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Land mines... a rant.


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Yeah, well, I tried 'all' those suggestions and more...

I had them try crawling out, staying still, hide whatever and at one man died every minute. That's why I finally ordered the quick movement because if they were just going to flail around and kill themselves then my as well try to run the hell out of Dodge. It could have been worse I guess... it was half a platoon.

I didn't really suspect a mine field in the area due to the fact I just blasted a space in the hedgrow about 5 minutes before that.

The engineers were pretty far away once the mine field was discovered. I had them blasting another hedge row for another 'alternate' path.

I had two platoons posted up along 'the hedge row' with their HQ, an HMG section, and a Sherman... they were all laying down the law so my guys on the right hand side of the field could flank. They were there about 5 mintues, two of them observing- no one spotted the mine field.

This minefield was far from the objective and not exactly on the 'beaten path', so I wasn't really anticipating this event.

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[clearing a narrow path through minefields] is one of the things bangalore torpedoes were designed to do.

Is it? I thought they were designed to blow gaps in wire entanglements, at which I believe they were quite successful. I know they were used to try and blow gaps through minefields, but I don't know if they were at all effective in that role.

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Is it? I thought they were designed to blow gaps in wire entanglements, at which I believe they were quite successful. I know they were used to try and blow gaps through minefields, but I don't know if they were at all effective in that role.

It was actually originally invented by a British engineer in India to blow barricades and booby traps, not wire as such (which wasn't in widespread use in India at the time).

While it is true that the Bangalore charge first gained widespread notoriety from use in WWI to blow wire, I can confirm that at least in WWII engineers were definitely also trained to use the bangalore to blow gaps in minefields -- such uses are part of the relevant training manuals of the period (and Bangalore training manuals today, incidentally; the bangalore is still in U.S. engineering stocks pretty much unaltered from its WWII form). They were/are also intended to be used for a number other of jobs, such as hasty breaches of barricades, relatively thin walls, and berms. Much easier to worm a bangalore into a small hole or crevice than a satchel charge.

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Best bet:

Incidentally, there was an incident at the Kajaki Dam back in September 2006 when one guy wandered into an unmarked minefield, presumably leftover from when the Soviets were there in the 1980s. He lost a foot. Someone went to rescue him. He lost a foot too. A third guy tried to rescue both of them, tripped a mine, and eventually died of his wounds. And so it went on. Eventually there was 1 KIA, 6 WIA, and a damaged helicopter. All without direct enemy involvement.

If I recall it right, these were mines leftover by the Russians, since their departure. The dam site was at that time heavily defended and fortified. The Medevac helico called to the rescue could not attempt to hoist the guys out of the mine field, as it was a time thought, since the wind draft from the rotor could have triggered other mines scattered around. Without casualties, to get out is not fun at all, with that is the worse thing that could happen.

In CMSF and or B-N, to give buddy aid to a casualty means quite often to get other ones injured.

The best is to stay foot and wait for engineers if there are some around. Yet, they are not exempted of possible casualties. Otherwise you can try the slow move going back the way you came and or forward if there are no, other way to go , while praying till they get out of that ordeal.

Nevertheless, doing all these under fire is not worth the result you will get. Better concentrate on your other squads, have them move, fire and clear the area to eliminate the guys having a good LOS on the minefield

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Mines are used to slow down and or stop an enemy movement done by vehicles, tanks and or infantry. This is so true that fake minefields are positioned, when a possible counter attack should go through them.

For what relates to B-N time table, the best experts in the mine laying business were no doubt the Germans engineers. They had at the time, a huge experience gained in the East where quite a lot of them had been at one time or more.

They had the experience of ordered retreat and the use of mines to slow down the pursuing Russians in well emplaced bottlenecks with minefields and good killing ground covered around them.

When they were leaving at short notice a position, they still managed to booby trap it with mines, shells and bombs if available (in an airfield the bombs were used to crater the runway), then the road along which they retreated had all its trees (if there were some) blown to obstruct it, otherwise mines were scattered along the way (they seemed to favour area rest and or shoulders along a road). Bridges were blown and narrow gap blocked by earth slide made using buried bombs. I won’t even describe the ways they had to confuse their enemy engineers colleague with glass, wooden, bakelite mines, anti lifting device, detonator well with a plug detonating it when trying to unscrew it and so on…….

HQ premises were almost always booby trapped. In France and along the way to Germany, they liked doing so to picture frame. The poor sod putting it straight in an orderly fashion was at risk. They did so with doors, toilet cover as well and militaries things left behind (binoculars a pistol….)

I remember for instance, that in Colmar in Alsace the military barracks they left, had bombs buried with a time counter of few days. They blew off killing many, unaware that this could happen to them in what seemed a cleared and newly peaceful place.

Of all of these, only mines are remaining in B-N and by themselves they are able to break an orderly infantry attack and disrupt the move of a column along a road.

A flail British tank and or a US tank with rollers in front could be an asset, but since minefield and or retreating areas are usually well covered, I presume that the tank will be lighted at a short notice, negating its use, besides a short time.

Mines are nasty and will remain nasty, that is what they are meant for. Don’t be surprise to find some of them in Take the high ground campaign :D

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It was actually originally invented by a British engineer in India to blow barricades and booby traps, not wire as such (which wasn't in widespread use in India at the time).

While it is true that the Bangalore charge first gained widespread notoriety from use in WWI to blow wire, I can confirm that at least in WWII engineers were definitely also trained to use the bangalore to blow gaps in minefields -- such uses are part of the relevant training manuals of the period (and Bangalore training manuals today, incidentally; the bangalore is still in U.S. engineering stocks pretty much unaltered from its WWII form). They were/are also intended to be used for a number other of jobs, such as hasty breaches of barricades, relatively thin walls, and berms. Much easier to worm a bangalore into a small hole or crevice than a satchel charge.

Problem is not with the charge, which through overpressure will effectively clear AP mines and to a lesser extent AT mines, it is with the length of the minefield.

If the minefield if 100m deep, you are now talking multiple attacks (after signalling to the world you are clearing a gap) or a very long bangalore which will quickly need a vehicle to push it...enter rocket propelled line charges.

For CM sized AP minefields however you could do them with bangalore, which would be not only cool but more realistic for the scope of the game.

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You are asking for a Get Out Of Jail Free card, or some 'paper' as a counter to 'rock'.

Sometimes there just isn't one.

Deal with it.

Hardly, but to the contrary. You are using a 'straw man' argument.

I was asking how others proceeded in a similar instance. I got feedback of the same ideas that I had already tried.

Wanted to make sure I didn't over look something- I didn't.

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Have some engineers or pioneers come up to them and clear the minefield before you attempt move them out. You will probably need to provide smoke and/or a lot of covering fire to suppress any enemy overwatching the minefield.

Mines cannot be cleared by Pioneers, just marked, the only thing that can "clear" a minefield is an artillery strike with 150 mm or higher calibre rounds, the minefield sign turns green with a white cross on it when its been destroyed, however marked mines can be avoided by exiting troops.

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What's really frustrating is that there is no way to clear mines without getting at least one guy killed, or risking immobilizing a vehicle. I understand that you wouldn't know they were there at first, but after finding and marking one field, you should be able to spot the ones adjacent to it. Unless there is some way to do this that I am missing.

The only way to "clear" mines is to do a point an artillery strike with rounds of at least 150mm calibre, the red minefield sign turns green with a white cross on it to show it's been destroyed.

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