Bogging down, and immobilization

[FragerZ]

I looked, but I couldn't find a thread on the 'tactics 101' section that referred to bogging down, and I needed answers so that I can make a good decision in a battle I'm currently playing.

So after a tank bogs down, under what circumstance will it unbog? Since almost every time I've seen a vehicle bog, it's become immobilized within moments.
(If a tank is in the process of bogging, I was curious on weather you could unbog it before it becomes immobilized, by pushing it with another tank.)

And most importantly, I need to know if vehicles are more likely to bog down if they are moving fast -- particularly in scattered trees.
If they do, then I'll order my troops to move through the trees. If there isn't much of an effect, I'll make them move fast -- and considering the battle these questions came from is a meeting engagement, time may be valuable. However, if a single tank bogs, it would be far worse then if they took an extra turn or two.

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P.S. Oh, and also, when a shell penetrates, does it typically explode? or will it only explode if it's labeled 'Large HE APBC'?

Secondly, if it doesn't explode, I assume that a tank is knocked out because of the fact that there's a shell bouncing around killing the crew and damaging the tank inside. If this is true, am I safe to assume that a vehicle is less likely to be knocked out of penetrated through the turret? (I'm particularly asking this question because I've noticed how the German tanks have comparable weak turrets, where the British and American tanks usually have strong turrets)

And finally, am I correct in saying that a tank can only push another tank if it's transport class greater than the other tanks?

Thanks for the answers, and perhaps you'll learn something from this post yourself.

[McEvilly]

I've been able to get unbogged several times by simply putting in reverse for a short distance.

[Der Kuenstler]

Yes - the best thing to do when a vehicle is bogged is cancel all orders and put it in reverse a short distance. Much of the time it will unbog after a minute or so.

AFVs will bog the least on roads, and more in trees, rocky, brush, etc. I have also noticed they will bog more in LOW GROUND. I was playing a recent ME on wet ground. I lined up three stugs on the start line in low grassy ground to assure that they would not be seen by the enemy - but 2 out of three bogged and became immobilized before they even went 10 meters.

Yes - they do bog easier when moving fast. Less experienced crews also bog easier. The safest thing to do is buy vet crews and stay on higher grassy areas and roads when going fast, and in other areas using "hunt."
Sometimes they bog anyway though - just a random factor.

Smaller shells often don't knock a tank out when they penetrate. The best thing to do is watch the tank after it gets hit. If it stops moving suddenly and stays perfectly still or stops returning fire, you've probably knocked it out.

Someone else will have to address the pushing of bogged vehicles and exploding shells - not sure on those.

[McEvilly]

I have nevr tried to push them, but I will play around and try it.

[Saint Ruth]

I recall reading on the Battlefront website with all those tactics posts (does anyone have a link to that? It was great) that once a tank bogs then the orders you give are irrelevant.
It'll become immobilized or it won't.
Any new orders won't make any difference.

[herroberst]

Cancel movement orders. Decide whether to let it sit or whether to reverse - both can unbog the vehicle. Decide whether to move another tank behind it and push it out. This works too.

[Ratzki]

I have always either put the vehicle into reverse and/or bumped it with another vehicle. What would happen if the movement orders were cancelled and the bogged vehicle was just allowed to sit?

[Nort]

I have tried bumped/pushing to no avail. While I cannot recall where I read it, I recall good authority saying that the CM game engine does not allow for pushing a bogged vehicle with another vehicle.

[SS_expandeux]

For bogged tanks I change the order to move ( generally for me it worked although I got also immobile) The ground makes the difference WET ground heavy tanks ---> immobile very often chose carefully your path!

About penetration and other stuff in CMBO a penetration was a KO but in CMBB and CMAK they are all dependent on your luck :( not on what it writes

It happened many times especially against German armor :(( Although they have the power to penetrate in the range they are firing distance and angle is more than enough! They often ricochet and even penetration with no effect! valentines IX (57mm) a very good TD drives me crazy! Churchill
with HC projectile 125 penetration at any distance direct hit on enemy tank nothing happend :((

Also elevation ( you firing from a lower position on enemy tank) increases angle of armor ( which is tested :P many times)
But in lowering angle ( me firing from a upper position ) didn't ko the enemy tank ( the projectile bounced as if fired from same angle[ didn't went in the ground but ricocheted up in the sky ) 1 test only didn't tried to much that

[PoorOldSpike]

Re bogging, I've never done any comprehensive tests because the variables are enormous and it'd take til doomsday. For example every different type of weather, terrain, speed, ground pressure, crew quality etc would all have to be carefully looked at in order to compile charts (one for cmbb and one for cmak in case the coding is different for each)

So if a newcomer was to ask my advice based on my experience I'd say- In clear weather don't worry at all about bogging, just drive blissfully through scattered trees, soft ground, over walls, through craters etc because the bog risk is so small.

But in damp weather where the risk is slightly higher you might want to think twice before moving off-road or through bad terrain, but still don't worry too much about bogging.

However when things start getting really messy like rain snow or mud etc, that's when to start seriously thinking about avoiding the nasty stuff.