Antitank gun units

[SGT Rice]

Seems that two changes are indicated by this discussion; one to make hidden or displacing AT guns less vulnerable, the second to make stationary guns more lethal, at least in certain tactical situations.

Perhaps one problem is that T-mode is used in PzC to represent every instance in which guns are attached to their prime movers or infantry are loaded in their vehicles. Seems to me that there's a big difference between (1) a column of vehicles conducting a route march along a highway and (2) the same group of vehicles conducting a tactical displacement dispersed over a kilometer-wide front in close terrain. Case (1) is well represented by T-mode but case (2) might be better represented by giving towed weapons tactical movement capability just like tanks and infantry.

If AT guns are allowed to displace without entering T-mode, then other types of towed ordnance should be allowed to as well. The physical activity involved is the same; bringing the battery's vehicles next to the gun positions, limbering the AT/AA/MTR/ART pieces to the vehicles, loading the rest of the battery's ammunition, comms gear, etc, then driving off.

Towed indirect fire units have to go through the artillery setup sequence after displacing; this could be required of other towed units as well. But the setup probability for direct fire (or small caliber) ordnance could be 100%, or they could be left with 1/3 of the MPs during the subsequent enemy turn, allowing them one defensive op fire.

I like VM's suggestion that AT firepower could be increased by the defensive terrain the guns occupy, but just for the sake of discussion I'll suggest another approach. Most ambushes are directional, i.e. the defenders are prepared to surprise an enemy approaching from a specific direction. What if PzC units could access the unit menu for the option to 'boresight' any two in-range hexes that are adjacent to each other? Then their firepower would be doubled (assuming the defenders are unobserved at the moment an enemy enters the boresight hex). Such a defensive posture should have a cost; since the defender's weapons are deployed for the ambush, that units firepower would be halved when engaging 'non-boresight' hexes.

Again this doesn't seem to apply solely to AT units; any defending units could employ boresighting.