Pak40

I don't see how either case affects the gunner. It's the tank commander that tells the driver to move, not the platoon HQ. And it will often be the case where the tank commander actually tells his crew to "shoot and scoot", which is the whole purpose of placing the 10-20 second pause at the beginning of a turn in CM. So, if the gunner is prepared for this tactic then I don't see why there is any detriment to his aim.

I really think you're missing the point. A still tank = a still tank. The accuracy should be the same regardless of a pause order being placed or not. A common tactic is to pause a tank for 10 or 20 seconds, then issue a move order. The accuracy during that pause should be the same as if the unit just sat still with no orders whatsoever. By pausing for 60 seconds +, Vanir simply aquired a larger pool of data to prove his point. The point being, that for short pauses, your tank will have about 30% accuracy before moving.

Thanks, I did a search on those dates and found this excellent write up It pretty much confirms what you've said: It's quite obvious from my current readings that the BARs were unofficially adopted in time for Market Garden. Still, it would be nice to have some other sources confirm this. Official TOE from 8-1-44 I also found the official TOE from Dec 16 1944

Yankee, thanks for the info. BTW, I was specifically asking about Parachute Infantry, not the Glider Infantry. Anyway, what are your sources? These are my hunches based on what I've read so far for OMG. The BAR was carried in addition to the M1919 in each platoon, but it's possible that not every squad had a BAR - it may have been a preference for some squads. The PI platoons were still in 2 squads, but like I said, I have very little evidence of this. Hopefully I will discover some more info during further readings.

I know this topic may give Steve some headaches, just as this old thread did, but I'm wondering if there has been any new evidence into ever evolving TOE of the U.S. Airborne Divisions? Will the new MG module reflect this evidence. I am currently reading the recently published September Hope: The American Side of a Bridge Too Far. It is littered with references to airborne troops using the BAR, and many of these come from soldiers' quotes, so it's not just conjecture by the author. As for the debate of whether Airborne platoons had 2 or 3 squads, I have found little evidence so far. The only tidbit I've read so far mentioned a case where 2nd platoon and the attached engineers were ordered to go capture the Best bridge. 2nd Platoon at this point had 18 men according to the quote in the book. Since this account is early on in the fighting of the 1st day of OMG, I seriously doubt that the platoon took over 50% casualties. I think it's more likely that 6 may have been wounded or killed and the remaining 18 were ordered off to capture the bridge.

The new road, bocage, and wall drawing tools help make the maps a LOT easier. You can easily draw stretches of roads with two clicks. Obviously you will have to go back and touch up intersections and any unintended mistakes, but it beats the old method of having to place every road tile individually. Also, don't forget, when you get to the point of adding your AI plans, there is a new feature to copy/paste them. This will save time if you plan on developing multiple AI plans with slight variations.

The "Then and Now" books look great but the price is a little steep. I have "It never snows in September" and it is very good just for the fact that it is from the German perspective. However, since it is largely 1st person accounts, it is not quite a complete coverage of the whole MG operation. It is an absolute must for any Scenario/Campaign designer since it does have detailed OOB for just about all German units that fought against allies during MG.

For my preparation of the Market Garden module, I bought and am currently reading September Hope: The American Side of a Bridge Too Far. There are some very good details of the 82nd and 101st, a lot of stuff I did not know before. It's not entirely comprehensive though. For example, the actions in and around St. Oedenrode are barely mentioned(Cornelius Ryan was just a guilty). But Overall, this is a must have for anyone looking for details of particular battles that the American participated in.

3 words: Digital Elevation Model Importing DEMs would be the way to go. The data is already out there and is generally available to the public for free, at least in the U.S.

The reward is you get victory points.

And every subsequent time after that, if it comes to that. It's a hell of a lot easier to delete a few units out of the unit roster than to make the same map edits twice, especially if you're making elevation, road, or bocage edits. That stuff would be a nightmare to track. Plus, my suggestion is a surefire way to ensure that you've got identical maps. There is a delete key on the keyboard. It's not that hard to delete the older versions. Not sure what the big deal is here.

No, you don't upkeep both versions. You just edit the one "original" version. In his case, it will be the one with the AI plans. Make your road & map edits, save it, then save AS and overwrite the H2H version. Then delete the units again. Done. It's pretty obvious if you properly load scenarios to the depot as BETA or 1.0. Scenario names should be, as an example, SCENARIOxxx_Vs_Computer_BETA and SCENARIOxxx_H2H_BETA. They should be uploaded to the scenario depot as one .zip package and anyone can figure out which file to use.

Sounds a lot easier just to make an exact copy of the AI version, rename the scenario as xxxx_HTH, then remove the extra AI units. It will also look better than having a bunch of units stuck in depression.

How many points did you pay for the 3 pound hammer? I'm pretty sure a 2 pound hammer would have had a better price and you still would have bashed your hand just as badly... unless you had the rarity turned on, of course.

Also, it's weird that in the editor, when selecting the type of formation, it's called Armored Infantry. But, in the QB it's called Mech Infantry. It really does seem to be pulling the data from a different OOB.

"Volunteers" is a strong word. They were mostly conscripts led by German officers. While there desire to fight was certainly not up to the level of a typical Panzer Grenadier unit, I think in many cases they held they're own when fighting. Some men certainly tried to surrender when they could, others died after putting up a good fight. As far as equipment goes, I think they were decently equipped for a static unit.

Yes, this was a very informative post by Faelwolf. However, it doesn't really apply to the issue we're seeing with the U.S. weapons platoon. The HQ Support team and Platoon HQ radios should be on the same net. The issue with the German mortars is also not a radio issue, it's a weird C2 issue that, quite honestly, defies logic.

Yes, the scenario designer has to do this. For an example, The Road to Montebourg Campaign is designed this way. I think the HMGs that would normally be in the Weapons Company are added as individual units under the C2 of the Rifle Coy commander.

I agree that the section HQ played a role but it should not be THE required role. It's certainly not a valid reason because the jeep with radio can substitute for both the Platoon HQ and the Section HQ. How does a non-human vehicle substitute for a supposedly important Section HQ? It doesn't make any sense at all. Also, I assume if the Section HQ is killed then the Platoon HQ can suddenly act as the liaison to the spotting Company HQ. So, the Section HQ can't be all that important. This is exactly the point where the C2 logic fails. The Platoon HQ can spot for the mortars when they are within shouting distance (when the Section HQ is out of range), but when the Company HQ acts as spotter and the Platoon HQ acts as the receiving radio unit for the mortars, suddenly the Platoon HQ cannot perform it's duty because a subordinate unit is out of range. IT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL. In both cases the Platoon HQ is within shouting distance of the mortars.

AKD, Yes, I see the chain of command now for the Section HQ, but there's some logic that's missing. Just because the section HQ is not in C2 shouldn't mean that the radios suddenly don't work between the Platoon HQ and the Company HQ(spotter). I fully understand the CMBN needs the full C2 chain but in reality it doesn't work like that. The mortar team is not going to refuse an order from his CO just because the Section HQ is off in the woods taking a $hit. There's some real world logic that's missing here that really should be addressed.

OK, just checked out the issues in a custom testing scenario. This was all done in deployment mode in the scenario editor. U.S. weapons platoon in a regular infantry Company (CMBN) does have HQ Support team with a radio. The Platoon HQ also has a radio. There is a jeep with a radio also but I moved that to the other side of the map so as not to influence the other two radios. The problems is that the HQ Support team can act as a spotter while the Platoon HQ is near the mortars, but when the roles are reversed, the Platoon HQ cannot call in a mission. There is an different issue with the German medium on-board mortars also: I used the normal Grenadiers mortar weapons company. The medium mortar platoon in it has a Platoon HQ (with radio) and a Section HQ (without a radio). The problem here is that the Company HQ or Batallion HQ cannot call in a mission unless both the Platoon HQ and Section HQ are near the mortars. The Section HQ should not matter since it has no radio.

There's lots of evidence to support that there was communication between tanks and infantry in an informal manner. However, I haven't seen any evidence that it was a formal tactic or doctrine. Maybe someone with some intimate knowledge of U.S. armored divisions can shed some light - I think this is the one place where infantry and armor might be formally in communication some how. In anticipation of the Market Garden module I've been reading lots of 1st and 3rd person accounts of the 101st Airborne. I've come across several instances where U.S. Airborne troops worked directly with British armor, communicating with the tank or armored car commanders that usually were unbuttoned. The most widely known account was in Band of Brothers where E Company was supported with several British tanks as they approached Nuenen. They alerted the tank commander about a camouflaged SP gun. However, it didn't do much good since the commander ordered his tank forward into full view of the ambushing SP Gun anyway.

I'm not sure why you think this is a bug. To me, it's a dramatic feature that they've added, sort of like the gunfire tracers. Since it has absolutely no bearing on actual game play, just leave it the way it is.

American 60mm mortars can be your best friend in a tight bocage map. Use them in a direct fire role for fast and accurate fire, but make sure to support them with infantry so they aren't the only targets to enemy fire.

There's really no need for a B&W version. Even if your printer is a color printer you can force it to print in grayscale, just check your printer properties. I did it on my Brother printer and it came out just fine. The text is not 100% black but it's dark enough against white print paper.