Early ATGM often don't have night fighting capability and they also have a long minimum range (500m or so) whereas your armour usually does have night vision, so fighting at night or low viz conditions (10 or less hexes) if you have the choice (and the vision aids!) can be worthwhile.
ATGM teams usually only have a limited number of rounds - typically 4. A human opponent may replenish them though...
If attacking, lead with little inexpensive tin can scout cars like the ferret or BRDM-2 - the AI may fire at these, whereas a human opponent will set filtering (if sensible). Follow the scout cars with infantry in APC and/or on foot to clear the way for your big tin elephants. Infantry can survive a hit that destroys the ride and continue on foot if lucky.
You armour sits back and shoots from afar then follows up later.
You probably don't want to move the armour at all for the first few turns, unless
guaranteed to be out of LOS and missile max range. Let the scouts and then mech crunchies advance for the first 3-4 turns till you get a feel of the ATGM situation. So sit in over-watch or hide them behind an LOS blocker for the first phase of the battle.
If your armour wants or needs to go forwards then use an approach route that gives
physical cover, i.e. put a hill, woods or town in between you and where they may be, go through a handy wood etc. ATGM - especially early ones like Saggers - are not too good in close terrain, but are great in wide open steppe or desert. Milan/Spigot type missiles of course remove the problem of close (European say) terrain as they have shorter minimum ranges.
If you locate an area that ATGM are coming from - screen with smoke (indirect or tank gun fired) and/or stonk with arty.
If you are light on arty then use what you have to smoke off your approach, or to barrage likely hiding spots. Choose the area(s)
very carefully as your assets are scarce. In this situation you may want to limit the area of armoured operations of your force to a fairly restricted part of the battlefield - not acting spread all over the map providing targets. Only use the space you can screen with your limited arty.
Another weapon that is useful for dealing with ATGM teams (or Jeeps) is the sustained fire MG team. If you have a decent field of fire then have these over-watching the enemy lines to biff up any revealed ATGM teams. 12.7mm HMG are very useful here with a 40 hex range. And they are reasonably cheap. Less use in a choked off European terrain though - but you may still find long lines of sight if e.g. up on a hill top. If they don't have full LOS to the team, or it is just an area of interest - then Z fire the zone with a platoon-load of the beasties. Z-firing HMG at suspected ATGM nests is an entirely valid use of Z-fire that a human opponent in PBEM should accept, IMHO provided you don't go crazy and buy 30 or more MG elements!
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Your tanks need to be
cautious in the modern era with ATGM about - they should not cavalry charge like a pack of rhinos. That worked in WW2 (but not for tin can Cruiser tanks!
), but post the 1960s it is not a recommended tactic unless closely following a Soviet-level creeping barrage (the best way to deal with ATGM, frankly!). Advantage swung back in the 80-90s with Chobham, but then the ATGM became bigger or top-attack.
The main way to deal with ATGM though if light on arty is by using caution and your supporting infantry.
Re: Atgm
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