Author Topic: Anti-tank guns (mobile and static), tips and tactics.  (Read 2882 times)

Offline CHRISTIEFRONTDRIVE

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I always wished when playing FH1 I could zoom around the map in an anti-tank gun, ambushing enemy tanks, and now I've got FH2 I can finally do that. I didn't see a thread about tactics for using anti-tank guns specifically so let's shoot the breeze on tactics. Here's some questions for anyone who wants to answer them:

1) What kit do you like to use when manning an AT gun? Engy to repair, ammo to keep yourself stocked up, MG for local defense, something with binocs for long range kills?
2) What are your favorite places to roll the mobile AT guns to for an ambush. What maps are best for this?
3) Favorite AT guns to use?
4) How do you deal with enemy infantry when using a mobile AT gun?
5) Do you always use AT guns to go tank hunting or do you ever opt for real artillery pieces, AA guns, etc.?

Anyone who wants to add anything go ahead. I love this aspect of FH2. Every time I've played Hurtgen Forest so far I spawn at Katzenhardt and roll the PaK gun, with the ammo kit. Keeping a sharp eye on the minimap I proceed to roll the gun into a bush or a courtyard, nicely hidden, and when one of the three routes goes American, send a few HE shells in the general direction of the flag and you get more kills than you'd think. When things are getting kind of heavy, I shift into reverse and roll back across the field, and when the Americans enter the town I shell it for a while, listening for tank engines and I can usually knock a few Shermans and M10s out before I'm killed.

So discuss away, share your little tips and tricks, fun stories and whatnot. We all know what a bitch it is to drag an AT gun halfways across the map and be killed, so what do you find the best method for staying alive? Which guns do you find have the best sights? And anything else you want to add.
« Last Edit: 01-02-2012, 21:02:16 by Andrew »
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Offline General_Henry

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Re: Anti-tank guns (mobile and static), tips and tactics.
« Reply #1 on: 02-02-2012, 18:02:52 »
I always wished when playing FH1 I could zoom around the map in an anti-tank gun, ambushing enemy tanks, and now I've got FH2 I can finally do that. I didn't see a thread about tactics for using anti-tank guns specifically so let's shoot the breeze on tactics. Here's some questions for anyone who wants to answer them:

1) What kit do you like to use when manning an AT gun? Engy to repair, ammo to keep yourself stocked up, MG for local defense, something with binocs for long range kills?
2) What are your favorite places to roll the mobile AT guns to for an ambush. What maps are best for this?
3) Favorite AT guns to use?
4) How do you deal with enemy infantry when using a mobile AT gun?
5) Do you always use AT guns to go tank hunting or do you ever opt for real artillery pieces, AA guns, etc.?

Anyone who wants to add anything go ahead. I love this aspect of FH2. Every time I've played Hurtgen Forest so far I spawn at Katzenhardt and roll the PaK gun, with the ammo kit. Keeping a sharp eye on the minimap I proceed to roll the gun into a bush or a courtyard, nicely hidden, and when one of the three routes goes American, send a few HE shells in the general direction of the flag and you get more kills than you'd think. When things are getting kind of heavy, I shift into reverse and roll back across the field, and when the Americans enter the town I shell it for a while, listening for tank engines and I can usually knock a few Shermans and M10s out before I'm killed.

So discuss away, share your little tips and tricks, fun stories and whatnot. We all know what a bitch it is to drag an AT gun halfways across the map and be killed, so what do you find the best method for staying alive? Which guns do you find have the best sights? And anything else you want to add.


There are a few ways to use AT guns for me:

1. Direct defense

Face to face shoot-out with incoming tanks. Requires no brain but good reflex. A relatively bad way as you'll likely to be blown up by artillery. But well, yep, at least you distracted their artillery!

You don't need anything special - you'll get one-shot by a tank anyway. Don't take the ammo kit and let someone else refill the ammo for you when needed. Usually I'll take the engineer kit, or, if you don't need to repair your AT gun to workable condition, a recon kit to look around.


2. Poor-man's tank

If you don't mind pressing W like hell, you can consider using this AT gun as a poor man's tank: it only have a frontal armour that stops regular bullets.

It can be really effective fighting infantry and light vehicles. And sometimes you could take a tank by surprise and kill him. Don't worry about ammo here you should be carrying enough ammo. And repairs is certainly not useful at all. Use a non-limited kit as most of your effective time is being on the gun not close-up self-defence.

You won't last long because some guys might flank you and gun you down, or simply got hit by a certain inevitable grenade/mortar/tank shell.


3. Ambush gun

Push your gun into some hideout positions. Your mission is simple: stay hidden and wreck enemy tanks when chance came. Usually you would want to go after the most valuable target as that is what your other guys cannot deal with easily - let's say the firefly, the achilles or King Tiger. People on those tanks are going to be cautious and would note your position once they saw a tank in front of them got blown up by you.

Your best chance is to hold fire against less-valuable targets (leave those to your teammates), and surprise the valuable targets. You could easily wreck a few APCs or blown up a random infantry that just somehow got into your sights. But remember, this is not your primary job and would expose to your enemy about your presence and your fate is very likely to either fell to tank HE or artillery fire.

If you are combating an armoured column sideways, I suggest leaving the lead tank alone until the entire column shows up. Then start by shooting the guy in the rear. You could destroy an entire column in half a minute. If you destroyed the lead tank before others show up. Chance are that the tanks following the lead tank would revenge for their fallen brothers and you only got 1 kill for pushing your gun for soooo long.

When fighting tanks like KT, let's say, with the 76mm, do not attempt to shoot until you are sure that you have a good chance of firing your second shot that would kill. Fire at the KT when it won't get any time to run away or take cover. You'll blow him up and become a hero of your team. Else he'll just go in reverse and HE you to death.


I am always fond of killing armour in FH2 and has killed a lot of tanks.

Offline TASSER

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Re: Anti-tank guns (mobile and static), tips and tactics.
« Reply #2 on: 07-02-2012, 01:02:54 »
I find the ambush technique to be most effective for mobile guns. Hide behind a wall or house and wait for them to come to you. You're way too vulnerable from HE rounds if you're spotted.

Going off of the HE vulnerability, I never like to have a big flat static directly behind me when I'm in an AT gun. Gives the enemy wayyy too big of a target to land a shell on. The 6 pounder at Moussolini Plaza on Fall of Tobruk is notorious for this...

I prefer having binoculars for static guns, especially on the 88 near the Hill flag at Villers Bocage. You've got such a commanding view of the countryside, but there's a lot to keep an eye on. Would be a fantastic place for a pair of trench binoculars... http://fhpubforum.warumdarum.de/index.php?topic=16710.0  ;D 

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Offline CHRISTIEFRONTDRIVE

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Re: Anti-tank guns (mobile and static), tips and tactics.
« Reply #3 on: 07-02-2012, 20:02:45 »
Good call, avoiding large statics is something that hadn't occurred to me. Many of my favorite spots I've found so far to roll AT guns to by sheer luck don't have any statics behind them, but it wasn't something that factored into the decision to hold up shop there.

One piece of advice I'd add would be that bushes make the perfect spot for anti-tank guns. This seems obvious but think about it - a decent-sized piece of shrubbery can completely hide even some of the bigger anti-tank guns. There's a spot on the hill just north of the right German uncap on Totalize that's great for this. a bunch of trees providing hardly any cover, but one big bush smack dab on top of the hill. I can roll the PaK 40 from the Flak Battery flag there in about a minute using teamchat cruise-control, and can hide the gun entirely from view inside the bush. Sitting in the gun sight view shows me nothing but leaves, and getting out and walking ten feet in either direction to check my cover shows it's as good as it can be. But sitting in the 'tank commander' view gives great sightlines to the most of the map that Canadian tanks can approach from. Everything on the east side of the bridges are covered, including the bridges themselves. When I spot a tank, I can roll the PaK forward just far enough to get a clear view of the target, and then reverse back into the countryside. I've only been at this spot twice (usually Canadian on Totalize, and Totalize usually crashes for me) but it's a spot to remember. You can even lob HE shells at the three of the five flags on the map (and you can get in the general location of the other two). The only negative to it so far is that this spot isn't perfectly level, so aiming is a bit tricky, but it's nothing practice won't solve.

Another good spot I can share is the easternmost flag on Goodwood. The name escapes me but it's the only flag apart from Cagny East and Cagny West that starts off white at the beginning of the map. When the British capture it a Sherman and a mobile 6-pounder spawn there. I grab the 6-pounder and the ammo kit from inside one of the buildings and roll it eastwards into the field and then inch by inch up that little street the thick bocage on the right side of it and the open field to the left. There's three German AT guns lining the defenses of Cagny (two 88s and one PaK). The 6-pounder has great traverse, so you turn the gun all the way the right (while still driving straight ahead) and peak out from behind the brush. Three HE shells kills those guns, and you can move into more open territory. British tanks and infantry can now attack Cagny head on, and you can shell the ever loving shit out of anything that moves in the first few blocks of the city. Plus you get plenty of AP from nailing Hanomags and a few APBC rounds for the Panthers that seem to show up in the same spot east of Cagny every single round.
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Offline SSELITE

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Re: Anti-tank guns (mobile and static), tips and tactics.
« Reply #4 on: 10-08-2017, 07:08:28 »
Umm how does one move the gun to fire on the static at guns. mine wont move.....

Offline FHMax3

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Re: Anti-tank guns (mobile and static), tips and tactics.
« Reply #5 on: 10-08-2017, 09:08:49 »
Umm how does one move the gun to fire on the static at guns. mine wont move.....
Umm.. you can't
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Offline Seth_Soldier

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Re: Anti-tank guns (mobile and static), tips and tactics.
« Reply #6 on: 10-08-2017, 19:08:56 »
Umm how does one move the gun to fire on the static at guns. mine wont move.....

Some can, some don't.
Check the interface if there is 2 position in the gun. (1 to push + 1 to fire)

Offline fighterpil

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Re: Anti-tank guns (mobile and static), tips and tactics.
« Reply #7 on: 19-08-2017, 20:08:51 »
Awesome guide!