Molotov Cocktails, Whats the deal?

[DRG]

Originally Posted by Demtrek

I decide to retreat my panzer grenadiers and up come the tanks.

Retreating your infantry was, to be as polite as possible,really not the best tactical option you could have selected under the circumstances you describe. Tanks without supporting infantry are dead meat unless you are fighting an enemy with absolutely no anti tank capability.


Don

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by DRG

Retreating your infantry was, to be as polite as possible,really not the best tactical option you could have selected under the circumstances you describe. Tanks without supporting infantry are dead meat unless you are fighting an enemy with absolutely no anti tank capability.


Don

Quite

Infantry (including those mounted on HT) spot enemy infantry more easily than the tanks will, proved you slow down to a couple of hexes or so advance.

- Spotted infantry close assault at a worse rate (or rather, unspotted, stationary grunts will ambush your armour better!)

- Enemy infantry may open fire on any dismounted infantry you have accompanying your tanks, thus revealing their locations. They may do the same to any tank riders, and tank riders also help spotting and may act as reactive armour to defuse assaults too.

- Spotted enemy infantry can then be shot up. Pinned infantry assault at a lowered rate, if you really still want to move into the adjacent hex with your armour. But best not to close with enemy infantry with armour - "Track attacks" are really myth, as it can be rather bloody for a tank to charge into a spotted retreating section only to find a couple of adjacent unspotted supports!. Best to shoot them down from 2-3 hexes.

- Pinned infantry assault at a lower rate - repeated for emphasis. Use your mortars to plaster the ground ahead of your intended advance to inconvenience any as yet unspotted enemy grunts. Use the mortars to plaster any retreating enemy sections as well.

See the GG section "Game Play Notes" - e.g. paragraph beginning "Even if you are a 'tankie' you will need some infantry.."

Cheers
Andy

[Cross]

I just read an account by Von Ribbentrop ('a Panzer ace').

His tanks got ahead of their infantry and were going through a Russian held village. He felt a large explosion on his tank.

He radioed the tank following him to ask what happened, and that tank commander said something like 'errr... that was me, you had a Russian on the back of your tank with a Molotov cocktail so we shot an HE shell at him!'

Von Ribbentrop asked why they hadn't used the bow MG. Turns out it was jammed, and they believed they only had seconds to save Von Ribbentrops tank.

I thought that example of shooting a friendly tank with HE, was good illustration of how seriously the German tankers took Molotov cocktails.