Need help with t-34s

[runesson]

haven,t knocked out any after 12 h gameplay [:@]
have used smoke, heat from behind within 200 m but still no ko

[Terminus]

Aren't they lovely?[:D] Keep at it, and consider using artillery, air and/or close infantry assault.

[runesson]

where can you see what inf are equipped with

[WhiteOwl]

As far as T34s are concerned, unless they have panzerschreks or something like that, infantry can really only kill tanks with close assault. For that purpose you need to be close in (I think 25m) and they are then assumed to use grenades, etc. that are not listed in their weapons lists. If you do the BootCamp campaign (highly recommended) you will have a mission specifically around this important skill.

Cheers

[Terminus]

Yep, 25 meters and from the side and rear. They're assumed to be using handy AT mines and grenades. You'll lose some of them for certain.

[runesson]

so there are panzerschreks?? must have missed them but right now I need my panzers 75mm to burst through but I realize it,s though. Long time I played cm but don´t remember it was that hard
I´ll try boot camp just did the first 3

[Erik Rutins]

Runesson,

Which type of T-34 are you dealing with? The earlier ones have more weaknesses than the later ones. In any case, for armor you want to try to engage them from the sides and rear, preferably out of their sighting arc (let them pass by while your tanks are behind heavy cover). That will give you a change to get quite a few shots in before they can react. 75mm HEAT will take them apart, but it may take a few shots. In general, you are hoping for a Turret hit as that is where the armor is thinnest.

For infantry, put them where the objective is and keep them in cover on Defend -> Hold Fire -> Close Assault orders. Once the T-34s get within 25m, swarm them on the flanks and rear and attack them in Close Assault.

Regards,

- Erik

[z1812]

Hi Runesson,

I have managed to kill T-34's without too many problems. As Erik has pointed out keep your Armour in cover or hull down when possible ( I believe it is modeled in the game ). I have been fighting mostly early war so have not seen to many T-34's. They do seem to take a lot of punishment before being eliminated.

I also try to position my Armour so I have massed fire against limited targets. I am not sure if it is portrayed in the game but German tanks had superior optics and so had an advantage when engaging at long ranges. Thats the way I play it. I like to use my German tanks at long range while they are massed and in cover.

Regards John

[runesson]

mmm thanks for responses BUT these bastards are standing still in a corner guarding a command post. I have to hide every tank behind every house I can find to get close to them.
And I thought the game was easy after the 2 first missions, haha but I love it [8D] 
But can a panzer 75 kill it front on???

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: runesson
mmm thanks for responses BUT these bastards are standing still in a corner guarding a command post. I have to hide every tank behind every house I can find to get close to them.

Aha, well that's definitely a tough job. Is there another objective you can capture elsewhere that might draw them off?

And I thought the game was easy after the 2 first missions, haha but I love it [8D] 
But can a panzer 75 kill it front on???

Yes, it can, but the odds are lower. It needs a turret hit front on with HEAT and it has to roll well on variable penetration (or get a critical hit).

Regards,

- Erik

[z1812]

Hi runesson,

Actually I have killed a T-34 head on with a P4 75mm. I surprised it at about 60 meters and it missed the P3 on its first shot. The P3 was lucky and killed it with its first shot.

Thats the only time I have seen that at close range. The 75mm will kill the T-34. Bear in mind the Russians have an advantage at short range.

In a similiar situation as yours I was able to sneak infantry up close and use them to help deal with the T-34.

regards John

[Mobius]

If you are playing the 1941 missions the T-34 is quite formidable. It will have to be hit it in the turret from close range to have a fair chance to knock it out. When the KVs show up you won't even have that to fall back on. The advantage the Germans have is that they have a high rate of fire so more hits means more chances to penetrate.
 
Least when you get to Voin you have some 88mm Flak to back you up.

[Erik Rutins]

Good point about the KV-1, it makes the T-34 seem quite easy to deal with. When you're in the random campaigns, you also can't rely on having some 88mm FlaK available when you meet these things, so you have to do your best and if you can't get past them, that's when to use the HQ Helper.

The advice about sneaking up on them with infantry is excellent as long as you have some cover.

Regards,

- Erik

[NefariousKoel]

The first scenario in the Mcensk campaign gave me some much needed practice with those KV-1s and T-34s.  I ended up having to swarm them from both sides. 

Hopefully I have numerical superiority in tanks..  I'll pull a platoon up within sight & start shooting at them - even if there's little chance of causing damage.  I'll take the other tank platoon and rush them up close on a flank.  Ideally, my first tank platoon that drew their attention keeps it until next turn when my rushing platoon is very close - hopefully with a side shot at least.

I think I had a lucky situation in that I was able to get hull-down on a flank of the KV-1s with my PzIVEs and clobbered them.  The real oddity was having my Pz38s get up to 100m or so from the T-34 platoon's flank and eventually finished them off too.  The losses were acceptable in point terms, by far.

[Redleg]

I have been on the losing end of my T34s getting done in by the Pz 38s.  I also had a single Pz 38 take out an entire platoon of T26s.
 
But the ones I fear are the PzIIIJ...... one shot, one kill at lot of the time.  Working on my tactics.... sent some school kids out to plant some trees! [;)]

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Redleg
I have been on the losing end of my T34s getting done in by the Pz 38s.  I also had a single Pz 38 take out an entire platoon of T26s.
But the ones I fear are the PzIIIJ...... one shot, one kill at lot of the time.  Working on my tactics.... sent some school kids out to plant some trees! [;)]

Which campaign are you playing, Redleg? Sounds like fun. [;)]

[Redleg]

I've got the 7th Armored Corps 42-43 random campaign going.  Very tough but it is a lot of fun.  I am finding the maps quite interesting as well.
 
Just finished my first decisive win.  Germans had an entirely infantry force which was a suprise.  Thanks to that, my T60s had a chance to "rule" the battlefield.  It'll be a long while before that happens again!
 
BTW, I notice that in these small battles, the German is likely to have ahistorical mixes of units such as SS, grenadiers, regulars in the same battle.  This something that may need to be addressed further down the road.
 
Also, the Soviets have a mixture of guards and regular armor (and infantry) that is fun but not likely to have occurred in battles of this size.
 
Sure is fun!

[Stridor]

Redleg,

The RBG is setup by default to give a very "random" battle where although force selection is date appropriate it may not be mix appropriate. For that you need to play around with presets. The prests which have been provided help to alleviate this problem somewhat but are still a work in process (or rather we need more specific presets, hopefully by people which have a good historical knowledge of the force mixes present at the time - I wonder who that could be )

[jomni]

I'm playing the winterstorm campaign as german and I'm starting to curse the KV-1's already. [:@]

[Mad Russian]

ORIGINAL: Stridor

Redleg,

The RBG is setup by default to give a very "random" battle where although force selection is date appropriate it may not be mix appropriate. For that you need to play around with presets. The prests which have been provided help to alleviate this problem somewhat but are still a work in process (or rather we need more specific presets, hopefully by people which have a good historical knowledge of the force mixes present at the time - I wonder who that could be )

When I get to them I can do the historical presets by the dozen. I have alot of information about both sides forces from Division down.

It's on the list of things to look into.

At the moment I'm still trying to get my first scenario finished and playtested, while alternating playing the game and hopefully getting better at it as I go.

Good Hunting.

MR