Profile of coh2player

Avatar Area

Offline Unknown SteamID unknown
Posts: 1571

General Information


Thread: My take on tank battles4 Apr 2014, 22:15 PM Note how they lost almost every copy & paste battle you posted. Winning and taking territory is different from defending it and getting beaten. The German army in 1944 was mostly not offensive capable at the operational and strategic level. Their last strategic victory was in Kharkov in early 1943. So you can't invent new ways of winning...........at Kursk, the Germans for the first time launched a full offensive and could not penetrate the Soviet operational depths. They would never penetrate soviet operational depths ever again in WW2. The gig was up. It didn't matter that Soviet tank losses and infantry casualties were several times the German by Sept. 1943. The Soviets had retaken the Ukraine and beaten the Germans out of the Mius defensive line & broke the back of the Ostheer. In: COH2 Gameplay
Thread: My take on tank battles4 Apr 2014, 20:51 PM ^ German tank units by 1944 were not that efficient. Their talent base was heavily damaged after years of war. A veteran PzD like 2nd PzD or 1st SSLAH could have 300% turnover within their combat troops by 1944. There were a few experienced old hares but the bulk of the panzer divisions were 'greenhorn'..and not only that, but less trained, reinforced & equipped than the AD's of the US and British Army. The high losses taken by the ground forces ensured that the combat troops of the divisions would remain manned mostly by inexperienced conscripts. They were generally killed off before the division could really become skilled & professional. For the most part, if you look at allied histories of their ADs they generally write about beating the Germans and inflicting heavier losses than they took. The Nazi media tended to do hero worship more than the Allies. Newsreels and Newspaper articles would publicize heroes (knight's cross holders) and their stories. The aces were an important part of Nazi propaganda. The German super soldier is largely a myth. The German Army peaked in 1939-1941. It was still good in 1942 but after that it became more and more incompetent. In: COH2 Gameplay
Thread: My take on tank battles4 Apr 2014, 19:30 PM I have been interested in this subject for 10 years. There are few reasons why the German side had higher kill claims with their tank crews. This makes the German 'aces' more human and less Nazi super soldier. 1. Inflation through Nazi Propaganda. Use of fake kill numbers and 'super soldier' of the week was the Nazi version of celebrity. By emphasizing Luftwaffe Aces, Panzer Aces, and Infanterie aces they could convince their people that Germany had a chance of winning ww2. 2. The soviet way of using tanks was more like artillery ammunition. They had lots of tanks compared to the Germans and could afford to use them this way. The high losses has more due to Soviet aggressiveness rather than German skill or quality of their equipment. They exchanged tank losses for victory. 3. Defensive stances. Tanks in the defense typically could inflict high tank losses on attackers in WW2 provided that their defense didn't collapse. The Panzers spent most of their time defending. 4. Target rich environment and the defensive use of the Tiger Tank. The Tiger Tank simply had armor and gun advantages in the USSR that made it more survivable than other tanks. Overall, German tank crews as a whole weren't particularly skilled compared to veteran Soviet, US or British by 1944. In: COH2 Gameplay
Thread: My take on tank battles4 Apr 2014, 18:27 PM I figure that Carius already factored in Knispel's history when he answered that question. Carius was heavily sought out and involved in the military book business and in documentaries about tiger tanks. The numbers are definitely goosed up as 'Oak Leaves' holder Carius states. Even the German claim is goosed up (from 150+ down to 100+). If one can get their hands on the Soviet and Allied unit combat records, the actual real world number of totally destroyed Allied tanks (not recovered from the battlefield, repaired, and redeployed) by Carius is likely only half this number or less. In: COH2 Gameplay
Thread: My take on tank battles4 Apr 2014, 17:05 PM Here is one of Otto Carius' interviews: - According to some historians, according to press and Nazi propaganda, you destroyed around to 150-160 enemy tanks. Is it real that figure? Otto Carius: These figures are exaggerated. As much came to destroy 100-110 tanks, and my numbers were inflated by the German Ministry of Propaganda. Do Knispel figures? Pure propaganda. I had the opportunity to meet members of his crew in Russia and they both recognized me not destroyed more than 60 or 70 tank. http://heroesdeguerra.blogspot.fr/2012/05/avande-de-entrevista.html So Carius claims to have destroyed 110-100 tanks and the #1 Panzer Ace, Knispel destroyed only 70-60. In: COH2 Gameplay
Thread: My take on tank battles4 Apr 2014, 16:38 PM Tank kills were shoddily recorded by all sides, and usually inflated due to dynamic circumstances, double and triple claiming (2 or 3 crews claiming the same kill). The Germans were losing all the time after 1942 and not retaking territory so many damaged tanks were recovered by the allies and Soviets. What was much more accurate was the unit's recording of their own losses & combat readiness rather than their kill claims. So you can't trust Nazi kill claims due to the obvious propaganda effect. \ If I still had my link to Otto Carius' (#2 Panzer Ace) interview I would provide it. But in the interview he said that his kill score was inflated by something like 40-50 vehicles by the Nazi propagandists.. Another famous one: Wittmann. His kill claim was also inflated by propaganda and is more than double the actual number of losses that the British suffered at Villers bocage. This makes all the 'Panzer Aces' suspect. In: COH2 Gameplay
Thread: My take on tank battles4 Apr 2014, 14:24 PM Jump back to quoted post4 Apr 2014, 12:24 PMMarcoRossolini What's the word on exaggerated German kill claims? I hear about them a bit but nothing too verified. I'd imagine it'd be easier for the Germans to exaggerate their kills later in the war thanks to them being constantly being in retreat and simply not being able to have a team go in and check the number of T-34 wrecks that were claimed... German tank kill claims are inaccurate, and always too high. In my experience, they are often double or more the actual. The same thing applies for Allies in fact. US tank destroyer battalions (mostly m10, 18)claimed 3:1 kill ratio during WW2 and 500 kills alone in the battle of the bulge. This is obviously too high of a claim. Soviet tank claims are similarly large. In any event, 'panzer aces' was a Nazi propaganda phenomenon. They lose every battle, but they can still manufacture a 'win' by claiming 'high tank kills'.. In: COH2 Gameplay
Thread: WW2 Daily Pic3 Apr 2014, 20:27 PM The final mission in MOH:Airborne Assault is jumping into a flak tower like this, but except taller and with more layers of anti-aircraft guns. In: The Library
Thread: Interview Greg Wilson & Quinn Duffy on Expansion!!3 Apr 2014, 18:32 PM ^ I personally would like to see a defensive but signficantly 'less British' OKW. One feature that I've seen in other WW2 RTS but not in COH is infantry 'digging in'. It would be cool to see a grenadier squad, MG or mortar dig into the dirt into a trench with a single click and the unit would get a big defensive bonus. IF they want to get out of the trench, they only need to move. Not the ostruppen doctrine trenches mind you, but more like the hull down for the tanks except with infantry. In: Lobby
Thread: Interview Greg Wilson & Quinn Duffy on Expansion!!3 Apr 2014, 18:08 PM The 'basic' British style in vcoh was to grab capzones, fortify with emplacements, and then build an attack force that's overall smaller than the Germans. But that's pretty much most of what the Germans did in West front 44': dig in with MGs/mortars/AT guns/artillery and defend, and then counterattack with comparably small mobile forces against the Allies. The Soviets in COH2 are similar to the Americans in vCOH. Ostheer in vcoh and coh are similar. So there's Panzer elite and British factions left. (pure offensive and pure defensive) In: Lobby