Historical : German Rules of Tank Employment

[Lunex]

A translated German document issued in the form of a general order by the Panzer Army High Command lists the following 10 rules on the function and employment of tanks.

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Panzer Army High Command 5
HQ. 10 March 1943

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

GENERAL ORDER NO. 14

Ten Rules of Tank Employment

1. The tank is a deciding weapon in battle. Therefore, employment should be limited to the "main effort" in suitable terrain.

2. The tank is not an individual fighting weapon. The smallest unit is the tank platoon; for larger missions, the tank company.

3. The tank is not an infantry support weapon. It breaks into and through the enemy line, for the closely following infantry.

4. The tank can take a piece of terrain and clear it, but it cannot hold it. This is an infantry mission, supported by infantry heavy weapons, antitank guns, and artillery.

5. The tank is not to be employed as artillery, which fights the enemy for an extended period from one position. The tank fights while moving with short halts for firing.

6. The mission of the infantry is to pin down enemy defensive weapons, and to follow the tank attack closely in order to exploit completely the force and morale effect of that attack.

7. The mission of the artillery is to support the tank attack by fire, to destroy enemy artillery, and to follow closely the rapidly advancing tank attack. The main task of the artillery support is continuous flank protection.

8. The mission of the tank destroyers is to follow the tank attack closely and to get into the battle immediately when tank fights tank.

9. The mission of the combat engineers is to clear minefields and to open gaps under tank, infantry, and artillery protection, in order to enable the continuation of the tank attack.

10. The tank is blind and deaf at night. It is then the mission of the infantry to protect the tanks.

Source : http://lonesentry.com/articles/ttt/germ ... rules.html (http://lonesentry.com/articles/ttt/german-tank-panzer-rules.html)

Very interesting how accurate this is projected in the game series...

Whats your opinion ?

Lunex

[pelitys]

Very interesting indeed :)
Those tactics don't apply directly to the game however, since it's so much faster paced. From my point of view having a tank destroyer follow a sherman for example, is suicide. First enemy unit (tanks or AT-guns) would take out my tank destroyer and then the other tank, since they can see them in the first place.

And I can't even imagine moving my support guns in pace with my tanks :o And it's very easy to camp unlike in those guidelines, if you find a good spot.

[Mad Cat]

10. The tank is blind and deaf at night. It is then the mission of the infantry to protect the tanks.

Source : http://lonesentry.com/articles/ttt/germ ... rules.html (http://lonesentry.com/articles/ttt/german-tank-panzer-rules.html)

Very interesting how accurate this is projected in the game series...

Whats your opinion ?

Lunex

This is why I like to use the SoE minimap mod (http://files.filefront.com/SoEs+Hidden+Enemies+Minimprar/;12217477;/fileinfo.html) with Soldiers-HoWWII. It removes all the enemy icons from the map of both the game and mods creating a more realistic battlefield in much the same way as Men of War allows the player to do. Caution is the watchword and careful planning is a definite must. It's great fun to find unexpected patrols and hidden enemies in a realistic fashion. Adds a whole new dimension to the game.

[Panzer_Elite]

good!!!1but since when is related?Its not the job since tanks can see at night in games that should be told to the armies man!!!

[dazzd]

I laughed at:
2. The tank is not an individual fighting weapon. The smallest unit is the tank platoon; for larger missions, the tank company.
I am reading book about Otto Carius ATM and at the end of the war it is describing how there was only 2 or 3 tigers left in his group and they took it in turns of fighting, patroling etc. One at night, one during the day with the support of infantry. I think the guide lines were written up at the start of the war and then by the end of it, it was tank commanders using what they had left!

All sounds pretty spot on but as pelitys was sayin it unfortunatly has no real application in the game. In a real tank rumble you have each person micro-managing thier own tanks etc. In the game its extremely hard to control a squad of sturmtroopers, 3 AT guns and a few tanks all at once... but maybe with a bit more practice... :insane:

I believe the American/Allied way to deal with a Tiger was no fewer then 5 shermans would charge it. One would flak left, one right and the rest up the guts as cannon fodder. It all seems extremely callous now for those poor buggers in the 3 tanks in the center. In the game its too hard to first of all have that many tanks in action and second micro manage the 2 flanking ones!

Good read mate :beer2:

[pelitys]

All sounds pretty spot on but as pelitys was sayin it unfortunatly has no real application in the game. In a real tank rumble you have each person micro-managing thier own tanks etc. In the game its extremely hard to control a squad of sturmtroopers, 3 AT guns and a few tanks all at once... but maybe with a bit more practice... :insane:

I believe the American/Allied way to deal with a Tiger was no fewer then 5 shermans would charge it. One would flak left, one right and the rest up the guts as cannon fodder. It all seems extremely callous now for those poor buggers in the 3 tanks in the center. In the game its too hard to first of all have that many tanks in action and second micro manage the 2 flanking ones!

Good read mate :beer2:
True, totally /signed. I've read that only the last Sherman in the column would try to flank the Tiger, since it would already destroy one or two of the Shermans before it was located (they camouflaged themselves well and lied in ambush) and the rest of the Shermans would try to spread out or outrun Tiger's slow rotating turret, since it was turned with a crank that a crewman operated, and not by electric motor.

[Smokayman]

Tiger's slow rotating turret, since it was turned with a crank that a crewman operated, and not by electric motor.

A crank? I'm pretty sure it was hydraulically operated and electrically powered. It was still pretty slow though, only turning 360-degrees in a minute at it's fastest.

[pelitys]

Yes I'm pretty sure. It was stated in the same article as the tactic with Shermans. It was like the only weakness Tiger had at the time, to Allies tried exploiting that the best they could.
Other tanks indeed had turrets rotating with electricity but not Tiger for some reason. Zeke could probably shed some light on this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igp3k7z-YcQ

[Zeke Wolff]

The Pz.Kpfw. VI "Tiger" originally had an electrical turret traverse engine (in the prototype). Production vehicles had this electrical engine replaced with a hydraulic one. The gunner also had access to a hand crank which was used for the final adjustments. In other words, first the gunner used the hydraulic turret traverse (speed and direction controlled by foot pedals) to turn the turret to the target, then he used the hand crank to fine tune the aim before firing the main gun.

The speed of the hydraulic traverse was dependent on the engine speed, the maximum being 360 degrees in 60 seconds.

If the hydraulic engine traverse failed due to some reason, the gunner could still turn the whole 360 degrees with the aid of his hand crank but although at a much lesser speed (no data for this, sorry) but the tank commander could assist the gunner in this task by using the auxiliary hand traverse.

Hope this clears some matters out.

~Zeke.

[Mishkin]

The rules are different in game most people send infantry ahead of tanks so you can see whats ahead and not lose your tank to some bazooka or AT grenade from infantry hiding in bushes.