Suggestions for Belligerents

[Kartoffel]

I'm looking for satifying tank battles but I don't want to be Russia, Germany, USA, UK bloc nations. I dont' care who my opponent is but I want to keep it somewhat historical.

[Mobhack]

WW2 really do not have any other 'players' that are really into the tank game.

Japan vs anyone - really only infantry support and tin cans.

Chinese - had an armoured brigade of tin cans (panzer 1, vickers 6-ton) pre-war, but the Japanese AI will not buy fleets of AFV.

Spanish Civil War - again just a few tanks for infantry support.

Italians - tin cans that merely provide the enemy with targets, really.

France - early war, under a human player, will tend to walk over the AI Germans.

Hmm - perhaps try a German invasion of Sweden (from either side) in 39-42?.

Cheers
Andy

[Griefbringer]

Originally Posted by Mobhack

Italians - tin cans that merely provide the enemy with targets, really.

For the early war in North Africa, M-13/40 has a fighting chance unless it encounters Matilda II.

What about Poland in September 1939? They had hundreds of armoured vehicles, and while most of those were not exactly very impressive, their 7TP tanks (based on the Vickers 6 ton -design) tend to have a decent fighting chance against German armour of the same period.

[iCaMpWiThAWP]

Originally Posted by Griefbringer

For the early war in North Africa, M-13/40 has a fighting chance unless it encounters Matilda II.

What about Poland in September 1939? They had hundreds of armoured vehicles, and while most of those were not exactly very impressive, their 7TP tanks (based on the Vickers 6 ton -design) tend to have a decent fighting chance against German armour of the same period.

Poland 09/39 is a good period for tank battles, the PZ III and the 7TP are kinda similar(I prefer the polish tank, as it has sabots), good for a real tactical battle.
Italian armor is also on par with early cruisers, but they're usually green.

[DRG]

As Andy says, once you get beyond the obvious tank nations you don't have much left. You could try "what if" games in the 1930's. What if WW2 started in Czechoslovakia in 1938 might give you something interesting. I tried a UK vs France 1935 game not long ago that was interesting.

The SCW is good from a tank perspective *IF* you play with enhanced numbers of tanks on both sides.

Don

[runequester]

The Finns employed a small number of captured tanks.

Spain can be a lot of fun. There weren't that many tanks around, but they did have some armour vs armour battles, so maybe set that up and give the fascists a taste of the mighty T26

[Griefbringer]

Originally Posted by runequester

The Finns employed a small number of captured tanks.

And also Vickers 6-ton tanks (purchased pre-war from UK) and StuGs (purchased from Germany around 1943).

[gila]

SCW is a good one to try.
Old school tactics entering the new age of tank warfare.

I had alot fun punching holes in the slow lumbering T-26's with the quick and nimble BA-6's playing as the nationalist in a pbem game awhile back

But beware, this will be heavy with infranty also, don't set the pt.s too high as units are very cheap at that time.

[Mobhack]

Czechoslovakia and Poland had a disputed border region, so a "what if it came to fisticuffs" in 30-38 might be worth a try. (Poland did take over some parts, just before themselves being invaded). Just find a date where both sides have "useful" AFV and you should be good to go for a short length campaign.

Hungary also had a border region in dispute in the 30s - but who with I cant recall (Just something from playing Hearts of Iron there). Hungary has it's own tank models as interest factor. It may have been a slice of Romania they desired?.

Also, Romania and The USSR had a dispute in the time frame about Bessarbia(?) - which the Romanians ceded under pressure as far as I recollect just pre-war. Again, from playing HOI rather than looking up the history. Keep it pre the T34 and it may be "interesting" (in the Chinese proverb sense.. !) to play as a short campaign as Romania in say 37/38.

Andy

[Griefbringer]

Originally Posted by Mobhack

Hungary also had a border region in dispute in the 30s - but who with I cant recall (Just something from playing Hearts of Iron there). Hungary has it's own tank models as interest factor. It may have been a slice of Romania they desired?.

The loss of Transsilvania to Romania was certainly a big issue to Hungary, but if you are looking for historical what-ifs in the 1930's there is probably more than enough material to provide them with an excuse to engage with Czechoslovakia or even Yugoslavia - both contained areas with large ethnic Hungarian populations that had been a part of the Kingdom of Hungary before the treaty of Trianon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Trianon