Best spg

[cutydt02]

I think its very easy to pick 155mm us spg with imba ammo and isu of soviet corps with high defence plus transform ability. But its hard for me to choose one of german spg when hummel appear. Especially in western campaign when i no longer own the sky (and annoying battle ships like my spg). So whats ur choice, guys? Anyone use rail gun or gustav??
P/s: why we dont have any special heroes for artillery? Sorry for my poor english and thanks for ur help

[huckc]

GC West it's the Panzerwerfer 42 all the way for me. Good defense, ok ammo, and good soft attack and mobility.

GC East I like the towed artillery 105mm and 155m, as it's often on the defensive in city hexes which give it a bonus to entrenchment. Also the higher ammo is key for defense.

Afrika Korps gets special artillery heroes, very powerful ones too.

[goose_2]

Best all around SPG IMHO for the Germans is the StuG3B.
Resilient little sucker that has earned a lot of praise from a sceptic like me until I saw it's awesome defensive potential. I am using in 44 West and 43 East even though "better" "more powerful" artillery is available, as there low cost and resilience and 110% ROF makes them the best bang for the buck.

[captainjack]

Agreed. The Stug 3B has high ammo count, good RoF, OK initiative, passable armour and is very bad new for strongpoints. Add a range hero for some extra fun.

[cutydt02]

Stug 3B is weird for me man, because even tough brumbar or flexible stugIV is hard to use with me. The limited range is so critical when i need to suppress tough tanks (then make them surrender) and even AI infantry wanna give it a kiss LMAO. So can u guys share me how to use it in both defense and atk ?

[captainjack]

The Stug doesn't do so well as a direct replacement for conventional artillery because of its limited range.

I usually use a Stug to provide defensive fire for my main tank attack. It's very effective for preventing or blunting attacks on my main striking force. It also has enough ammo to do some attacks and still have a good reserve for providing sustained defensive fire - drive up and suppress soft units in close terrain (at 12 or 13 strength and 110% Rate of fire you can often suppress 8 or more so your tanks can attack without taking excessive damage), and to damage and suppress strongpoints. While it can be used as a stand in tank, it usually does a more useful job in its defensive/support role. It works just as well for supporting infantry attacks, but they can usually cope without, while tanks really benefit from the support.

In Afrika Korps I often use two or three because speed ammo and versatility are more useful. They work well as a pair, offering mutual fire supoprt.

[ycloon]

So can u guys share me how to use it in both defense and atk ?

I agree with what captainjack said. In my own playthroughs, the StuG IIIB's main role is to provide defensive artillery fire for frontline combat units. This is important for both offensive and defensive scenarios because defensive artillery fire helps to suppress the enemy unit's attack strength (and sometimes even score a kill or two) and thus reduce damage on your combat unit. Preserving your combat units' strength is a necessary condition for achieving victory in both offensive and defensive scenarios. I found the StuG IIIB's defensive fire to be particulary helpful in GC41 when the Pz IIIs and IVs have limited armor protection against T-34s and KVs. (If you are willing to slightly mod your equipment file, you can make the StuG IIIA available in GC40 as well) The StuG IIIB continues to be useful in later years, but by GC43East, I prefer to escort the heavier AFVs (Panthers/Tigers/Elefants) with self-propelled AA. Pz IVHs and StuG IIIF/G still get StuGIIIB escorts because of their lower GDs.

It is possible to use the StuG IIIB in a direct fire support role, but that takes careful planning to minimize losses. Basically, if you drive up the StuG IIIB to an enemy unit and open fire directly, you have to make sure that the enemy unit will be destroyed either by the StuG or by other neighboring units. Further, make sure neighboring ground units move into the hexes around the StuG before you end the turn. That way, the StuG gets protection from tougher enemy units and it in turn provides defensive fire for the friendly units. If you cannot pull that off, definitely provide defensive fire for the StuG IIIB itself as captainjack mentioned.