COMBAT TACTICS
TANKS


TANK TACTICS

General Information

Unless you have played other realistic tank simulations before, or you are in the military, you are going to be in for a real surprise when you first roll onto the battlefield with your brand new AFV (Armored Fighting Vehicle). You can basically forget about anything you’ve learned from other games (unless they are realistic tank simulations). In the run of the mill first person shooter, “skill” is determined by how quickly you can move your mouse cursor to a target. Being able to aim quickly and accurately is still important here, but it is not nearly as important as the ability to be aware of your situation and outwit your opponents (a little luck helps, too).

SA stands for “situational awareness.” It could also be called your “ability to not be surprised.” Whenever you are not otherwise busy, scan the horizon for signs of the enemy. In addition to the enemies themselves, this can include tracers, shell impacts, vehicle and weapons noises, and even the direction in which nearby friendly forces are firing. Maintain constant radio contact with your countrymen. In particular, be on the lookout for reports of enemy contact, and pay special attention to the locations of those contacts in relation to your own position. Never open fire on a target unless you know where his friends are hiding, otherwise his friends may catch you off guard while you are focused on firing.

Hydraulically stabilized turrets were not invented until well after the end of World War II. What does this mean for us? It means if you are driving full speed across bumpy terrain, you are going to have a really hard time aiming at a target 800 meters away. Slow down or stop before firing, or do not fire until you are so close you cannot possibly miss.

Armor piercing rounds should be used on armored targets. High explosive rounds are for everything else. Do not waste ammunition by using the wrong type for the given target.

Know how your tank stacks up against the enemy. The Panzer III and P38(t) are fast tanks with moderate armor but weak guns. Do not try to slug it out against a Char B1 bis at long range. Sneak up on the Allied tanks and hit them from the sides or rear. In the case of the Char B1 bis, the weakest spot is the radiator cover on the left side of the hull. The rest of the tank is pretty much invulnerable to your 37mm rounds. When engaging the R35 or A13, hitting the target anywhere except the front usually works.

If you are an Allied tanker, use your superior firepower and armor to your advantage (except in the case of the R35, which is at a severe disadvantage against German tanks). Keep the enemy tanks at a distance from you and watch your back. German tankers tend to be remarkably clever, and your tank’s advantages will mean very little if they manage to flank you.

“Turret down” is ideally how you should be whenever you are currently not firing on an enemy. This is the term for your tank being completely concealed behind a ridge or other obstacle. It literally means that your turret is “down” below the ridgeline. You cannot fire on the enemy from this position, but, more importantly, the enemy cannot fire on you.

“Hull down” is the ideal position to be in when firing on the enemy. This term indicates that the hull of your tank is concealed behind a ridge, and that the only part of your tank visible to the enemy is the turret, which contains your main gun. It allows you to fire on the enemy while exposing a minimal amount of your tank to enemy fire.

Play cat and mouse games with the enemy. Fire two or three shots at an unsuspecting enemy tank, and then hide before he turns to fire on you. Circle around and fire on him from another direction. Keep this up until his tank is destroyed. This tactic is the generally the best way to destroy an enemy tank without your own tank being damaged.

Know when you are outmatched. If you are caught alone out in the open by an advancing column of enemy tanks, run for the hills! You won’t do anyone any good if you’re dead. Alert your countrymen to the situation and fall back to a position from which you will have a fighting chance.

Beware enemy aircraft. Most fighters and light bombers have a hard time damaging tanks, except when they get lucky, but what they can do effectively is inform their comrades on the ground of your position. Trees and valleys make good concealment from being seen from the air.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, which is why there are so many bullets between you and where you want to be. Use the terrain to mask your movements, and take the extra time to sneak around and approach your target from an unexpected direction. The two minutes it takes to take an indirect route may save you the ten minutes it would take you to die, respawn, and drive back to the fight.

Coordinate with other players on your side. Attacking as a force multiplies your effectiveness over attacking one at a time. An enemy tank is much easier to take down when you surround it such that someone has to have a shot at its weak spots.

Above all, use your head. This is a game of wits more than anything else. Predict the enemy’s actions, and make your own actions unpredictable. There are few things quite as satisfying as winning a battle because you outthought your opponent, especially against unfavorable odds.

Tank Multi-Crewing

Spawning a tank such that more than one person is controlling it is known as “multi-crewing.” At the time of this writing, only two people can crew a tank at a time, and each of those are limited to either the hull or turret positions, but this may change in the future. Typically the person “hosting” a tank is able to jump between the driver and hull gunner positions, while the person “joining” the tank is able to jump between the gunner and TC positions. Communication between crew members is essential to successfully multi-crewing. The TC/gunner member needs to keep the driver advised of the situation and guide him to where they need to go, since the driver’s vision is generally very restricted. In combat, it is the driver’s responsibility to move the tank into firing positions and to pull it back out of harm’s way when necessary. It is the TC/gunner’s responsibility to locate and identify targets as well as navigate and make decisions. Whenever the driver is not otherwise busy, he should jump to the hull machine gunner position and make use of it when possible.

Whichever crew member is least busy at a given moment is responsible for communicating with other friendly forces. Outside of combat, this is usually the TC/gunner, since the driver is busy driving. In combat, the driver does this unless there is a lot of maneuvering involved in the battle. When multi-crewing, always make sure that you have a well-defined plan that both crew members are aware of and understand. This will enable each member to make decisions based on that plan without wasting time consulting with the other member.

B. Tank Formations

1. Line Formation Used for approaching the enemy when contact is imminent. Each tank will move in a horizontal line towards the objective. It is important to go to commander hatch frequently and make sure you still have a tank on your right and left. Be careful not to get ahead of your team. They are next to you so you see and engage the enemy as group.

2. Wedge formation Used when approaching the enemy and contact is probable but the objective is not in sight. The platoon leader is out in front with his wingman slightly behind him and to his left flank. The platoon sergeant is behind to his right flank and the platoon sergeant wingman is on the platoon sergeant right flank slightly behind. Each member has an area of responsibility for observing enemy. Normally, in all formations, tank on left of formation covers left flank, tank on right covers right flank, two tanks in middle have overlapping areas in front.

3. Echelon Left/Echelon Right These formations are used when you are covering a flank of another unit or you wish to employ smoke to mask the rest of your platoon. The platoon leader is in the front with the rest of the platoon behind and to the flank of each other fanning out either right or left.

4. Column formation i. Used on roads when enemy contact is not likely. A column formation and the use of roads should be used for speedy advance to the front. It is the unit commander's judgment as to when it is best to get off the road and change formations. My rule of thumb is to err on the side of caution. If you don't have current intel. Get off the road in plenty of time.

C. Movement Techniques

1. Traveling: Steady movement in a formation without stopping - used when contact with enemy is not likely.

2. Traveling Overwatch: Steady movement with the trailing tank stopping occasionally to scan the horizon for enemy. Used when contact with the enemy is not likely, but used as a precautionary measure when time is not critical.

3. Bounding Overwatch: By Section: Section one halts in a position to overwatch the advance of Section two. The key to overwatch is for the advancing unit to not outdistance the range of the overwatch unit. Once section one is in place, section two bounds. There are two types of bounds. The most cautionary is bounding to the point where section one stopped. Once section two is in place, section one bounds again.    The second type of bound is a leapfrog past the first section. This is quicker, but slightly more risky. By Tank: Bounding by tank is the most cautious advance. This is used when sections are separated by terrain and a platoon bound can not be accomplished.
   If you're only a single-crewed tank you'll find yourself spending more time with your eyes on the other tanks in your formation than doing what you should be doing, scanning for enemy contacts. It is the responsiblity of the trailing vehicles to maintain formation. A quick slow down to the leader helps. When online, use your commander hatch in the proper position to see if you are online.
   In a multicrewed tank, it's easy to stay in formation... if the driver can see the lead tank in the lead/wing pair. This means that Line Abreast (the attack formation) still requires some input from the TC/Gunner to maintain Wedge is a good formation for this reason, the driver need only keep the front of Lead's tank in the very corner of the viewslot to maintain formation.

D. Attacking an objective

a. Once the objective is in sight, the unit should be in a line formation. Depending on your equipment, you should either advance quickly and decisively using maneuver (flanking techniques) to engage the enemy, or you should approach to maximum effective range (if you have a larger gun and or armor) and engage the enemy with the least risk. b. The ideal situation is to quickly get your platoon in a hull down position online. Communicate with each other to identify the greatest threat. When engaging at distance, you should mass your fire on the mosst dangerous target available. Once they are dead, kill the closest stationary target. Then go after any nice flank shots. c. Use the terrain to mask your approach on an objective. Since the Pzr don'ty like AP rounds very much, it is imperative that you shoot first. If your approach is not masked, maneuver out of range and shoot when you are at your maximum effective range. Remember, at this time,. They may see you for a long shot, but you are a small speck in the distance. You should be able to kill A-13s from long range in several shots before they can get a good shot on you.

E. Teamwork

a. Communicate. Identify enemy threats to your platoon immediately using a contact report - you can develop your own contact report, but it should include quick, definitions of type and location of enemy. I use the standard clock position method. The direction the platoon is facing is 12 o'clock - to the left goes down the clock for 11,10,9, etc. To the right is 1, 2, 3, etc. An example of a tank contact is as follows: i. Contact - 2 stationary pz's, 3 oclock.

It is imperative that the entire platoon wheel and get their front armor facing the direction of the threat. It is acceptable to fire one shot before stopping, but if you can, wheel, stop your tank, and engage, it is better to not waste the time shooting when it is likely you will miss. Better to stop and place a good shot that will kill the enemy or disable the gun.

Platoon leader responsibilities:

1. Plan the route before leaving the assembly area (FB) or (AB). Know where you are going and how you are going to get there. Give the platoon a quick briefing on the route.
2. Have a solid objective in mind. Don't just go see what you can find. My typical objective depends on where I'm attacking. As armor units, it is very important for us to suppress spawn points and capture Forward Bases (FB). Communicate the objective to the platoon. Since you want your members to grow in their ability, take the time to explain the importance of the objective.

Combined Arms:

1. This means work with other units and unit types. Utilize infantry to support your tanks. The enemy won't be sticking their guns in your observation ports or placing satchel charges on your tracks if you have infantry support. Also, tanks are great cover for advancing infantry. Secondly, if you can have a dedicated air plane above your unit, you will have constant intel, less hassle from planes, and a big advantage over the enemy.
2. Scouts: If you have infantry on-board, USE THEM. You're not just a battlefield taxi and they're not just parasites. If you're not working closely with your grunt sprinkles on your way forward, you're doing something wrong. When you get to terrain features that must be crossed, DISMOUNT YOUR INFANTRY! Make those free-loaders get off, hoof it up to the ridgeline, and take a look over the side. Someday, they'll spot a Panzer in ambush that would have ruined your whole day. Same thing for forests and buildings--don't move around the edge until a grunt eyeballs it for you. You're a big target (you can think of it as 'high-value', if that strokes your ego)--they're not. 3. Cover: You are a big, thick, juicy piece of iron for grunts to hide behind--don't drive off and leave them in the middle of a barren, fire-swept plain. Advance slowly enough for them to cover behind you; if you die, don't just de-spawn until they tell you they have adequate alternative cover available.
Extra Eyes: They don't have your magnification, but they can do something you can't--cover a direction you're not looking. Anytime you stop, for whatever reason, get your grunts off and make them cover a sector. Don't get surprised while you're reading the map, waiting for reinforcements, whatever. Tanks have lousy visibility, infantry don't.
Suppresion, suppresion, suppresion: You've got loads of machine gun ammunition on board and a lot of HE that you'll probably never use on your own. When infantry are advancing on an objective (a flag building, for instance), hose that sucker down! Nobody is paying you to bring it home. Shoot first and ask questions later. Waiting to visually acquire a target is natural, but foolhardy. Bullets in this game go through things, and shells arc with gravity--you don't need to see something to kill it. Suppress a treeline as you advance on it! Blow up cover that might have enemy infantry inside! The Allies (well, the Americans, anyway) advanced through Western Europe on a carpet of high explosives. It worked pretty well for them, it will work for you.