WW2 Tanks.... A question....

[Anomalocaris]

They'll be able to cross open fields to get from battle to battle..but that isn't where the battles will take place.  Take a look at the spread of the pop.  I suppose that they could occupy a few beet farms with their tanks, but beyond that, not so much.

The desert is a great place to move with your tanks too.....and yet.....

The idea of the classic tank battle is WW2 mindset.  Even then it was pretty rough, but since then, in conflict after conflict, tanks have proven to be more of a liability than an asset to an invading force.

No, the decisive battles will not take place in cities and fortified locations unless you are a tactical genius like Hitler at Stalingrad in late 1942.  Nor should it occur by slamminh your armor head on into enemy armor ala operation Zitadelle.

The right way to use armor decisively will be to move far and quickly over board, easy terrain like much of Ukraine, bypass where enemy gather in strength where ever possible and take weakly defended beet farms and other locations that sit astride road and rail junctions that brings supplies to fortified locations and cities and permit the enemy to move his forces to meet you where you want to go.

Tanks win by being able to move quickly to locations where enemy defenses are found or be weak, punch through, move deep and far behind enemy lines and then concentrate quickly against key pressure points in the enemy’s dispersed network of transportation and communication.   This deprives the enemy of his ability to shift his forces to meet you, his ability to economize his forces by minimizing his threatened frontage, and his ability to wait you out.   When done right, tanks win by creating the situation where strongly fortified enemy cities, communication and logistic centers are suddenly cut off from reinforcement and exposed to attacks from all sides, not by actually attacking the fortified locations themselves.

The actual attack against fortified centers, if needed, should be done by infantry after softening up the target by bombarding it from all sides. Tanks should only be minimally involved if at all during the assault stage.   The only times when you throw your tank into an assault on a city are:

1. if you have already taken all the objectives in the open field you need to to completely paralyze the enemy communication and transportation network, and have no more immediate use for large mobile operations, so you can afford to squander your tanks to add weight to your assault, or

2. Your mobile forces by moving quickly appeared suddenly before the city, greatly surprised the enemy, and found the enemy disorganized and unprepared.   This gives you the fleeting opportunity to storm the city quickly with minimum loss before the enemy can get his act together and organize a proper defence.   In this case, attacking with as much Force as quickly as possible is critical. You should waste no time shifting forces to organize proper text book attacks. You should instead throw all your forces you have on hand into the attack directly from the march, even if they are tanks.