Kemco Games

[Guest]

Does anyone one use the tank destroyer units? I have not tried them out, because their endurance of 1 or 2 looks like it could be wiped out fairly easy by long range artillery. And since they would most likely be on the front lines taking out a tank it would be hard to protect them.

Right now I have been playing mostly with the USA and use the M1A2 Abrams, M109A6 Paladin, and AH-64 Apache with some special foces and M270 MLRS. I also have enough anti air units around to provide air coverer, but was thinking I might be missing out on these units.

So I was was wondering if they are worth adding to the mix of units I currently have. I have been slowly expanding my unit base as get better at creating a balanced attack force.

[SemperFi2382]

[irashunal]

As i had mentioned elsewhere when the subject came up - for the most part they should be called 'vehicle' destroyers because the only things that these units aren't worth a crap against ARE the TANKS!

But as the marine (ooh - rah!) said just prior to my post: they are cheap and great for cleanup and protection in a pinch. Most of them have a pretty good movement range so you can travel them in a wolfpack and actually take out light to medium tanks or those assault helis.

Since some of them fall under 'veh' instead of 'hev' i like to drop a few behind enemy lines and skulk there waiting for a supply truck or a weakened tank trying to get back to a city to repair/resupply. Once they've been found they don't stand much of a chance - but when playing against a human player: getting ambushed by tank destroyers in your own backfield can be unsettling.

It is good psychological warfare at a cheap price.

[ElricJC]

In modern combat situations "tank destroyers" are usually used for light vehicle interdiction, but can in a pinch be used to gang up on tanks. In general you need a 5:1 ratio of TDs vs. Tanks to be successful and thus they are sometimes useful as follow-up attack units, lurking behind your armor and ready to spring forward to crush the final couple of units in a weakened enemy group.

TDs generally come in two varieties: The Tankesque TD and the Vehicle TD. There are only two Tankesque TDs in the game - the Sprut 235 (Russia) and the Type 89 (China). They look like tanks and employ a large bore cannon as their primary weapon. Other TDs rely upon missiles, such as the TOW. Frankly, the vehicle type ones are better because they are faster and generally cheaper, with better road mobility. Although, the Chinese Type 89 is sometimes the only ground weapon the Chinese have that can really hurt western tanks - it mounts a NATO type 120mm smoothbore cannon, with FP 4 and respectable accuracy. It's low defense guarantees that on a 1:1 basis with enemy tanks it will get smoked, but in group assault it can do it's job, but it's very slow unfortunately.

SemperFi mentioned their utility against landed assault helos. This is perhaps their best function. TDs such as the American LAV-AT and the German Jaguar are great for this purpose. The Jaguar is most likely the best TD in the game, since for a TD it has decent armor, is tracked, and has a load of 10 TOW missiles, giving it the ability to rip off a great number of rounds before having to resupply. Against any sort of heavy assault TDs will be smoked, so having this many shots usually doesn't matter, but for rear support units it can be very useful. Putzing around with a recon vehicle and a light SPSAM unit, it can creat a useful anti-assault helo attack group. Good combos are:

One unique TD unit to recognize is the Japanese TD truck (it's exact name escapes me). It costs 250, which seems a bit high for a shizzy little truck with End 1, but loads 3-4 AT missiles, with a range of 3 and FP 3. When I play Japan I often use these units in areas blessed with numerous roads, and hold them around 3 hexes behind my armor line. I move up with recon to assess the situation, roll up the Type 99 SPHs to strike at their lighter armored units (SPHs first, recon units second), then hit the tanks with a couple of AT trucks, and then move up the Type 90s to hit the weakened tanks/SPHs. They will die easily, but if stuck amongst your stronger units they are less likely to be targeted. They are more accurate than SPHs against hard armored targets, so they are good complimentary units to your longer ranged howitzers.

[ElricJC]

Accidentally erased my examples, but specifics are unimportant. Combine a recon vehicle (tire or tracked depending on the situation) and SPSAM unit, and a TD unit.

[SemperFi2382]

[irashunal]

The little bugger you're referring to in your post with the 3 hex range is the Type 96 MPMS (mighty powered missile shrimp) or what i have nicknamed the Memphis.

Post one of those on a rugged hilltop and you can put a hurting on anything that rolls up within range. On open terrain though it's screwed.

[SemperFi2382]