Soft attack and hard attack.

[Vidkjaer]

Soft attack should be inefective on hard targets.
But hard attack should do full damage on soft targets.

There is no reason why a tank should not sloughter 200 men with rifels.

The combat mechanic is that a division has a softness stated in a percentage. Each firing phase it is by chance selected whether the target presetns is hard of soft point. So if a divison has 40% softness, there will be a 40% chance it will present its soft point each firing phase (one firing phase takes 1 hour). Each firing phase a divison has x number of soft shots or x number of hard shots. so if a division only has 5 soft attack it can only fire 5 shots against a soft point. the target then has a defensive value where each defensive point has a chance to avoid the shot. If there are more shots than defensive values the chance to avoid being hit is much smaller (but there still is a chance).

A divisions softness values is determined by the units in the division. A light tank is not 100% hard.

The above is how HOI3 combat works . which Podcat has stated is, with small changes, the same in HOI4.

So having a pure infantry division against a tank division where the infantry has high soft attack and low hard attack it can only fire a few shots when the hard point of the tank division presents it self.

 

[Shireknight]

I think in reality if you were in an Infantry unit/platoon with no Anti-Tank weapons and tanks were encroaching on your position you would just fall back -I don't think the tanks would do a lot of damage to you if you kept your distance from them so in effect Tank divisions in HOI IV should be able to push Infantry divisions backwards with minimal effort yet at the same time inflict very little soft attack damage on them.

So basically Tank divisions can just keep driving forwards (breaking up the enemy line and forcing the divisions in front of them to retreat) until they either encounter an enemy division that has Anti-Tank weapons or it runs out of supply (fuel).

 

[Sic Domine]

I think in reality if you were in an Infantry unit/platoon with no Anti-Tank weapons and tanks were encroaching on your position you would just fall back -I don't think the tanks would do a lot of damage to you if you kept your distance from them so in effect Tank divisions in HOI IV should be able to push Infantry divisions backwards with minimal effort yet at the same time inflict very little soft attack damage on them.

So basically Tank divisions can just keep driving forwards (breaking up the enemy line and forcing the divisions in front of them to retreat) until they either encounter an enemy division that has Anti-Tank weapons or it runs out of supply (fuel).

Tanks are faster than infantry and generally infantry divisions have always anti tank weapons with them, be it just their own hands if they come close enough. An infantry division that cannot defend itself against the tank division will get shattered.

 

[Gort11]

Tanks are faster than infantry and generally infantry divisions have always anti tank weapons with them, be it just their own hands if they come close enough. An infantry division that cannot defend itself against the tank division will get shattered.

How do you defeat a tank with just your bare hands?

 

[Zaku]

How do you defeat a tank with just your bare hands?

 

[jcd000]

How do you defeat a tank with just your bare hands?

And also with grenades, and incediaries used on tracks or thrown inside the tank ofc.
But the 'SMASH' method works best!

 

[Kovax]

How do you defeat a tank with just your bare hands?

You don't. You use spears, like the Ethiopians did against the Italian light tankettes (more like a riding mower with an attitude), and flip them over, or stab the driver through the vision slots.....which begs a joke: "How many Ethiopians does it take....."

Grenades on the upper decks will generally cause engine damage, and setting a fire on top of the tank with a can of gasoline or "Molotov cocktail" is never popular with the tank crew. Then there are the supporting vehicles, which are NOT armored. Infantry don't necessarily have to punch holes through armor plate to deal damage to an armor division, although it's difficult when all of those armored monstrosities are shooting at you.

An armored unit may have excellent anti-infantry capability, such as a Panzer IV with its short-barreled 75L24 howitzer and multiple machineguns, or may have limited ability to engage infantry, as was the case with some tank destroyers which lacked a machinegun, or only had a single MG mounted atop the tank, and required a crewman to stand exposed to return fire in order to use. There are several examples of cases where tanks specialized in either "Hard Attack" or "Soft Attack".

Wait.... So Soft attack doesn't measure a units effectiveness in pillow fights?
Damn i thought that hard attack is a combat value while soft attack is how good your soldiers can make 'yo mama' jokes etc thus reducing enemy morale.
I've been playing HOI3 wrong...

No, you've got it completely wrong. Hard Attack is the unit's ability to take difficult shots, while "Soft Attack" is used in situations where you have a clear advantage and your troops are not under pressure. Besides, pila fights went out with the Roman Legions, especially after the Second Punic War where the enemy cheated and used Kushans instead of pila.

 

[Secret Master]

Grenades on the upper decks will generally cause engine damage, and setting a fire on top of the tank with a can of gasoline or "Molotov cocktail" is never popular with the tank crew.

Also, if the tank is slow and has no anti-infantry weapons at all, then the infantry and just climb on the tank and wait. The crew will open a hatch eventually...

You can also hurt the feelings of the tank crew by hurling insults at them when they have no anti-infantry weapons. The morale damage is devastating.

Too bad Gamelin didn't employ that time honored French tactic. It's worked ever since the French used it in the Hundred Years War.

 

[DocMorningstar]

That makes sence, so flesh makes you immune to armor pirceing attacks... Got it!

Not ineffective, just less effective.

Look up the real-world example of the Matilda II tank. Great tank, terrible HE charge.

Without a good HE charge, you need to score a direct, or near-direct hit on an infantryman to kill them. With a good bursting charge, you can rely on shrapnel.

 

[Imminentstorm]

Not ineffective, just less effective.

Look up the real-world example of the Matilda II tank. Great tank, terrible HE charge.

Without a good HE charge, you need to score a direct, or near-direct hit on an infantryman to kill them. With a good bursting charge, you can rely on shrapnel.

Especially if the Matilda is using a "little john" adapter. Then any sort of explosive charge is out of the question. But with a much improved armor penetration capability.

 

[aMetzgermeister]

I assume most people who've posted on the forum aren't current or prior military.

I'll try and put it in perspective.

A tank is effective at fighting other tanks and static defenses due to being armored and being able to mount a large main gun. It is less effective at fighting infantry due to the same reason. Don't get me wrong, a tank is a powerhouse and can destroy infantry head on, and the psychological effect alone destroys moral. But tanks are unwieldy, slow, visually impaired, and limited in angles of attack against multiple targets especially in urban and heavily forested areas. Tanks are primary used for breakthroughs and infantry support. Infantry can and do swarm tanks either destroying them with explosives or heavily damaging them.

Infantry and tanks work in unison, tanks protect infantry from other tanks and infantry protect tanks from other infantry.

Tanks operate better in open areas and infantry operate better in forested and urban terrain.