Tactics AT Rifle Tips

[Rush]

There are only 2 weapons that I'm absolutely horrible with, the Sniper Rifle, and the Anti-tank Rifle.

Its been really driving me crazy as I'm trying to learn to use it, but nothing seems to work. I've looked at a lot of guides (most of which just refer me to a picture of a tank with certain areas highlighted) and haven't been able to find much of use.

I was plinking away at a T34 from all different angles, even hitting directly from behind on the updated Arad 2 map in the beta, but I couldn't destroy it. In fact, the only area I seem to do damage to is the tank tracks.

Especially on Pavlov's house, where getting close enough to toss an AT grenade is pretty much impossible. I tried skirting the craters along the outer edge, but a sniper picks me off every time.

 

[oldsoldier173]

First off you must understand what you are dealing with. First off the ATR was essentially obsolete by this period against tanks, lighter armored vehicles not so much.


Too many folks take tanks on nose to nose with ATR's first bad idea, you can shoot him and he can see you and shoot back...bad idea. You can not really hurt him, he can hurt you.


If you take an ATR role you 'job' is to get to the 'flanks' or rear of the enemy tank and aim for areas you can do damage to. Banging against the uniform cast turret of a T-34 will get you little in result, aiming for the drive wheel, and tracks better shot at immobilizing the tank. An immobilized tank with a crew that does not skuttle is now less of a threat, you kill it, it comes back mobile and 'mad'. You need to guage the situation.

 

[stern]

the AT rifle is like a woman, sometimes it works great and other times it dont.

i always aim for the engine block, it does damage and pisses the tanker off. an if you hit the sweet spot you can make boom in a about 5 shots.

however just aiming for the spots is no good if your angled wrong, hitting it at 90deg is of course the best, but not always do able, ive found if the angle is 40deg or more you will penetrate more than ricochet. and remember a tank immobilised 200m or so away from the line of action, is almost useless so if you cant blow it aim to keep it immobilised and not performing its best, aslong your team mates dont give them targets of course.


anti tanking isnt a insta win role and does require a certain bit of masochism to play, and abit of balls out stupidity for those nade kills. but when you do it right it does make you feel grand.

 

[Nikita]

If you want to damage something other than the tracks, you have to be up close, firing at a perfect angle.

You have to be up REALLY close. Like, 100 meters or less.

Honestly, the PZB shouldn't even penetrate under these circumstances, but it was buffed for 'balance', yadda yadda.

As for why you're not having any luck from behind--the T-34 has 45mm sloped armor at the rear as well. There's no hope of getting through it with an anti-tank rifle.

The best thing you can hope for at long distance is to knock out the tank's brakes and tracks. As a sometimes-tanker, I can attest to how annoying this is. Disabling the tank's tracks forces the tanker to either become a stationary gun emplacement, or commit suicide/scuttle, and this is probably the best impact on your team's behalf that you can hope to have.

One thing, though, that I've never ceased to wonder is why there are 4 AT rifle slots per team on most maps. One useless anti-tank rifleman is bad enough. Four useless anti-tank riflemen are just a waste of resources.

 

[mrsirr]

the at rifle is like a woman

ha :d

 

[Rush]

Thanks guys, hopefully it will become more useful when the transports make it into the full game!

 

[ndlksandklasnda]

One thing, though, that I've never ceased to wonder is why there are 4 AT rifle slots per team on most maps. One useless anti-tank rifleman is bad enough. Four useless anti-tank riflemen are just a waste of resources.

this is a problem with the squad system in game in general, there are way more "special" classes on the map than there should be. like having 5-6 squad leaders for 32 players.

 

[Listingbadly]

Just to add my 2 cents ( copeks? Rubbles?) worth. It seems to me that you get much better penetration when shooting from an elevated position. On Pavlov when you blast away from atop of pavlov's house you can get throught the armour pretty quickly from any angle and shooting from the bridge on Barashka down onto tanks in the river.

 

[oldsoldier173]

The 'top' armor of most tanks was a lot thinner than the hull/turret front and sides. Aiming from elevation at the engine decking is a great chance of a 3 round kill, or I found the hull hatch covers on the PzKw IV.


Still there are few places on maps to get that kind of elevation without dismounted enemy troops getting 'good' shots back at you.


The standard from front track/drive wheel/idler wheel shots make the tank a static 'bunker' pretty easily, you higher percentage shots.

 

[mrsirr]

AT rifle is like beautiful woman :0
You must caress her and buy her gifts of jewelry and feed her only the finest 14.5mm.
Then, and only then, will she respect you and kill tanks for you.

 

[Jpz38 Hetzer]

AT rifle is like beautiful woman :0
You must caress her and buy her gifts of jewelry and feed her only the finest 14.5mm.
Then, and only then, will she respect you and kill tanks for you.

You forgot to take her to dinner and a movie lol

 

[Nikita]

feed her only the finest 14.5mm.

You are aware that this is Russian 14.5x114mm we're talking about? Produces massive residue buildup after firing, propellant loads from round-to-round so inconsistent that Zaitsev flatly gave up on using the PTRD/PTRS for sniping...

 

[mrsirr]

You are aware that this is Russian 14.5x114mm we're talking about? Produces massive residue buildup after firing, propellant loads from round-to-round so inconsistent that Zaitsev flatly gave up on using the PTRD/PTRS for sniping...

Well I guess you better not feed her anything worse than that
On another note: I wasn't aware that Zaitsev tried sniping with the ATRs, that is interesting.

 

[oldsoldier173]

Both the Germans and Russians tried 'sniping' with ATR's based on the range and hitting power of the oversized cartridges used. Even the Americans tried to use the M2HB as a 'sniping' weapon, when mounted on tripod with T&E mech, very stable platform and accurate out to 1500m.


You can look at todays Anti-material/Sniping weapons in .50BMC as the grandsons of the ATR, just in the 1940's ATR's not really ready and optics not to par.


And yes the corrosive primed Soviet cartridges of the era were extremely 'dirty'.

 

[mrsirr]

You can look at todays Anti-material/Sniping weapons in .50BMC as the grandsons of the ATR, just in the 1940's ATR's not really ready and optics not to par.

Yeah I just sorta think of ATRs and AMRs and the same thing, in my mind an ATR is just an AMR with unrealistic aspirations.
And I know there's some difference, but I feel like modern AMRs would work as well as ATRs back when ATRs worked; while ATRs are just kinda like unsuccessful AMRs.