Which Leo 1 types do you have? Leo 1A5 and Leo 1A6 have thermal night sights. All Soviet/Russian tanks before 1996 used active infra-red night sights and vision. With thermal, you should have an acquisition range of 3,000 meters versus 1,200 meters for the T-80s. The T-80B was no better armored than the T-64B and the T-80BV had Kontackt-1 ERA, which meant the Leo 1A3/4 and the Leo 1A5/6 use the DM29 105mm APDSFS which should penetrate the T-80B frontal armor at 1,500 meters or you can set an AT ambush with Milan and HOT or TOW ATGMs, which also have thermal sights and the Leo 1s can concentrate on the IFVs, APCs and SPADVs.
I really appreciate the detailed and informative comment. It looks like I have a mixture of Leopard 1A1A1s and 1A5s. I definitely was not considering the various acquisition ranges of my tanks vice the opponents. How do you get smart on all of that stuff? Another commenter had told me to look at the armory, so I know I need to do that, but is there anything else I should be looking at?
@@RageQuitWithTravis The Leopard 1A5 is a Leo 1A1A1 or 1A2 with upgrades including thermal sights, digital fire control and APDSFS. You'll notice it doesn't have a searchlight. The Leo 1A1A1 has upgraded armor on the turret, but uses image intensification (Starlight), has a white light/pink filter searchlight and still uses APDS projectiles which probably can't penetrate the frontal aspect protection of a T-80B or BV at over 800 meters. Both tanks have laser rangefinders and gun stabilization. The real difference are the crews. Soviet tank crews get on average ten live rounds a year for training and a 33% chance they aren't using the tank they will take into combat. Everyone but the lieutenant commanding the platoon is a conscript with 18 months to three years service and the LT is probably a reservist. The Leo 1A5 is used by some of the Bundesheer regular PanzerGrenadier divisions, though most are in the Home Defense Brigades. The platoon commander is a LT or senior NCO and while the crews are conscripts, the tank commanders are long service NCOs. They get maybe 50 or so live rounds a year and much more realistic training, even on the simulators. Soviet simulators were still tank turrets on a frame using sub-caliber guns on models. Even the Home Defense Brigades, similar to our Army National Guard mech infantry brigades get more and more realistic training than the TCs and crews in the Soviet Group of Forces in Germany or even the Western Military Districts where the best equipment and most funding goes. Same for the mech infantry. The regulars will use Marder 1s and the reservists, M113s, but that at least as good as BMP-2 and BTR-80 and better than BMP-1 and BTR-70/-60. The one thing the Soviets have is the amount of artillery. We used to joke that Soviet artillery didn't need forward observers because they just took out grid squares. If you make a stand, dig deep or keep moving. Let the Luftwaffe worry about counter-battery, focus your artillery on the enemy SPAA vehicles and AFVs, try to strip the infantry away from the tanks. Finally, you should have some PAH-1 AT helicopters with thermal sights. Use them as your reserve to plug holes, which is why you want to take out the SPAAG/ADMs with your ATGMs and artillery. Use Wikipedia carefully, put a good start outside the game is Tank War - Central Front, NATO vs. Warsaw Pact (Osprey Elite 26) by Steven Zaloga, who is a scholar and expert on armored and mechanized warfare, especially on the Soviet/Russian side of things. There's a bibliography that will lead you to the books on tank, AFV, artillery, ATGMs and small arms/heavy weapons and on combined arms tactics. One piece of advice, very few Soviet vehicles have thermal vision devices or sights. These are generally limited to later models of AT helicopters and ground attack aircraft. If you have a US, British, French, German or Dutch force, you likely have AFVs and ATGMs with thermal sights. Your forward air controllers and artillery observers should have thermal vision devices. The best thing to do in this situation is use as much smoke as you can, even at night. The Soviets will help out by laying smoke along with HE and FRAG on likely defensive positions and turn on the smoke once they take fire, the smoke generated by the tanks covering the following BMPs or BTRs. Smoke on the other hand is bad if you don't have thermal. Keep an observation point or two off the center of the main avenues of approach where the Soviets won't waste fire on but with a view of the battlefield. Use them to maintain situational awareness.
Which Leo 1 types do you have? Leo 1A5 and Leo 1A6 have thermal night sights. All Soviet/Russian tanks before 1996 used active infra-red night sights and vision. With thermal, you should have an acquisition range of 3,000 meters versus 1,200 meters for the T-80s. The T-80B was no better armored than the T-64B and the T-80BV had Kontackt-1 ERA, which meant the Leo 1A3/4 and the Leo 1A5/6 use the DM29 105mm APDSFS which should penetrate the T-80B frontal armor at 1,500 meters or you can set an AT ambush with Milan and HOT or TOW ATGMs, which also have thermal sights and the Leo 1s can concentrate on the IFVs, APCs and SPADVs.
I really appreciate the detailed and informative comment. It looks like I have a mixture of Leopard 1A1A1s and 1A5s. I definitely was not considering the various acquisition ranges of my tanks vice the opponents. How do you get smart on all of that stuff? Another commenter had told me to look at the armory, so I know I need to do that, but is there anything else I should be looking at?
@@RageQuitWithTravis The Leopard 1A5 is a Leo 1A1A1 or 1A2 with upgrades including thermal sights, digital fire control and APDSFS. You'll notice it doesn't have a searchlight. The Leo 1A1A1 has upgraded armor on the turret, but uses image intensification (Starlight), has a white light/pink filter searchlight and still uses APDS projectiles which probably can't penetrate the frontal aspect protection of a T-80B or BV at over 800 meters. Both tanks have laser rangefinders and gun stabilization. The real difference are the crews. Soviet tank crews get on average ten live rounds a year for training and a 33% chance they aren't using the tank they will take into combat. Everyone but the lieutenant commanding the platoon is a conscript with 18 months to three years service and the LT is probably a reservist. The Leo 1A5 is used by some of the Bundesheer regular PanzerGrenadier divisions, though most are in the Home Defense Brigades. The platoon commander is a LT or senior NCO and while the crews are conscripts, the tank commanders are long service NCOs. They get maybe 50 or so live rounds a year and much more realistic training, even on the simulators. Soviet simulators were still tank turrets on a frame using sub-caliber guns on models. Even the Home Defense Brigades, similar to our Army National Guard mech infantry brigades get more and more realistic training than the TCs and crews in the Soviet Group of Forces in Germany or even the Western Military Districts where the best equipment and most funding goes. Same for the mech infantry. The regulars will use Marder 1s and the reservists, M113s, but that at least as good as BMP-2 and BTR-80 and better than BMP-1 and BTR-70/-60. The one thing the Soviets have is the amount of artillery. We used to joke that Soviet artillery didn't need forward observers because they just took out grid squares. If you make a stand, dig deep or keep moving. Let the Luftwaffe worry about counter-battery, focus your artillery on the enemy SPAA vehicles and AFVs, try to strip the infantry away from the tanks. Finally, you should have some PAH-1 AT helicopters with thermal sights. Use them as your reserve to plug holes, which is why you want to take out the SPAAG/ADMs with your ATGMs and artillery.
Use Wikipedia carefully, put a good start outside the game is Tank War - Central Front, NATO vs. Warsaw Pact (Osprey Elite 26) by Steven Zaloga, who is a scholar and expert on armored and mechanized warfare, especially on the Soviet/Russian side of things. There's a bibliography that will lead you to the books on tank, AFV, artillery, ATGMs and small arms/heavy weapons and on combined arms tactics. One piece of advice, very few Soviet vehicles have thermal vision devices or sights. These are generally limited to later models of AT helicopters and ground attack aircraft. If you have a US, British, French, German or Dutch force, you likely have AFVs and ATGMs with thermal sights. Your forward air controllers and artillery observers should have thermal vision devices. The best thing to do in this situation is use as much smoke as you can, even at night. The Soviets will help out by laying smoke along with HE and FRAG on likely defensive positions and turn on the smoke once they take fire, the smoke generated by the tanks covering the following BMPs or BTRs. Smoke on the other hand is bad if you don't have thermal. Keep an observation point or two off the center of the main avenues of approach where the Soviets won't waste fire on but with a view of the battlefield. Use them to maintain situational awareness.
Very informative, thanks!