Bloody german tanks!

[offrench]

I have been playing Gateway to Caen since its launch. I have started a campaign as the allies, with default settings.
There have been a few crashes at start, but not for a while.

Infantry seems more resistant than in PITF, which is a good thing. The bad things (from the allies point of view) are the Tigers and Panthers.
I have just finished a combat where I started the game with 9 Shermans, including two Fireflies, camouflaged behind hedges around the path of access for two german Tigers. It seemed ideal.
But the Tigers had no problem spotting them and destroying them. (what exactly does "camouflage" mean in this game?)
More problematic: one Tiger was shooting at me and remained invisible while doing so from open terrain behind a treeline! Given the size of this beast, it seemed to me a bit awkward.
I called air support but the Typhoon that arrived merely strafed the Tiger, only killing infantry nearby.

Another fight against Tigers and Panthers on another map had the same outcome: the german tankers are more accurate in their shots and when the 17 pdr guns touch their targets (1 time out of 5 it seems), their shells do not go through.

And you ? Have you been more successful against the german menagerie?

If the germans are that tough, we are going to need strategic bombing to get through.

[JosephM]

Hello Offrench,

Unfortunately it should like it might just be bad luck on your part. I'll refer you to a Steam forum post where Iain responded very well (an excerpt from which can be found below), to explain the historic reasons why the tigers are so good:
"Historically the Germans did have great optics on these tanks and their long barrels made them very accurate especially at the kind of ranges you see in Close Combat. These are mostly point blank firing ranges for these tanks and could target enemy well off the map."

This aspect was specifically brought up during the development, and although the Tigers are some of the best tanks in the game (especially at range) we did try to nerf them as much as possible - to make them weaker would put the balance too much the other way. In the below Steam post, people mention that they have taken out three Tigers with a single Firefly and that some are finding that the German units are not accurate. Unfortunately I can only suggest to continue to try as you are, as you seem to be using the correct tactics. (And to pray they miss.)

http://steamcommunity.com/app/297750/di ... 753933287/

[CC_Cathartes]

employ a couple 6 pdr AT guns mixed in with your tanks and place them back with good LOS. They will help--they have a few rounds of sabot on board. Also, try the Churchill Mk. III tank with the 6pdr.

[zakblood]

as in any real war game, tanks are next to useless on their own and need spotters, or unbuttoned etc, and always need support, mix with anti tank and infantry always works well, but thats trial and error like the real battle, odds of 6 to 1 is about right for the time period, better tanks, better ie more trained crews, better tactics, better support (infantry combined tank troops) etc