SgtMuhammed

Some mods with mix matched inspection plates and road wheels would look pretty realistic as well.

Again sorry, the rest of you can have the thread back. That'll teach ya to get a bunch of soldiers yappin. Nite all.

I want a complete set of grey scale mods so my battles will look like newsreel footage. Is it just me or does anyone else think color photos of WWII somehow don't seem right?

I want the old WWI tanks that the Poles had. I don't think any actually saw combat but they still had them.

I used to hate armor heavy rotations. I was a BMP TC and used to eat brads. Your damn M1s just don't want to die.

I thought it was only in as the main gun for the Maus.

That has always been my general policy, hiding from flying things. Choppers carry way to much ordinance and move to quickly to play around with. Let the Stinger boys do their job, that's what they get paid for.

felix, Took leave in Normandy in 2000 and got stuck there for a week when my car broke down. It was hell man, had to stay in a 4 star hotel in Grand Camp Maisey right in between Utah, and Omaha beaches. Lots of stuff to see there. James

The club down here in Hohenfels has a couple M8s and half tracks that they drive around once in a while. I always find it amazing how small those things were.

My god you don't think he showed them do you. They might never stop laughing.

Nice to meet you.

jjhays, Where exactly are you man? James

Hell's bells man, warn someone before you link to something like that!

That crew was drunk and firing into the air. A blind man with his eyes closed could have spotted them. I am just tired of being restricted to one theater. If it is in the med what are we going to play after 42, assaults against dug in Tigers on a 100 meter wide 2k long map? I would love to be able to construct a series of battles to take a unit from Africa to Normandy (ala the British 7th Armored) or to simulate linking up with the Russians through the Lubjana gap.

Pool's kind of crowded right now. I am waiting for it to roll over and go back to #1.

I'll even keep Borg spotting if they will make it cover the entire ETO.

kking, The .50 Cal is one of the funnest weapons I have ever fired. The effective armor thickness of the M1 is still classified. It's actual thickness for the turret front and the glacias plate is about 24 inches of composite encased in steel. The sides and rear are a lot thinner, of course. One of the combat reports on the M1 tells about one that got bogged and couldn't get free. It was decided to abandon the tank as recovery assets were too far away. Once the crew got out the PL decided to destroy the vehicle lest it fall into Iraqi hands so the platoon turn and fired on it. One shot penetrated the rear turret and set of the ready ammo blowing out the blast pannels on the top of the tank but nothing else. Another penetrated the engine and started a fire that lasted all of about a second as the halogen system kicked in. Several other shots bounced off or did only superficial damage. Well it so happened that an M88 recovery vehicle arrived and was able to pull the tank free. It was back in combat the next day. James

The U.S. also used its 90mm guns in the AT role and as the main gun for the Pershing.

Remember that this was not always available on the Eastern Front. Situations such as "Von Lauchert" show the response to German counter attacks rather than assaults on fixed defenses. Also the Russians didn't enjoy the type of air supremecy that the Anglo-American forces did till very late in the war. You are right though in saying that the Russians were smart enough to avoid situations like this when they could. They knew better than to use their equipment outside its optimum capabilities. Of course this points to the fact that while Germany may have been very good in the tactical arena, they really stank on the strategic one. James [ February 28, 2003, 02:35 PM: Message edited by: sGTGoody ]

rune, thanks for the info. White Phosphorus, the primary purpose of the tank's main gun was to engage other tanks. This, of course, evolved during the war as the role of the tank evolved. You don't need a large explosion to deal with infantry or unarmored vehicles, a machine gun or two is much more effective. The Panther's 75/70 was able to kill anything on the battlefield and it could carry more rounds than the larger gunned tanks which further increased the deadliness of the vehicle. James

Just a quick note. The M1 doesn't carry vanilla HE rounds anymore. The stardard load is a mix of HEAT and SABOT rounds although some of the newer rounds are probably starting to be carried now (like MPAT and other more exotic types). Still the HEAT round packs quite an esplosive punch and is useful against soft targets. The original 105 armed M1's had a more gp loadout with HE, HEAT, and SABOT. Not sure exactly what the 120 can penetrate but my buddy who fought in the Gulf told me about firing through Iraqi berms and taking out T72s on the other side. He also fired all his engagements from the TC seat because his gunner refused to pull the trigger. So his gunner would aim and Dave would fire. JAWS, I have crawled around and fought against the Leo A5 and A6, beautiful tank. One question though, why the screen separating the loader from the rest of the turret? The Leo seems a lot more cramped than the M1. James [ February 28, 2003, 09:20 AM: Message edited by: sGTGoody ]

I think it takes about 30.

Same here. What are you doing in Bamberg? Going somewhere? Drop me an email sometime. Sorry folks, you can have your thread back now. [ February 28, 2003, 07:46 AM: Message edited by: sGTGoody ]

I'm here in the land of Wurst. I was in Hohenfels before I ETS'd.

Normally the tank would have a round in the main gun, either AP or HE depending on unit SOP or expected threat. After firing the first round the crew begins "crew drills" to feed the gun. The TC points out the target and the round to use: Target, tank, 2 o'clock, load AP. As the gunner slews the turret the loader pulls the right round from the ready rack and shoves it in the breach. When he is done he calls out "AP up" or loaded or something to that effect. The TC is also trying to help the gunner find the target by directing the lay of the gun. If a large correction is needed he will say "Right" or left as apporpriate, until the gun is nearly on target then he says "Steady" and then "On" when the gun is aligned. If the gunner can see the target he calls out "Target" or "Identified" and then "On the Way" or "Firing" and fires. The drill is repeated till the target or the tank is destroyed or can no longer be engaged. The shell casings are ejected from the cannon automatically and will rattle around the floor of the tank stinking the place up and making smoke until the crew can throw them out. This is more of a modern crew drill but I don't imagine that it is much different from WWII. A couple of differences for today would be that the command would be either load SABOT or HEAT. The gunner will then fire the laser range finder and then fire the cannon. Also modern shell casings, at least for the M1, are consumed by the firing of the cannon and only a small nub is ejected. Yes occationally loaders did load the wrong round. This usually ends up in a miss as the ballistic properties are different. HE and HEAT rounds will tend to fall short if you are expecting AP or SABOT while the later will go long if you are expecting the former. As stated earlier there are endless variations which is why training and crew cohesion are so important in a tank. [ February 28, 2003, 07:25 AM: Message edited by: sGTGoody ]