wadepm

Why wouldn't putting an elite crew into a tank make it elite? Isn't that the case by definition?

Oh I don't know. Baneman has plenty left and time to use it. But he will have to push it from here on in. Should be interesting...

It would have been interesting had they started with '41 and added one year each year. That way we would have had to adjust our tactics as the relative capabilities and equipment changed..in real time.

So was his...

Ian, that's the one I think too. Just started it. Says it is "large" but seems manageable...for now.

That sounds like a good one. I have searched for that name in the repository but no luck. Can you check the name next chance you get? Thanks.

Classic meeting engagement...happened all the time.

The Japanese were not deported, they were interned for the duration...

Your preference for high turn rate is probably limiting the response. If you could take once a day (at most) I could do for a game. I suck though..

What kind of ranges are we talking about? Non moving or firing vehicles (or anything really) are difficult to spot at distances of 1000+ meters. Did the StuG move or fire during that time?

Is there such a thing as a "Soviet fanboy?"

John, as I understand it the the problem with the T34/76 wasn't so much the vision of the commander but that he had two jobs to do (he was also the gunner) which required him to take his eye off the periscope.

OK. But that would be something nice to know, at least approximately...

Agreed. But this happened in a test scenario with no script at all, so there must be something else...

Luke, you are easily insulted. This the Internet, I should think we all had Rhino hides by now...

Right. But what is causing them to hold fire? Is it computing a certain hit/kill probability threshold?

Targeting second stories with area fire never seems to work for me. I vaguely remember someone posted a tip about that but I have since forgotten it.

I appreciate his honesty. And most of his posts I find very informative.

The biggest I think is moving, at least at long distances. If the target moves it will pop right up. And if it sits still it can literally hide in plain sight, at least for a time. Next comes crew experience...

Vanir - that kind of makes any attempt at testing for spotting times kind of moot! I reran my tests a couple of times with Tigers and Pak 43s in place of the Nashorns. Everyone was elite. 3 times each at ranges of 4000, 3000 and 2000 meters. Results were pretty consistent between tests. Spotting was generally the same between the different systems. Interestingly, the Tigers would not fire at all at 4000 meters, although they are able to spot a couple of T-34s. When I targeted them manually they had no problem dispatching the T-34s but it did take a couple of hits where the Nashorn and Pak 43 would more often than not kill on one hit even at 4000 meters. The thing that interested me, based on my first post in this thread, was how well they were able to target. It seemed that there was very little difference between the systems - especially at long range. They would all drop one way long or way short (+/1 500 meters), then one the opposite way, but closer (+/- 200 meters) then a hit or a near miss. At 3000 meters it was better but still took multiple shots to get the range. And when they started on a new tank the process seemed to start over - they didn't recognize that the second target was at about the same range as the previous. At 2000 meters they were getting first shot hits and kills most of the time. Interestingly, the T-34s never returned fire except at 2000 meters when one of them got a hit/kill on a Nashorn. The T-34s were elite too. Anyway, I haven't done hundreds of tests, but what I have seen it seems the Nashorn is going to be a T-34 killing machine at distances beyond 2000 meters, especially if they are moving in the open! We are going to need bigger maps...

Yes, the Nashorns were unbuttoned. But they were average crews, I will try crack tonight. But the battalion HQ was also average and they had no trouble spotting...

I reran my test with the T-34s just sitting there at 4000m. The Nashs just saw contacts and didn't fire for about 4 minutes when one of them opened up and took out one T-34. Then nothing. i started moving the T-34s fast, and they were all taken out in a few minutes as before. I noticed two things of possible note. While the Nashorns could only see contacts (except for that one T-34) the battalion commander standing about 20 meters behind them had no trouble IDing all of the T-34s. They all have binoculars, but maybe the battalion commander has a better pair? The Nash commanders definitely have a better view being 4-5 feet higher standing in the vehicle. Second, it took 4 shots to take out the first T-34 - one was short, the second was long, the third hit right next to the tank and the 4th hit. This suggests they aren't any better at estimating ranges than your average tanker. So no rangefinder...

I think so. The T-34s were able to get contacts but nothing more. Even the guy who closed to 2200 never got 4 contacts even though all 4 were blazing away...

That is what I wanted to test. Tonight I will run it again with the T-34s moving fast which would be closer to their SOP for thus situation.

Did a quick test myself last night. 4 Nashorns against a company (10) of T-34/76. Map was 4k by 1k and flat. Gave all the T-34s movement orders towards the Nashorns. Let the Nashs fire on their own. After 8 minutes all of the T-34s were destroyed or abandoned, most about 3200 meters out, the closest got to about 2200. The T-34s could see armored contacts but never fired. Total ammo expended was 43 rounds, some targets were hit twice. I would say there were 13 hits or about 3 and half rounds per hit. This is about what I would expect so nothing to worry about...