Infantry shooting all the things

Why. Why does infantry shoot at things they can not harm and will kill them if they draw their attention towards them? I always wondered that since CoH1 and it is difficult to explain to people I introduce to CoH.

Why does a squad of infantry keep shooting at a tank so it will eventually notice them and shoot back? Or worse why does a sniper do this? Why does an HMG team unload belt after belt of ammo in a bunker they can not damage? Why is it in the game? Can't infantry just acknowledge that this is a building that is not going to be destroyed by small arms fire? That hiding behind hedges is a better option than opening fire on a tank that did not notice them due to a blizzard?

Please consider this: Let infantry with only small arms weaponry ignore heavy armor and buildings! Not light armor (like Half-Tracks and Scout-Cars) that they can wither down with enough persistency. eg. Conscripts should just stand next to a Panzer IV waiting for an eligible target (Grenadiers) to come in range. Heck maybe they can even use the P IV as cover.

If the squad has a Panzershreck or AT rifles these should autofire at tanks and buildings. Or if we theorycraft, should they only fire if right-clicked on the tank/building? Likewise small arms infantry could be forced to fire on turret gunners until they are killed; snipers could kill them more efficiently.

With this in mind should we maybe reduce the sight range of tanks by 5 units (meters?) The normal sight is 35 for all tanks. maybe reduce this to 30. Or go down to 25 for heavy tanks and increase it to 35 if they add turret gunners (Keep the T-34/76/85 and Open-top-Tanks at 35 for they can't get top gunners). Then it is possible for infantry to spot tanks without immediately being shot at. And you would have this dynamic of infantry shooting the top gunners to "blind" the tank and move out of sight.

You have some good ideas. I hate how they insist on firing at the tanks or heavy emplacements.

i have to vote for this one as wel. if enemy tank comes in 1st it drwas fire form my mg. if the dank has inf as back up i wil lose my 1st or maby 2nd burst on a wasted tank and not on the enemy inf and thus losing ground

It's WW2. Tanks have vision slits and stuff like external fuel tanks that can be damaged with small arms fire. It would just look silly if soldiers did not fire at tanks.

I noticed this about the game too when I first started. I think they added it to increase immersion, but that's only a guess.

If you see them, its 100% chance they see you.

Ammo is unlimited.

There is no reason NOT to shoot when you see opponents unit, whatever it is.

Isn't there a slight chance to do tiny damage from small arms fire to armored units? For instance, in CoH1 you could destroy 5% m8 with volks' mp40s. So it is not THAT futile as it may feel.

If you see them, its 100% chance they see you.

Mhn, I doubt that, they have to add a lot of mirrors to modern vehicles so you don't drive over a cyclist by accident. And they have more windows than an armored vehicle from 1944. And thanks for the jpg.

Isn't there a slight chance to do tiny damage from small arms fire to armored units? For instance, in CoH1 you could destroy 5% m8 with volks' mp40s. So it is not THAT futile as it may feel.

Yes, I'm "complaining" about the units that get NO damage from small arms fire. Like a Tiger or KV-8 Flame-Tank. And like griezell mentioned it is diverting that those targets draw small arms fire away from important targets that can take actual damage.

Mhn, I doubt that, they have to add a lot of mirrors to modern vehicles so you don't drive over a cyclist by accident. And they have more windows than an armored vehicle from 1944. And thanks for the gif.

Except we're talking about a game here and its completely irrelevant what tank crew would or would not see.

Except we're talking about a game here and its completely irrelevant what tank crew would or would not see.

That is correct, it is a gameplay element. The tank can see the infantry the infantry can see the tank both can and do shoot at each other but the infantry does 0 damage to the tank. Which leads to my question why was the choice made to make the infantry shoot at the tank in the first place when they do 0 damage. It has no other gameplay function other than alerting the other player of the presence of the infantry.

edit: And not even that if I think about it, the tank would turn its turret and fire at them and then the player would notice it, too. Seconds later maybe when they wouldn't have opened fire in the first place. Of course you can lure the tank with an infantry squad but they don't have to shoot to do that. A sniper for example will get himself killed.
A new player will yell at the screen in disbelieve why his sniper thought it was a good idea to shoot at the Panzer to give away his position because he is not yet familiar with the hold fire mechanic.

As is already mentioned, it's for immersion purposes. Having a tank drive through 4 infantry squads without getting shot at looks silly.

It also lets you know a tank is near by. IF your troops are spread out and you are looking at the right side of the map and then a tank zips past on the left shouldn't the troops shoot at it and light up their icons letting you know it's there before it slips back into the fog of war OR stay silent holding fire?
At least my eyes can't be everywhere on the screen at once.

I think it's hilarious and I hope it stays in.

It also lets you know a tank is near by. IF your troops are spread out and you are looking at the right side of the map and then a tank zips past on the left shouldn't the troops shoot at it and light up their icons letting you know it's there before it slips back into the fog of war OR stay silent holding fire?
At least my eyes can't be everywhere on the screen at once.

Maybe that is the gameplay explanation. Unit recognition. If they do not shoot at each other how would they radio to the player that they have contact with an enemy unit. If they would hold their fire and would for example stumble upon a tank destroyer with hold fire enabled (so neither one is shooting), they should of course yell something like "Enemy tank spotted" but should it also bring up a Spacebar-attention-go-to? If technically possible yes, I'd say.