AT Teams Are Slaughterig Me -- HELP!!!

[Krotos]

Again, thanks ever so much for the help everyone.

Krotos

[pdoktar]

Don´t buy Leo 1A5s just because they are cheap. In the 21st century it´s 105mm gun and weak frontal HEAT armor are of limited value. Opt for the heavier tanks like Leo2 and it´s descendants. If real armies could do with a Leo1A5, why would they design heavier tanks..

Frontal Anti-HEAT armor of your MBTs should be 90+ on both hull and turret. Vision of 40 (thermal imaging) is essential for getting a chance spotting of ATGM teams from long range. Watch for top-attack ATGMs, but VIRSS and ARENA are good against these also. HIDE your tanks. Use cover as much as possible when advancing. DO NOT move your tanks first to hilltops. Scout hilltops first with lighter vehicles and scouts or a infantry FO unit.

Don´t prioritize infantry over artillery, because artillery has the capacity to take out these ATGM teams at long range, infantry doesn´t. Mortars are real killers in this game (atleast suppression-wise). Use forests and ravines in closing with the enemy. Mount your tanks in places, where only your frontal armor will be exposed to the enemy. If given 3900 corepoints, and the map is 100x100hexes, you need maybe 3-5 MBTs at first. These cost 450 to 600 a piece. Your MBTs aren´t your main fighting force (though sometime it might seeem), but are there to knock out enemy vehicles. Against infantry and infantry ATGMs, infantry and artillery works best.

[hoplitis]

When you buy the heavy modern MBTs you must take into account that you might pay for them twice! Once when you buy them and the second time if/when they get killed! What I'm trying to say is that, in my experience, a 500 points casualty might easily cost you a victory level. This is even more frustrating if the opponent has a low tech force in which case to compensate for your one precious destroyed MBT you must kill a lot of low cost units. So "protecting" your expensive MBTs is essential!

[Mustang]

Krotos, don't be afraid of asking questions. The whole point of this forum is to disucuss the game, and that's what we all enjoy doing.

I "perfected" a way to defeat enemy ATGM and RPG teams during the Silver Lions campaign (it comes with the game, try it, it's very fun, it pits you, an M-60 force, against large Soviet infantry AT forces). Buy a lot of cheap jeeps, armored cars, or whatever you can find that's the cheapest. Have them move first to spot enemy ATGM and RPG forces. From there, you have two choices:

1. Slow approach: Lay down artillery/air strikes on the spotted ATGMs. What I find easiest is to use cheap mortars to lay down smoke first, and then throw in HE shells to pin the enemy in place. While the enemy AT is smoked and surpressed, move your tanks, having them do indirect fire (use the Z key to do this) if you want to add to the enemy supression if you don't have LOS on them because of smoke.
2. Fast approach: If you lack artillery or want to go fast, then either:

A. Buy very cheap, 50-point tanks/armored cars- ATGMs will have at best a 50% hit chance against these fast and agile targets, and considering that most enemy ATGM costs about 50 points, your cheap tanks will probably be able to smother them with HE and kill them (remember that most enemy infantry AT teams are only 2-3 men strong and can be killed relatively easily).

or...

B. Charge the enemy with jeeps and trucks to mop up their heavy AT. If you don't want to be accused of using the Op-Fire cheat (using a bunch of cheap units to draw enemy fire so your expensive units will live), then use your jeep MGs to surpress enemy AT and move your tanks in on the next turn to finish them off.

or...

C. Infantry squads cost only 10-20 points, and are good for keeping ATGM teams heads down while your tanks advance.

Really, though, once the AT threat is done for your tanks will have a field day. This is why even 500-point tanks are still a good investment. The real weaknesses of ATGMs are, 1, they are soo small (having only 2-3 crew) that they can usually be killed by a few shots of direct fire HE, and 2, guided missiles rarely get more than 2 shots per turn. But don't panic. If your enemy always buys unrealistically huge loads of missiles and designs his defences well, odds are that he will be vulnerable to any kind of non-tank threat. But most enemies will buy a mix. The key is to use the right mix yourself. Even if you loose a lot of tanks to enemy ATGM, they are your only path to victory- infantry have nowhere near armor's capability when on the attack. I use armor as my main fighting punch, and have always won over strong antitank forces. I consider the ability to use armor effectively to be the most important skill of a good WinSPMBT commander.

[Sgt_Walrus]

Hi All

An interesting discussion and some good points made.
I suggest joining The Blitz wargaming club and fighting against human opponents.
The AI is too predictable and easy to overcome even when playing a pre-made scenario that has been cleverly designed.
Even a beginner human will present more interesting challenges.

Cheers
SGT

[serg3d]

Another advice - use recon vehicles or gunship with vision at least 40, better 50. You will have good chance that they spot ATGM team first.