Tank Loads for Africa at War

Jeff Conner · 11-20-2013, 01:26 AM,

I think a lot of players don't understand how narrow the front facing of vehicles are; less than 60 degrees. If Tigers and Panthers keep their front to the enemy, they are pretty tough to kill. If I remember correctly, a Russian 76mm gun has about a 1% chance of a kill against a Tiger front facing. But if you expose the side, the chances go up considerably.

As for German guns not being deadly enough, that is partially a function of the short range at which most of the scenarios take place. With SB's rather simple range attenuation, you want to engage your enemy at what is medium range for you (full lethality), but long range (half lethality) for the bad guys (or even better, out of range). German tank guns usually have longer ranges than their Allied equivalents, but the small size (as well as lots of terrain that blocks line of sight and reduced maximum visibility) of the maps often prohibits them from taking advantage of it. In a short range fight, the German heavy tanks lose some of their technical advantages.

The Bowling Alley scenario in SB Korea is an example of this. The Pershing and T34/85 tanks have fairly comparable numbers except that the Pershing has a maximum range of 2000 meters while the T34 only has a maximum range of 1000 meters. The Pershings can find good perches on the hills and pick off the T-34s at more than 25 hex range without fear. When things get closer, they still have a large advantage until the range drops to 12 hexes. With the large map and good sight lines, this scenario shows the significant advantage that the Pershing has. Replace the Pershings with Panthers and you would see the same range attenuation effects.

TheBigRedOne · 11-20-2013, 06:14 AM,

The one example that I read on another forum was a Tiger, maybe even a King Tiger, getting destroyed by a US bazooka team, which completely put off the player, so much so that they raised the values of the Tiger above what the M1A1 was in Modern War, making it pretty much invincible against all WWII type weapons. It seemed a bit extreme and I told him so. To each his own, however. I'm sure for him it's a lot more fun to play if you know your tanks can't get whacked.

I've never thought that the values for SB were out of balance. It's not a perfect system, but I've always thought it played well. The game's strong suit is infantry, not armor, something JT has said all along, but the armor, if employed appropriately, plays fine.

Laza · 11-20-2013, 11:20 AM,

A zook taking out a King Tiger once in a blue moon is what makes the game fun for me. Just like MG team destroying Marder which befell me not so long ago. Besides like CS game I see it be more abstract then a King Tiger totally destroyed by bazooka, more like the crew bailed out after losing a track rather then staying with tank and becoming a immobile

TheBigRedOne · 11-20-2013, 11:35 AM,

(11-20-2013, 11:20 AM)Laza Wrote: A zook taking out a King Tiger once in a blue moon is what makes the game fun for me. Just like MG team destroying Marder which befell me not so long ago. Besides like CS game I see it be more abstract then a King Tiger totally destroyed by bazooka, more like the crew bailed out after losing a track rather then staying with tank and becoming a immobile

Completely agree, Laz. It can be maddening when you're on the short end of a really tough loss, but strange things happen in war. The randomness factor adds a strong bit of reality to the game.

I do get, however, wanting things to be as realistic as possible, but there's only so much you can coax out of code and algorithms....