Bulletpoint Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 I always wondered if infantry could find a little cover along railroad embankments, and I finally decided to test it. So I made a symmetrical situation of 4 US rifle squads shooting at 4 US rifle squads at apprx 285 metres. One side was on flat pavement, the otther side was behind a railroad. Troops lined up along the side of the railroad like they do along a wall, so it looked like there might be some cover there. Flat terrain, no heavy weapons, and all regular experience +0 soft factors. My expectation was that troops behind a railroad embankment would gain a small cover bonus But the results after 3 minutes of shooting surprised me: The side behind the railroad suffered 17 casualties and 17 wounded. The side lying on flat pavement suffered 2 killed, 2 wounded. So not only does it provide no cover to place troops along railroad tracks; it actually makes them much more vulnerable. Should this be the result we see? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benpark Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 A flat rail tile is not an "embankment". Use the Editor, place the rail embankment on a height or two above the surrounding terrain. That's how you get an embankment with cover. The cover you get from a flat (terrain and track same height) rail track isn't much good as cover from directed fire, as it would be in real life- Unless you are about 2 to 4 inches in height. In which case, hiding behind a pair of slightly raised tracks could just be a really bad idea, instead of a really, really bad idea. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warts 'n' all Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 (edited) @benpark beat me to it. This what I think of as a railway embankment, and this one is in what we gamers call CMBN-MG country. Edited December 12, 2019 by Warts 'n' all 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletpoint Posted December 12, 2019 Author Share Posted December 12, 2019 (edited) 59 minutes ago, benpark said: A flat rail tile is not an "embankment". Use the Editor, place the rail embankment on a height or two above the surrounding terrain. That's how you get an embankment with cover. The cover you get from a flat (terrain and track same height) rail track isn't much good as cover from directed fire, as it would be in real life- Unless you are about 2 to 4 inches in height. In which case, hiding behind a pair of slightly raised tracks could just be a really bad idea, instead of a really, really bad idea. Oh dear, have a glass of eggnog. It's the season to be jolly I didn't raise the tracks in the test, because I assumed the slightly raised bed of rocks under the tracks, together with the tracks themselves, would offer some protection for a prone soldier. People are not that tall when lying down. However, what really happens in the test seems to be that the railroad guys line up against the tracks like against a short wall, so they get closer to each other than their opponents who are prone on the ground and spread out more. Also, the railroad team doesn't go prone much, so they are more exposed. Edited December 12, 2019 by Bulletpoint 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletpoint Posted December 12, 2019 Author Share Posted December 12, 2019 (edited) I went back and updated the test scenario. First I tested raising the rails 1 metre, then after that, i tested raising it 1 metre with ditchlock. Results were the same - the raised elevation means nothing for cover at the actual square where the railroad tile is. But it allows troops to slink back and duck out of sight when they take fire, so casualties decreased. Even without manually raising the tracks, the graphics show that they are slightly raised. Together with the steel rails, I think that should provide a small defensive bonus. Not a great fighting position, but at least something compared to troops that have absolutely no cover at all. But the problem is that the game doesn't give any micro terrain bonus for railroads, and that it doesn't let troops fire from a prone position. Probably I'm the only one who cares about this stuff. But at least I answered my own question Also I learnt the true meaning of "embankment" - thanks @Warts 'n' all Edited December 12, 2019 by Bulletpoint 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benpark Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 How is imagining a 2-4 inch pancake-width being anything but jolly? Maybe the tracks and gravel might offer a bit of cover, but I wouldn’t want those gravel ricochets shaving my beard hairs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletpoint Posted December 13, 2019 Author Share Posted December 13, 2019 3 hours ago, benpark said: Maybe the tracks and gravel might offer a bit of cover, but I wouldn’t want those gravel ricochets shaving my beard hairs. I wouldn't either. Not a good place to be in. But in a competition between a squad behind the tracks and raised gravel bed on one side, and another platoon without any cover at all, I would expect the first group to have at least a small advantage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 17 hours ago, Bulletpoint said: People are not that tall when lying down. Good one, Bulletpoint! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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