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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.