Merkava invincible?

[Aeraaa]

Originally Posted by Suhiir

Reminds me of the time I had a swarm of PzKw II's surrounding a KV-1. I doubt they actually penetrated it but I'm sure the crews ears were bleeding from all the concussions.

Yeah, swarm tactics are always fun. Didn't do the same feat as Wdll, but my closest one was a Scimitar riddling the rear of 3 T-64Bs full of 30mm holes. Victoria Cross was unfortunately posthumous for the crew.


Anyway, it gets old quickly, but whoever sits inside the tanks is more important than the model they are. Its also the same in infantry, whoever leads the squad or platoon is way more important than whether Private Randomson has an ACOG on his M-16Ax and/or body armor (though don't get me wrong, these stuff do help). In game terms, a good player will be able to pull it off against a not so good one and the majority of players will be able to do vs. the AI.


And do not forget, for the price of one Merkava 4, you can get 8-11 of the monstrous Chaffees…

[Wdll]

Originally Posted by Aeraaa

Yeah, swarm tactics are always fun. Didn't do the same feat as Wdll, but my closest one was a Scimitar riddling the rear of 3 T-64Bs full of 30mm holes. Victoria Cross was unfortunately posthumous for the crew.


Anyway, it gets old quickly, but whoever sits inside the tanks is more important than the model they are. Its also the same in infantry, whoever leads the squad or platoon is way more important than whether Private Randomson has an ACOG on his M-16Ax and/or body armor (though don't get me wrong, these stuff do help). In game terms, a good player will be able to pull it off against a not so good one and the majority of players will be able to do vs. the AI.


And do not forget, for the price of one Merkava 4, you can get 8-11 of the monstrous Chaffees…

Unfortunately after a while the Chaffees are not available for Greece so I can't use them for more recent dates. When I have them, I do use them. THEY ARE AWESOME!
Not only they can swarm enemy defenses, overwhelm the enemy, but also do really really well against infantry.
I wouldn't want to be inside one, but I am fine giving them orders from afar.

[Aeraaa]

^After Chafees are retired, you can use BMP-1s. Almost the same price, with a 40 HEAT main gun. Can penetrate the rear turret and hull of Merkava 4.

BTW, you probably were lucky too, since Chafee has an AP of 10, while the weakest point of Merkava is 12 AP armor. So it was probably a best AP shot, or a weakpoint shot. In any case, jumping on a Merk with a horde of Chaffees is definitely an achievement to be proud of, although something tells me your opponent got cocky and though "I have a Merkava hurr durr, I can just bulldoze my way to victory". There is a reason uber tanks fight from a distance, and he probably got the lesson the hard way.

[Wdll]

Originally Posted by Aeraaa

^After Chafees are retired, you can use BMP-1s. Almost the same price, with a 40 HEAT main gun. Can penetrate the rear turret and hull of Merkava 4.

BTW, you probably were lucky too, since Chafee has an AP of 10, while the weakest point of Merkava is 12 AP armor. So it was probably a best AP shot, or a weakpoint shot. In any case, jumping on a Merk with a horde of Chaffees is definitely an achievement to be proud of, although something tells me your opponent got cocky and though "I have a Merkava hurr durr, I can just bulldoze my way to victory". There is a reason uber tanks fight from a distance, and he probably got the lesson the hard way.

He was a very good player. I don't know the percentage but I would say he won more battles than he lost.
Got lucky? Oh yeah. Still hilarious though.

[Imp]

Originally Posted by Aeraaa

^After Chafees are retired, you can use BMP-1s. Almost the same price, with a 40 HEAT main gun. Can penetrate the rear turret and hull of Merkava 4.

BTW, you probably were lucky too, since Chafee has an AP of 10, while the weakest point of Merkava is 12 AP armor. So it was probably a best AP shot, or a weakpoint shot. In any case, jumping on a Merk with a horde of Chaffees is definitely an achievement to be proud of, although something tells me your opponent got cocky and though "I have a Merkava hurr durr, I can just bulldoze my way to victory". There is a reason uber tanks fight from a distance, and he probably got the lesson the hard way.

Game mechanics make it virtually guaranteed, consecutive shots at the same target increase the chance of an over penetration shot to reflect targeting a weak spot. Have to be in range for it to trigger which varies with the quality of the rangefinder.
Adjacent shot with a fairly quick firing gun like the Chafees it’s going to happen at some point.

[Suhiir]

I spoke to the crew of a LAV-25 after the Kafji battle during Gulf I who'd been off to the west near the border where the second (and largely unreported) incursion by Iraqi forces occurred. They were sitting in a small wadi when a T-62 showed up and having nothing else handy (the infantry dismounts had taken all the AT-4's) they opened up with the 25mm. While they knew it was pretty pointless when it's all you have ...

After the thing was taken out by an AH-1 they went up to look it over and found to their surprise that the Bushmaster's APDS-T rounds had chiseled a crater into the turret. They said that given enough time/ammo they thought they could have taken it out by drilling a hole clear thru.

[Aeraaa]

Originally Posted by Suhiir

I spoke to the crew of a LAV-25 after the Kafji battle during Gulf I who'd been off to the west near the border where the second (and largely unreported) incursion by Iraqi forces occurred. They were sitting in a small wadi when a T-62 showed up and having nothing else handy (the infantry dismounts had taken all the AT-4's) they opened up with the 25mm. While they knew it was pretty pointless when it's all you have ...

After the thing was taken out by an AH-1 they went up to look it over and found to their surprise that the Bushmaster's APDS-T rounds had chiseled a crater into the turret. They said that given enough time/ammo they thought they could have taken it out by drilling a hole clear thru.

Can't remember where or when, but I've seen a photo of a Sherman that was the closest thing to a metal swiss cheese you could see. The marks were all from MG-42s and maybe 20mm Flak. So yeah, every kind of projectile (well, almost every) will cause a dent to the armor and given enough time and ammo theoretically penetrate through brute force alone. How practical this is though, is another matter altogether...

[zovs66]

The reverse is true as well. Take a Tiger or Elephant and if the HE rounds don't penetrate it the crew may be so "Rung" up or their heads are bleeding out their ears from the concussion.

[Roman]

Originally Posted by Wdll

A few years ago (5 or so) I managed to kill a Merkava with a Greek Chaffee. Well, several of them surrounded it, but yeah.
If a Chaffee can kill it, I am sure more modern systems can too.
If you can't pen them from the front and can't flank them, use some old cold war tactics. Wait for them to pass your line, have hidden AT teams and strike from behind.

I have played almost 20 battles and the Merkava do not advance. They do their work from retaguartdia. AI knows what it does ...

[Roman]

I do not have information about this tank in real life. I'm just talking about the game.
In the battles that I have played the Merkava work from retagurdia and kill as much tank as the nose sticks out. I have played like 20 battles year 2018.
The Thoophan atgm and the Karrar tanks can not do anything against the Merkava (from the front). But they destroy the Abrams.

PD: Actually now I remember killing some Merkava in the forest with Thoophan and Karrar. But is very difficult