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Old 09-23-2021, 09:39 AM
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ChalkLine ChalkLine is offline
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Dug-In Tanks.

Not the field expedient positions, but rather tanks emplaced permanently.
Probably a common encounter in the Twilight War's latter stages, dug-in tank emplacements can be used to dominate a sector. However forgoing mobility for whatever reason, usually because the vehicle has lost whatever mobility it had, means that several steps have to be taken to ensure its combat effectiveness.

Firstly, siting the vehicle needs careful thought and consideration of not just the surrounding terrain but also of the local area where artillery may set up to engage the emplacement. This has to be balanced with the problem of getting the vehicle to the site, it's not easy to drag a 68 ton monster into a swamp for instance.

Secondly, the vehicle needs extra protection. Firstly this is done by terrain, ensuring the vehicle can only approached from one direction and orientating the hull towards it. Secondly add-on armour is established with overhead protection often emplaced for smaller vehicles and applique armour and stand off armour for larger vehicles. Burster layers should be emplaced in the terrain around the buried hull to break up long rod penetrators. Slat armour might be attached to the turret and even armour plates attached frontally with a counterweight on the rear of the turret.

If the emplacement is just a turret on top of a bunker then it can take any shape from the small to the very large. An abandoned hull, nearly always with the engine, transmission, suspension and running gear removed, can use the vacant engine bay as not only a protected shelter but also this can be opened up to provide access to the turret. This can also be the route that connects the turret to the rest of the fortification works.

These emplacements are usually not isolated, an infantry detachment with some sort of limited mobility is needed to cover it and stop the position being engaged from multiple directions simultaneously. Infantry shelters and fighting positions hardened against artillery should cover the flanks and rear. Telephone wire should be buried at least a metre below the ground between all positions.

The mobile reserve should be used to develop flanking counter attacks in conjunction with organic and higher echelon artillery.

Dealing with this sort of position can call on more than just skills for players, it takes clear tactical thinking and a weighing of assets against results. it can be a hard, wheeling fight just to get into a position to launch an ATGM against the site (a Cold War estimate was that the maximum engagement range in Poland would be 1,300m in Poland, even less in Germany and basically point blank in places like the Fulda area).

If the position has to be abandoned usually the emplaced turret will be destroyed. The most common way of doing this without explosives it to, after an emergency strip of systems, drain the recuperator fluid and remote fire the gun, demolishing the recoil system and the cannon trunnions and making it a write-off.

These positions work well as barrier guards and were commonly used by the USSR to cover river crossings.
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