Profile of GreenDevil

Jump back to quoted post2 Dec 2012, 12:05 PMPounder

Mainly because they will get ripped to pieces. Tanks destroy infantry. Not just with the main guns (which have considerably improved accuracy over CoH1 tanks), but the coaxial machine guns are also extremely deadly against infantry units. A couple of burps of the ol' MG-34 and two squad members would be no more. Wait another 15-30 seconds and the squad has disappeared.

During the alpha skirmish demo, if you wanted to take out a tank, it was a combined arms battle. You'd've better brought a tank of your own. If you didn't have one, you'd better hope the infantry squad(s) you had could dodge and move around quickly enough to keep sight-lines on the tank for your AT gun.

Tanks don't need to run away from "shreck blobs." Shrecks seemed to need to be fairly close to the tank to guarantee a hit, which would essentially guarantee a couple members of the squad biting dust (unless the tank was otherwise distracted). And by "fairly close" I'm talking 10-20 meters or so, well within sight and firing range of the tank. Schrecks are definitely more supplemental in CoH2, as opposed to an armor deterrent or a full-on anti-ever-armor brigade. They need support, cover, and if possible, the element of surprise.

AT guns are extremely effective because of their range and their ability to use the environment to their advantage, such as using a wall, building or tree(s) as a "blind-spot." However, they can't just end a tank on their own in a 1-on-1 match-up. Nothing will do that besides another tank. They are machines to be feared and revered. Expensive as hell, difficult to maneuver and vulnerable to a variety of combined counters.



Different to what? CoH1 or other units in the game?

Relative to CoH1, every unit's sight-lines are different. It's no longer an all-encompassing radius, unhindered by the environment. Wind direction, snowfall, trees, walls, bushes, all of it would reduce the LoS for units.

Relative to other units, tanks had a fairly smaller radius* than infantry or lighter vehicles. Regardless, tanks are just as susceptible to ColdTech as any infantry unit. Driving into a snow bank blows as suddenly you lose speed and effectively become a sitting duck for an AT gun lying in wait, knowing you were going to try and flank and fail because you didn't realize the snow was there. You decide to press on because you don't meet any initial resistance, and you drive further into the snow bank hoping to catch your enemy unawares... too far. Halfway in, an AT gun opens up on your left-side armor, and before you can reverse the hell out of there, you're scrapped.

*I could be very, very wrong, but I thought I remembered someone from the Relic or THQ team saying that we could pop the commander out of the cupola and increase the sight-range of the tank at the risk of the commander's life. I never saw or tried this and therefore could be remembering something completely different. Can anyone confirm or negate this? I'm so unsure that I could've just dreamed it up in my sleep.



Yes, tanks are very scary. I lost 3 squads of varying quality quite quickly to a Panzer IV as my T-70 and T-34/76 took their sweet, fuckin' time crossing the frozen fuckin' river.

The Russians do have the PTRS-41 (or PTRD-41, can't remember which one is in-game) anti-tank rifle as an infantry upgrade as well.