Two AT Half-tracks attacking.
The Light AT Half-track is a Panzer Elite unit in Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts.
Overview
"Go ahead sir, ready for orders."
Half-tracks are very common in the Axis forces, and in the Panzer Elite, they are a mainstay of their forces and are modified to suit different roles in the battlefield. One modification of it is the replacement of its MG34 machine guns with a 37mm anti-tank gun. This gives the Panzer Elite a highly mobile tank destroyer, at the cost of armor and anti-infantry capabilities that most tanks have. This 37mm gun is a pre-war Pak 36; it was a useless piece of equipment against tanks, but as time went by and the Germans actively upgraded their shells with tungsten-cored armor-piercing shells. Eventually, this was also upgraded to shaped-charged warheads, enabling the half-track to engage and destroy tanks. Even though it does not have the caliber to destroy enemy tanks quickly, a few of these can halt an advance because of the gun crew's ability.
It is cheap for its purpose; masses of these can halt an armored advance and destroy them.
It is fast, just like any other medium vehicle. This mobility lets them move out of the firing line of an enemy tank or move to another vantage point to hunt down vehicles. Although it cannot fire while on the move, it has abilities that tanks lack. The gun crew also has the skill to aim at a an incoming vehicle's treads, wheels or engine, immobilizing it completely, making them vulnerable to more anti-tank fire unless there are units repairing the immobilized vehicle. Although it lacks any sort of defense against infantry, the gun crew has managed to circumvent this to a degree with their skill - they can fire at infantry using the tank gun itself. They are so skilled at it that they can fire at moving infantry without any difficulty.
Details
| Role: | Light Tank Destroyer |
| Primary Armament: | 37mm L/45 Pak 36 |
| Secondary Armament: | None |
| Production Structure: | Panzer-Support Kommand |
| Manpower: | 260 |
| Munitions: | 0 |
| Fuel: | 15 |
| Population Cap: | 6 |
Abilities:
File:Tread Breaker Ability.jpg Tread Breaker
- Immobilizes a vehicle by shooting at the target's treads, engines or wheels.
- Costs 40 munitions to activate
- Cooldown: 2 seconds
File:Focused Firing Ability.jpg Focused Firing
- Uses precision firing to attack moving targets and infantry; slows down its firing rate but increases accuracy.
- Active for 30 seconds
- Costs 40 munitions to activate
Tactics
For a light Anti-tank vehicle, it is very useful against masses of heavy tanks and vehicles. Its treadbreaker ability lets it immobilize any incoming vehicle for a nominal munitions cost. While this is active, any target will be immobilized permanently unless repaired. It has no cooldown and can be used regularly as long as there is enough munitions to use. This is particularly useful, even with an overwhelming amount of vehicles and tanks - three of these or four would be more than enough to counter six to ten tanks in the field. If in any case that it encounters infantry on its own, use its Focused Firing ability to take a squad down. But if possible, have it escorted with heavy armor and infantry to prevent such an encounter.
Use its speed to relocate to another vantage point to ambush incoming vehicles, hunt down retreating tanks, or retreat altogether. If the targets are already immobilized, retreat have a spotter ready to finish them off from afar. Like most anti-tank guns, it has a longer range than its visual range, spotters would support its firing ability.
With all these advantages however, keep in mind that it is only a half-track with an anti-tank gun. A few hits from other anti-tank units will destroy it. It lacks enough armor to deflect bullets.
Weaknesses
Unfortunately, with all these advantages, they are not durable. They are half-tracks and are not immune to small-arms fire from infantry. A direct confrontation with heavy armor will destroy it with a few shots unless it uses the tread breaker to stop it from chasing it as it retreats. It has no main defense against infantry, and enough saturated rifle fire will destroy it.