Halftracks

[all5n]

Has anyone used halftracks to much effect?

Are they less vulnerable to air attacks than trucks? Are they worth the extra investment?

[british exil]

I like halftracks.

They have better armour than trucks plus they have a kind of recon bonus. You can use a few halftracks and troops and use them as a recon unit. They have the kind of recon bonus the Armoured Car gets.

I think they move better than trucks in bad conditions mud and snow, but I might be wrong there. Good to have a few horses in the stables for the mean seasons though.

If I have the spare production points I'll always go for the halftracks. Trucks for HQ's, tracks for the fighting men.

Also good for a quick retreat too.

Mat

[Jeffrey H.]

ORIGINAL: british exil

I like halftracks.

They have better armour than trucks plus they have a kind of recon bonus. You can use a few halftracks and troops and use them as a recon unit. They have the kind of recon bonus the Armoured Car gets.

I think they move better than trucks in bad conditions mud and snow, but I might be wrong there. Good to have a few horses in the stables for the mean seasons though.

If I have the spare production points I'll always go for the halftracks. Trucks for HQ's, tracks for the fighting men.

Also good for a quick retreat too.

Mat

Hmmm, maybe throw in a few AC's into the unit to 'round it out' ?

[Tac2i]

What I would like to know is why are halftracks so expensive to research, more so that light and medium tanks I believe.

[all5n]

This is a fine question.

ORIGINAL: Webizen

What I would like to know is why are halftracks so expensive to research, more so that light and medium tanks I believe.

[meskary]

Not only do they have recon value and carry 20 troops, have armor, they also provide land cap.

[seille]

I never use halftracks in case i have to research them with the usual costs.
Way too expensive.
In PBEM games you mostly can´t spend 100 PP on the luxus to have halftracks
cause you need infantry upgrades. Same for tanks, artillery and planes.
Much more important.

[Grymme]

Never use them against human opponents. I think its the case of a little usefull everywhere but never the most usefull anywhere. The balance between trucks, horses and halftracks is so delicate that a little less power means everything.
 
I mostly use horses actually. Less cost, moves over any terrain and low supply cost. Except for when combined with armour, then i use trucks. (halftracks are a prime candidate for lower cost in the generic game in my eyes).
 
Maybe this thread should be transfered to the war room.

[Mr. Stik]

I have to agree with Grymme on using horses as my primary mobilizer.  Horses are the most cost efficient.  Trucks belong in HQs to use for strategic movement of important assets like artillery, or a single vulnerable unit after combat.  I sometimes use trucks to create a highly mobile artillery unit that I don't intend to move off-road, and also to move my engineers about the battlefield quickly.
 
I don't normally build halftracks unless I want to create a highly mobile armor unit.  The one exception to this is in the WaW scenarios.  There I normally build halftracks for my SS units when I'm playing the Axis.  This is more because it "feels good" to have hard-hitting highly mobile SS units.
 
Just my 2 cents . . .

[mcv]

I love building halftracks, but for short games they're too expensive. I love them mostly because I used to play Panzer General, and there halftracks were vastly superior to trucks in every possible way. This doesn't seem to be the case in AT, though.

Perhaps halftracks should get better off-road speeds over open terrain. Over plains, trucks are just as fast, and that doesn't seem right. I often use halftracks in panzer units, because I don't want my tanks slowed down by trucks, but the only terrain where halftracks are faster than trucks is forests, and armour isn't very good there anyway.

Even so, I think it's wrong to transport SS units (in WaW scenarios) in mere trucks. (Note that I haven't played against humans yet. Against the AI, you can get away with estethics like that.)