Machineguns also do wonders for suppression of infantry/armor as well.
A while back Don sent me a WW II scenario (USMC vs Japan) to test. The US side had swarms (by USMC standards) of M5 light tanks ... 3 machineguns each ... so I just used them en-mass to locate/suppress the dug-in Japanese infantry and took very light casualties.
Don seemed rather surprised
And unless the opposition has TI smoke is wonderful stuff used offensively.