I never use self - propelled artillery . ( except for the assault guns , like stug , which I suppose most agree is a different sub - category ? )
A month or so ago I read a how - to pamphlet written by some German officer on the subject of running an armored or motorized infantry unit. Boring stuff mostly , but one rule of thumb really jumped out at me and stuck in my mind ; " Your column is only as fast as the slowest vehicle in your column. "
That certainly fits my own eccentric experience. Invariably I get into trouble if my tanks range too far ahead of my infantry , and artillery that can keep up with the tanks in no way seems to change that equation for me.
I'm not sure why I would want artillery support for tanks anyway ?
With tanks on the defensive , isn't that what AT and assault guns are for ? With tanks on the offensive ,
I never attack with tanks in close terrain except in desperation , or for fun and a little experience to mow down a gaggle of nurses who are broken and running away anyway.
In any other circumstance , when I attack with tanks in close terrain ,
even with generous artillery support , my tanks still get murdered.
And certainly artillery towed by half - tracks can keep up with the infantry.
I simply cannot justify the core slots , except if it were for love.
As for love , I actually absolutely adore the SturmPanzer and the Wespe. --- Unfortunately , neither unit has the trait that gives defensive artillery support to a unit being attacked by hard targets. So these two units that could keep up with the tanks , are useless to the tanks anyway.
And , like I said , artillery towed by half - tracks can certainly keep up with the infantry.
So , unless something changes , I guess I will have to content myself with plastic models and fan art , because I won't be buying any SturmPanzers or Wespe's in PC 2 .
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I'm bonkers about the Nebelwerfer , so , of course , I always have to buy one.
Admittedly , one of the only two heroes I have ever really taken particular notice of is the Fast Deployment hero.
The Fast Deployment hero ( IF you can get him ) goes a long way toward rendering the 2 hex range of the Nebelwerfer a mute point.
With the Fast Deployment hero the Nebelwerfer becomes as plain murderous on the ground against soft targets , as the Stuka is in the air against hard targets.
( the two units sound alike too ; the Stuka's with their Jericho Trumpets , The shrieking whoosh of the Nebelwerfer.
)
How I use both units is also basically identical. The Stuka and the Nebelwerfer are purely offensive weapons. You wouldn't use Stuka's in a dog fight to defend air space , and you don't use the Nebelwerfer to defend ground positions.
The Nebelwerfer is perhaps more useful if you go to Afrika , since you get neither the Gustav , nor the Karl Gerat , if you go to Afrika. And the Nebelwerfer sure seems to be murder against pillboxes , entrenchments , and against dug - in infantry in cities.
Here again , I only use the half - track towed Nebelwerfer , since it is only infantry that the Nebelwerfer has to keep up with.
Where the Fast Deployment hero factors into this is in navigating the back field. In my case , back - field traffic control is always an issue. You always seem to have just one road , or one avenue of approach , and infantry , artillery , and AA all need to use it , and at the same time / in the same turn. The Fast Deployment hero goes a long way toward insuring that the Nebelwerfer winds up sitting directly behind the attacking infantry .
As for the garrison units, you could just call them MP and leave it at that.
Keep the discussion there for now, and units for next week's topic.