How to effectively use Crocodiles and other flamethrower units?

[All_American]

I've been playing some of the scenarios that take place around Caen from the British side recently. I've came to notice that Crocodiles don't have a strong soft attack value as I first imagined, but they seemingly have an abnormally strong assault value. My question is, how to utilize this in the best way possible? Do I use these assets as bunker busters, as in assaulting the defenders without disrupting first, or assaulting entrenched infantry but not against bunkers? Any tips are appreciated.

[Gris]

I've been playing some of the scenarios that take place around Caen from the British side recently. I've came to notice that Crocodiles don't have a strong soft attack value as I first imagined, but they seemingly have an abnormally strong assault value. My question is, how to utilize this in the best way possible? Do I use these assets as bunker busters, as in assaulting the defenders without disrupting first, or assaulting entrenched infantry but not against bunkers? Any tips are appreciated.

Hi All American,

Great question. Without the benefit of knowing the particle scenario I use METT-T to plan how to achieve the objective you have been assigned in any given scenario.

For any Commanders joining us without any prior military experience METT-T is 

Mission, Enemy, Terrain, Troops, - (Available) Time

METT-T is an actual US Army acronym used by Commanders to make a battle plan. I believe now it is METT-TC with the C being civilians due to COIN (Counterinsurgency Operations) operations. A cursory search on google will offer more explanation for those interested.

For this discussions we will concentrate on the Troops and just brief the remaining in order of course. We will use the following scenario from PB Normandy: #0730_01: Operation Bluecoat ‐ Baffing up the Charlie Love Turns : 144  IVO Hex 43,7 for Commanders who wish to follow along. 

1. METT-T supports our overall objective. Using our jump dialog, I have highlighted (white circle) the first objective assigned to 1st Herefordshire Regt Taskforce (1HRT). 1HRT is not the only unit assigned to take this objective, but it's mission is one part of a team effort to achieve the objective.

 

Pro Tip: you can use the jump map to plan objectives and avenues of advance (AOA). It shows Blue and Red forces, Primary roads ( Also called MSR -Main supply routes), River's, etc. 

2. Our Mission. 1HRT has been assigned to breach and clear operations IVO Hex 43,7



In short, we want to clear the roads to allow a speedier advance and open an MSR for follow on forces to further objectives. Clear access to the primary and secondary roads and remove the enemy's ability to interdict. Follow the road from Hex 43,7 to 43,10.

3. Enemy - Again this is a brief, our enemy forces consist of obstacles (mines and wires), prepared defensive positions (improved positions and bunkers), Infantry (battalion strength) with infantry support weapons (machine guns). In game terms -  Average infantry (Morale C) with MG units in low strength (18 men) in improved positions and bunkers covering mine and wire obstacles in difficult terrain. Look for strength and weakness. For example; the MG units have a hard attack of 2/1 making it difficult for them to defend against armor.

4. Terrain - Woods, roads, hedgerow, obstacles and prepared positions. A lot of factors involved here and subject for a post another day. Our top three not in a favor are mines, bunkers, and hedgerow. Terrain in our favor: smoke, stacking, and hedgerow. Smoke and stacking block visibility which limits enemy targets of opportunity. Hedgerows protect us and the enemy from effective fire at range.

Pro Tip: What is the most difficult obstacle you will face in Panzer Battles? Your own men! Stacking will slow you down more than the enemy will. At the start of the game hit the F4 Key and take note of the road and maximum stacking. Roads are critical to your advance, but you can't use the road if you overstack. We  have a stack value of road 80/max 200 in this scenario.

5. Troops - Here is what will will cover in detail in the next post.

6. Time - Like terrain it is a deep subject. In game terms, how many turns do you have to achieve your objectives (a win in the game). Likewise, how many turns do you want to use to complete this mission, i.e Breach and Clear. Again dependent on your overall plan, You would think in a 144 turn game you have plenty of time, but your opponent may say otherwise. 

Pro Tip: assign each step of the mission a number of turns. For example; A 4 turn B&C operation
Lay smoke and clear mines - 1 turn, 
Position assault forces - 1 turn , 
Clear - 1 Turn
Breach - 1 turn

Using the METT-T method to plan is how a Commander in Panzer Battles takes actual real world war-fighting and translates into the simulated battlefield. This tool works for small battles to large campaigns and will separate the Commanders from the players. 

Pro Tip: METT-T works for Panzer Campaigns too!

Now that we have the method, let's take a look at the troops.

[Gris]

Hi All American, 

Given our METT-T method we will take a detail look at the troops and hopefully address your question. We won't look at all the troops. We will evaluate 4 we can use for breach and clear ops using the same scenario as above.

Here we have the AVRE, Crocodile, Engineer, and Infantry. (Highlight in the blue and yellow circle in the previous post)



It is always difficult to cover specifics. For example, breaching a bunker. "Crack the puzzle" answers generally do not work in every situation. There are too many variables. With best practice (or tactics, it sounds better) of using the units strength and minimizing it's weakness your chance of success is greatly increased. Before we take a look, you may want to review Alternative Unit Information, Pg 50 of the pzb.pdf in your game directory, manuals folder.

In the scenario we will right click on the unit in the hex info area to see it's stats.

Let's start with the Churchill AVRE at the top. Hard  30/1, Soft 3/3, Assault 19. Defense 19, Hard Target. Speed 7 Tracked.

For bunker busting the speed and track is not important, but for the break though after it is. We can out run his infantry if they try too. Our soft attack is an attack of 3 with a range of 3. Not very good at all so we can say the AVRE is not an infantry support tank. The assault of 19 is not bad, a point better than our Engineers. Looking at the Hard 30/1, we have an attack value of 30 at a range of 1. Combine this with a decent defense of 19 we can now formulate a best tactic for the AVRE. 

Primary best tactic - Moving to a range of one hex and firing at a hard target (in this case, a bunker) to disrupt the enemy units to increase our chances of a successful assault. This is the AVRE's greatest strength.

Secondary best tactic - An assault of 19 and 40 (4 vehicles x 10) stacking points give us a a good stacking to assault ratio.

For the AVRE we want to close to one hex and disrupt the defenders. If needed, we can also use them to assault.

Pro tip: When assaulting look at not only the assault value but the stacking too. With 200 stack points you can stack the AVRE, CROC, and infantry in one assault. A fairly powerful attack against any of the German positions above, whether they are disrupted or not.

Churchill Crocodile - Hard 18/8, Soft 12/12, Assault 45, Defense 20, Speed 7, Tracked.

Using the same method when can see the Croc's strength right off the bat. The assault of 45. 

Primary Best tactic - Assault prepared positions. With 30 stack points and 45 assault, combined with infantry, Crocs are the punch of any bunker busting. A defense of 20 gives them a good change of avoiding disruption from the German infantry (they have a Hard 15/1 attack). 

Secondary best tactic - With a good hard and soft attack they offer force protection for your units during the breakout. If you are not ready to assault yet, you can use them to cause disruptions. 

Engineers - Hard 14/1, Soft 6/3, Assault 18, Defense 16, Mine Clear

A good hard attack, assault, and defense definitely make engineers an asset in bunker busting. Upon closer inspection, they have the ability of mine clear allowing you to clear a path through minefields for your assault forces. 

Primary best tactic - Clearing minefields and obstacles!

Secondary best tactic - Assaulting prepared positions. 

Pro Tip: Your savvy opponent is going to target your engineers. Normally they are small units and sometimes with average morale. Disrupted engineers can't clear obstacles. You can't always keep them out of harms way, but it it usually better to save them for clearing obstacles rather than assault and infantry combat. You don't always have a choice, but consider it in your planning.

The poor bloody infantry - Hard 12/1, Soft 6/3, Assault 10, Defense 16, 111 Men

The infantry has average stats and morale across the board. What they do have is numbers. Assaulting a position with 200 men is better than 20 for obvious reasons. The fact of the matter is, you just have more infantry and it is going to form the bulk of your bunker busting.

Primary best tactic - Using the infantry with the Croc units, get as close to 200 stacking point as you can when you assault. Disrupted or not, you will on average clear out the German positions pictured above in 1-2 turns.

Secondary best tactic - Why, basic infantry stuff. Closing and engaging the enemy.

Now that we have assessed our troops, let's start to plan how we will use them.

The engineers will clear the minefields under the cover of smoke (limiting the enemy's target of opportunity). 
The AVRE will close to a 1 hex range and disrupt the defenders.
The infantry with Crocodiles in support will assault the prepared position hex using as close to 200 stackpoints as possible.

Pro TIP: A few units we did not cover. Your Sherman tanks can provide covering fire and disruptions. Position you HQ units with a field of vision past the bunker. If they have not moved in a turn, you can use them to spot for artillery. Instead of shooting your artillery and mortars at the units in the bunker (which does nothing) use them to hit the German units you pushed out of the bunker. Important points; the HQ cannot have moved in a turn, and it must be spotted. Don't always fire your artillery in the beginning of your turn. Use HQ to spot targets of opportunity.

In summary Commanders, knowing the capability of your units and maximizing their strength while minimizing their weakness provides them the ability to successfully complete the mission you have assigned. The enemy will not cooperate. It is up to you to provide your men with the winning plan using METT-T and correctly assessed force capability and multipliers. Don't forgot tenacity and panache.

All American, I hope this helps. I am sure there are questions, I can't cover everything in a generalization, but ask away if needed.

See you in the Bocage - Gris.

[Gris]

Hi All American,

A few notes on the bigger "picture".

"Infantry in a foxhole only defends a foxhole"

That was a saying one of my viking buddies used to say all the time. What he meant by it was, once you breach the line the enemy has two choices. To sit in place or displace. 

In PB you will see players sometimes try to clear the line. Assault every bunker if you will. You want to breach the line at the roads and once breached, roll on down the road. Your opponent will have two choices and in general for the Axis they are both bad. He can sit in place effectively taking him out of the game if he is not sitting on any objective points or one of low value (it makes no sense losing 200 loss point to take a 25 point vp). Or, he can retreat to a second line. In most cases one that has no bunkers or IPs. Given that most Axis are on foot and the Allies have transport, your going to beat him there. Don't forget tank riders with your foot infantry. Breaking your infantry down into platoons and placing them on tanks with recon in the lead will cause a panic in your opponent like no other. In small scenarios, this may not matter too much, but in the larger campaigns, it can be the difference between a minor or major victory. You can cover the breach with some infantry or follow on forces. 

Pro Tip: Breaking your infantry down into platoons and placing them on tanks with recon in the lead will cause a panic in your opponent like no other. 

1. Breach and clear the line along a road.
2. Push follow on forces through. Armor and Infantry. 
3. Recon looks for high value targets (HVT) in rear areas causing disruption in command and control.
4. Consolidate on the objective.

PRO Tip: HVTs can be anything you as the Commander determine as critical to your mission success. HQ, artillery, infantry, etc etc. During the planning phase you should identify your HVTs for your recon, artillery, and air assets as a minimum. Identified HVTs into categories for position (where), disruption, and/or elimination. 

Outside of the bunkers, allied numbers are telling against all but the SS and Lehr. With those units you will have to wear them down with your numbers. The SS and Lehr are the very reason "crack the puzzle" solutions don't work.

One of the strength of Panzer Battles is tactics that worked in the real world, work in the game. IMO this is what separates PB from the rest of the pack out here in the wargaming world. 

Hope this helps. See you in the bocage - Gris

[All_American]

This is far more in depth than what I asked for, great response. A lot of valuable information here that I never considered before, and this is coming from a 1 year old PB player. Maybe you should make this into a thread for the newcomers as well? Thanks again.

[Gris]

This is far more in depth than what I asked for, great response. A lot of valuable information here that I never considered before, and this is coming from a 1 year old PB player. Maybe you should make this into a thread for the newcomers as well? Thanks again.

Right on, good to hear! All lessons learned from the ladder. All learned the hard way:) I don't have the power of pinning, but I certainly appreciate the praise, Thank you!

Maybe one day I'll write my memoirs, like Monty did:) 

- Gris

[Compass Rose]

Very impressive Gris. Thanks for taking the time to teach and explain.  I am sure many guys will benefit from it.

Can't wait for your PzB Tactics book to be released as I'll be the first in line to buy it!