Using panzerjaegers

[pappasmurf]

when you use TD's you have to site them carefully. if they can be paced to op fire an emerging enemy as it enters a LOS while remaing hidden from thier targets buddies they are deadly. Screen them to the front with dug it or dismounted infantry. Ya it's hard on them as they draw fire but, they can spot for hidden AFV's, and the AI can't seme to resist firing on riflemen. When I play the US (n from Utah to the Rhine) I hate the german TD's. Thier guns can kill anythign I have so when I get ambushed I radically manuver to the flanks. As long as I don't run into infantry i can ussaly take them out pretty quick. overall they ( german TD's vs me) seem to take out 2 of my tanks before dying. a couple of times I have gotten lucky and had infantry close enough to move up and assult once the TD's had expended thier firing. The Longbarreled 88 is a flippin nightmare.

When palying the germans I have given up on the jadgpanter it dies to quick due to weak side armor so instead I'll use a JPZ-IV/48/70 wich is cheaper. The really heavy Fedinands, Elephants, and jadgtigers are worthless wastes of vlaauble resources.

The American hell cat and jackson have also proven useful to me. If I have to engage a panter or tiger at range (expensive) I'll hold them back until the shermans or armored cars have drawn all the fire then move them up and pop away at them.

[mckenzie]

Certainly a lot of history buffs here... I thought I was one of the few to read Guderian's book.

There is certainly a lot of sense in the various arguments for and against AGs and TDs here. My personal opinion in SPWAW is that they are more effective than tanks (more bang for the buck) for both attack and defence, mainly because the game does not simulate the advantages of having a turret very well. Stugs expecially were very effective throughout the war years in SPWAW, useful for both tank busting and whacking hapless infantry. Ammunition is certainly a problem, but a couple of ammo carriers in the rear usually remedies that, if you are patient enough. They usually have both thicker armour and bigger guns than comparable tanks of the same period.

Although if you get immobilised facing the wrong way, better bail to save your experienced tank crews...

[pappasmurf]

Woith the glaring exceptions of the maus. gemrany used a used a wide vareity of viehicles but realtively few chassis.

Pz II finished the war as the Linx recon tank
Pz-III finshed the war as the stugIII, Stug 33b, Stu-42 and marder chassis as wellas SPA
Pz38 finshed the war as the hetzer and marder, SPAA
Pz IV finshed the war as the stug IV*, med tank, Brumbar*, SPA, SPAA, JPV-IV*
Pv-V MBT and jadgpanther, recoverviehicle
PV-VI tiger, Fedinand**, king tiger*/***, jadgtiger*, elephant**, recover vihiecle, Sturm Tiger*


*What I consider wasted effort.
** based on the Porshce desing for the PZ-VI so rpduction lines already existed
*** Would have been better to equip the late model tigers with the longer 88. They would have had better speed, lower production cost, higher production rates and saved metal

Compared to the Britsh and Russians they were down right stingy in wringing the most out of a design.

[Losqualo]

ORIGINAL: pappasmurf
...
Pz-III finshed the war as the stugIII, Stug 33b, Stu-42 and marder chassis as wellas SPA
...

One little addition: The Marders were based on various captured French chassis, the PzKpfW II and the PzKpfW 38 (t) but NOT on the PzKpfW III.

[Svennemir]

Infantry too?

Infantry, too, is affected by movement while firing (I didn't read ALL the posts, maybe someone said this already). The effect is somewhat more subtle than for vehicles. Handguns and such weapons that can generally be aimed quickly (that is, aiming time << turn duration) will not suffer tremendously from movement, but I think they do suffer a little. Anti tank weapons such as bazookas, fausts and schrecks, however, take long to aim and reload in real life and will suffer huge penalties from moving. The accuracy while moving with such weapons is horrible at ranges greater than 1 hex. If the target is suppressed, though, it often pays off to move to an adjacent hex and fire from there. Close assaults should preferably be done while stationary, but if the target is suppressed it won't hurt to give it a try either.

[Svennemir]

About the Stug/Panzer discussion: as has already been stated by different people, I believe Guderian was really against the Sturmgeschütze because they were cumbersome while on the move. The tactics used by mechanized formations required that the panzers should not have to stop and turn around in order to fire, and Sturmgeschütze lacked manoeuverability in this respect. They were probably fine for infantry support, but Guderian wanted other vehicles for mechanized operations.