Infantry against armour

[Poor Old Spike]

(This thread deals with things that are thrown at tanks (or plonked on in the case of magnetic AT-mines), but for things that are fired at tanks, see the separate 'Whoosh" thread)


The furthest I've ever seen infantry throw stuff at tanks is 40 metres, so the golden rule is never drive your tanks that close to any cover where an enemy infantry unit may be lurking.
Note - the 40 range applies only to grenades, molotovs and light items like that, but the heavier stuff like grenade bundles and satchel charges etc don't usually get thrown til the tank closes to inside the 35-ish metre mark

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/never.jpg



Just an example of how some infantry-AT weapons icons look on unit data readouts
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/iat.jpg



http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/wurf1.jpg



http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/wurf-action.jpg



http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CM-Wurf1.jpg

[Poor Old Spike]

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/infvkt1.jpg



http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/infvkt2.jpg



http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/infvkt3.jpg


A typical RPG (there were several models)
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/rpg-43.jpg

PS - RPG stands for Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy Granatomet, I've seen several different translations of it, the consensus being something like "infantry anti-tank grenade".
RPG is of course also used for modern Russian AT-rocket launchers, but the letters are changed slightly (Ruchnoy Protivotankovy Granatomyot) which means something like "infantry anti-tank grenade launcher"

[Poor Old Spike]

STUG GETS SATCHELLED

PIC 1 - My Stug and 2x Pz III's press home an attack against the flag,racing through a gap in the trees. I suspect there may be Russian infantry lurking among the trees but I'm hoping my tanks on 'Fast' will be through the gap before they have time to start throwing stuff.
However, my oppo Marshall666 daringly runs his pioneer squad with the tanks (along direction of small arrow) so's they can't get away..
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/pion1.jpg



PIC 2- My tanks then sit in what I hoped would be a temporary safe area well away from trees to engage a T-34 before pushing on to the flag, but the pioneer squad arrives in position and hurls a satchel charge (sailing through the air along dotted line) at my Stug..
(Note the range is only 28 metres, well within the 40 metres lethal throwing zone of infantry, I knew I was taking a risk but hey, that's war)
BTW the grid is 20 metre squares,it helps judge distance and see contours better, I always use it.
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/pion2.jpg



PIC 3- Kaboom, the charge explodes and its goodbye Stug..
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/pion3.jpg

[Poor Old Spike]

OFFICER DOWN!

Ordinary bullets can't kill tanks but they can do the next best thing and kill exposed commanders, thereby considerably reducing the tanks efficiency for the rest of the game.

(This is a combat sequence from earlier in that game against Marshall666 in the adjacent post)
PIC 1- I order my PzIIIL(late) to go 'Fast' down to the end of the dotted line to have a go at that T-34/76 sitting up on the ridge. (I'm pretty confident my boy can duke it out because he's a (late) model with hot green-class front armour that T-34/76's have trouble penetrating. I know the III's gun is only a 50mm-long but at close range it'll have a fair chance of penetrating the T-34's front hull)
Also, more III's and a Stug are close behind on the way as backup.
I decide to leave the TC unbuttoned so he'll see the T-34 quicker and start shooting the instant he arrives in position (note the small hook I put at the end of the plot so the panzer will be pointing smack at the T-34 when it gets there)

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/TCA.jpg





PIC 2- Officer down! (a Crack platoon commander to boot!)...no sooner does the panzer start rolling than a burst of small-arms fire whips out of the trees (you can just make out a tracer), hitting the TC, causing the tank to go 'shocked'..

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/TC2.jpg






PIC 3- However to their credit the crew continue rolling forward to the firing position even though still 'shocked' and therefore seriously poor at spotting, resulting in the T-34 having a field day by opening up on them several times before they even see it. (note the clock, they've been shocked and therefore near-useless for almost half the turn)

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/TC3.jpg





PIC 4- They manage to get off just one shot without harming the T-34, and it takes them down..

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/TC4.jpg


PS-The moral? Leaving TC's unbuttoned means they'll see and shoot at the enemy quicker, but risk losing their heads. Therefore the safest way to go is to start games unbuttoned, but keep buttoning them more and more the closer you get to the enemy. I took a risk by leaving my dood unbuttoned and lost him as a result but hey that's war..

[Poor Old Spike]

INFANTRY THROW WHILE SNEAKING

This is interesting because it means inf won't wait to come to a stop before throwing a grenade (yellow line below)
Also notice the long 38 metres range which is pretty good although the furthest I've ever seen infantry throw a grenade is 40 m.
(But they'll only throw heavier stuff like gren-bundles out to around 30 metres or so)
PS - The Panther was killed when the grenade hit, normally it'd take more than one to kill a Panther but it'd taken crew casualties earlier so they were shaky and quick to abandon)

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/infvpanA.jpg

[Poor Old Spike]

RIFLE-GRENADE IN ACTION
(oops i should have put this in the whoosh thread even though strictly speaking it goes 'pop')

(from a game against DevilThomas)
1 - I put this German halfsquad here simply as a forward observation post to report on enemy movements, note the minimum-arc (15m) to stop them firing and giving away their position.
However, a T-70 comes trundling down the road and to my surprise they fire a rifle-grenade at it (the arrowed small grey airborne dot)
2 - The first one misses but this second one hits.
3 - Scratch one T-70!
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/rifgrenA.jpg




Looks like yer gonna have ter get yerself another tank Charlie..
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/rifgrenB.jpg




Tactical notes -Interestingly the guys fired outside their infantry-arc at an armoured target, maybe they thought it was too good a chance to miss.
Note the range was 39m, that's about par for the course with rifle-grenades, I've never seen one fired at more than about 40m

Below - Rifle-grenades
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CM-rifgren.jpg

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/rifgren4.jpg

Good site here about several different types of rif-grens
http://www.inert-ord.net/ger03a/gerrg2/index.html

[Poor Old Spike]

GERMAN MAGNETIC AT-MINE IN ACTION

PIC 1- In this test a static kneeling German squad sees a T-34 trundling by.
Note they have 4 x magnetic AT mines..
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/magmine1.jpg




PIC 2- They throw it at 40 metres, note the throwers arm swinging but also note no mine graphic appears, this is normal in CM because in real life troops must run up to the tank and plonk the mine on it, so CM abstracts the procedure.
Note there are now 3 mines left.
Inset -BAM!
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/magmineB.jpg



German magnetic AT-mine
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/magmine2.jpg

[Waleed]

...hi POS where did you get the grids from please?

...a couple of years ago you helped with a rocky mod - I am coming back to CM after a long gap and am playing it unmodded (for the last week) after re-installing it...so any good mods for rocky ground as well? (IIRC it was vey black rocks?)

Sincere regards,
Waleed.

[Poor Old Spike]

...hi POS where did you get the grids from please?
....so any good mods for rocky ground as well? (IIRC it was vey black rocks?)



I use my own rocky mod, it makes them like flinty white granite outcrops like flecks of dandruff, give me your mail address and i'll send the mod..:)

As for grids, Go to CMMODS,
click "Cmbb mods" > "Search Cmbb" > Type in "gridded" (not grid) in the "word" box (leave others blank), and you'll get a list of grid mods, I can't remember the name of the one I use, rummage through them and see which you like best.

For CMAK, do "Cmak mods" > "Search Cmak > type in "grid" (not gridded) and a bunch should come up, again I forget the name of the ones I've got.

PS - the above instructions worked when I last used them about a year ago but i don't know if they're outdated by now.
Incidentally some grids are 20 metres square and some are 10m.
I like the 20m best and use it in cmbb, but can't find a 20m one for cmak, only 10m.

[Waleed]

CMMODS...off course - thanks POS :)
E-mail address sent!

Sincere Regards
Waleed.