infantry guns and recoiless rifles

[Mangudai]

Are infantry guns worth using? Does anybody buy them? Maybe I don't understand how to use them properly. OK, I've used the German si33 once or twice on urban terrain. The warhead is fine, but it's too damn slow to be worth bringing along. And, it's doesn't seem worth the price anyhow.

Same questions for Recoiless rifles. Does anybody buy them? How would you use them? AT, anti-infantry or both? The price on these things seems completely ridiculous. I don't get it. In SPMBT they're much cheaper, but I still haven't found them to be terribly effective.

[Toivo]

Speaking of germans ... Infantry guns can supress enemy units pretty well, sometimes I have bought section of those and then not so I'm pretty neutral. For supression self-propellered howitzer StuH-42 or StuG is pretty good, or Brummbär in streetfighting. The bigger gun the bigger supression and you can use them against armor too (at times Brummbär gets lucky kills on russkies tanks aswell).

Regards

[Marek Tucan]

IG's: I also don't buy them, but if available, I use them. They are quite good in suppressing infantry, mostly while defending - then one well-placed sIG-33 can mean alot. However, I tend to prefer mid-caliber artillery rather than IG's, as Soviet 122mm or US and German 105mm howitzers.

RRs - definitely use them against armour, esp. in SPMBT, but if I may give an advice, prefer motorised mounts such as jeep with 106mm M40 RR or landrover with Wombat - you'll get an ultimate mobila AT-gun which you can use for recon, in defence as quick reserve or in any type of battle to draw up enemy fire (they're hard to hit) and to surprisingly drive them to pointblank range to enemy T-62 and blow it away from the rear when all your M-48s haven't succeeded from the front. I'm not so sure about them in SPWAW, though. But in modern days, jeep/106mm is definitely worth buying, IMO even more than ATGM team.

[rbrunsman]

They (both IGs and RRs) are mostly for spice in a designed scenario. Buy them for fun in PBEM, but not for actual combat effectiveness.

You've also put you finger on the exact reason rarity should not be a factor in the price of the weapon. Who in their right mind would buy the 'rare' and thus very expensive US 57mm RR? That kind of pricing structure takes away fun in the name of 'realism.' Whoopty doo!! Who needs fun, when you've got realism in your GAME.

(Sorry, but the above comment comes out of me uncontrollably every time someone brings up the 'rarity-based' pricing scheme that seems to be the future for SPWAW.)

rb

[Yamashita]

Well I'm a complete newbie at SPWAW but when playing the old SP & my first new one I've found a pair of Infantry Guns to be an essential part of my small 1200 pt core force.

Great for hitting approaching infantry even took out a few light Russki tanks with 'em last game. Now they probably don't kill infantry like they used to in the old SP but they should still keep their heads down & be good against AT gun positions, I'd think.

Of course if I'm wrong please let me know so I don't learn the hard way!

[FNG]

I really like the 75mm IG in early German forces (pre-'42). Like Yamashita said, tidy accuracy, good suppresion, and on (very) rare occasions you can even toast T-34s with a HEAT round.

The 150mm sIG is a brutal bit of kit, but a bit of an obvious target. Keep it mobile and well-defended, and it is a truly murderous anti-personnel weapon. It is also great for 'Z' firing because of the splash damage it causes.

[rbrunsman]

You two are absolutely correct when dealing with defend assignments against the AI. It's just not worth the expense if you are trying to use them in an advance. By the time you pay for the transport, it would have been better to buy a JpzI for the cost, IMHO.

rb

[FNG]

Agreed. Even the mechanised 150mm is a bit of a hassle on an advance: it's slow, the size of a barn and has very limited ammunition.

[MarkIV]

the german 75mm infantry gun is really cheap, and can knock out early war tanks, and is decent in killing infantry as well. I buy a few sections during defends and delays during the early war period.
I also currently have 2 150 sigs, in my core force, there devestating to enemy infantry advanced, the splash damege is huge, I've seen it kill 2 or 3 men in ajacent hexes, to the target it was firing at. a section at a distace can stop a company of infantry.

[Procrustes]

I really enjoyed using the german 75mm inf guns in the Lost Victories megacamp - saved my but a couple of times. They're pretty good at bunker busting, too - if you can push them into a wooded or rubbled hex with a clear shot at the front of the fort. Those handful of ap rounds are precious.

When fighting the Japanese I have occasionaly stumbled on a little inf gun they have, too - it's been murderous up-close in the jungle.

[KG Erwin]

If my few games as the Germans, I definitely use the 75s against an advancing or assaulting AI. I put them right in the front line for direct fire against light tanks & infantry.

[Riun T]

Hey,guys I do mostly AI games so not alot of input on PBEM or H2H but I've experimented with the ablity to change nation for the upgrades of my forces especially when buying with the support points, and have played with what I like to call,BOOTY units, if I had a Italian 75 Inf gun fireing at me in the previous battle and I give myself the rule that I can only pick enemy units and equip. that my forces actually over run in the prev. battle, I might steal and repair them myself. Usually with the ATG's but other units are allways fun and I was woundering if the Historic Traits in Pref. gives any supression for the fact that most army's can recognize the sound of their own guns fired at them,and once I put together a totally opposing rushing force of german units attacking,when I was russian,because I put max. range as2 when vis. was 6 the defending AI must havethought I was retreating friendly units because I roled right threw their front line. Anyway back to topic, YES on inf. guns and recoillessrifles if you give them an ammo truck to keep em' firin for the duration,and good vis. with mobility and protection. RT