darroch -> (9/18/2002 7:46:55 AM)
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Hi! After playtesting over 30 Russian Steel battles, I have some experience using T34 and KV tanks against various forms of German armor. My personal favorite (excluding a childish weakness for KV2s) is the KV1A for a combination of ok speed, decent gun, and decent armor. Not as fast as the T34 it does actually reach the battlefield - my KV2s usually arrive late if at all... I have found crew experience to be the dominant factor - not optics...the KV had a larger turret and therefore your veteran crew will get 4-5 shots per turn...going to 5-6 when elite... There are pre-1942 T34s and post1942 T34s....both do nicely against the Germans until about March 1942...the pre-1942 ones are nearly useless after March 1942 because their AP cannot reliably penetrate the Mk3 frontal armor anymore... Through 1941, the AI Germans could nearly always nail a few of my T34s with tank gunnery - vulnerable hits and such but the artillery and Luftwaffe generally suppressed them beyond use...in 1941, once suppressed, a T34 is as good as dead once the GE infantry reaches it... April 1942 and later sees a shift to dominant German tank gunnery that lasts at least until late 1944... I'm playtesting early 1943 and my rule of thumb is that if I don't get the first shot I have less than a 50-50 chance of being alive to take a second shot - there are too many Mk4gs running around... My KV1C tanks (Enhanced armor - heaviest in Soviet inventory until JS series) have been sliced open at 6-10 hexes by: MK3 j/n/l/j-specials (50mm/L60 gun - presumably APCR shot), Stug F, F/8, Mk4 f/s2 and Mk4 g..I have had MK3h get lucky kills which roils me! 88s have been a mixed bag - many times my T34s have taken direct hits from hidden 88s and suffered suppression only...then there are those one shot kills - wide variation... Pak76 and Pak75s are invariably deadly and the Pak50 just snipes until they get you...annoying...they cut through KV frontal armor... So, your 1941 inventory of German tanks is at a distinct disadvantage (historical from what I've heard) but with the long 50, things get better in a hurry... And the T34 is frustrating to the max if you are trying to kill 1942 German armor - my record is 54 consecutive hits against Mk3 frontal armor without a penetration - 10 T34s of various classes couldn't do him in...finally his crew bailed with massive migraine headaches and was machine gunned... So, the T34 is no wonder tank but it is an excellent combination of mobility, hitting power and armor... In 1941, German accounts seem to indicate that everything was needed to kill determined T34s: artillery, airstrikes, satchel charges, antitank mines, and massed tank gunnery to the flanks and rear.... For a change of perspective, take 2 companies of T34s in Russian Steel as the core of your combined arms team and add a couple KV1As... I think you'll find they are more vulnerable than you might think... Cheers, Brad (Oddly enough, the M4 SHerman 1943 III lend lease variant compares favorably in terms of general utility! WHo'd'thunk?)
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