak 40 crew in this pic (Italy) show how guns should preferably be dug in waiting for the enemy..
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub1/pak40italy.jpg



But in the heat of battle it's not always possible to dig in.
U.S. 76mmATG, Normandy
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub1/Gun76AT-norm.jpg



Russian 45mmATG
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub1/45AT.jpg

[Poor Old Spike]

105mm
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/gun105.jpg



105mm
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/105gun.jpg



150mm
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub1/grossd.jpg

[Poor Old Spike]

PAK40 75mm ATG
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/pak40.jpg