Andreas

I think it is quite an assumption to make that they were 'good' at some point.

Mattias - can you email me please, I have a techy question. Cheers Andreas

Well, Senger & Etterlin in 'Die deutschen Geschuetze" makes the claim about the enlargement of the firing chamber, but he lists it as 7,62cm gun. I have no idea how reliable he is or what that means.

Jason, I specifically stated that the cupola would affect the acquisition of the target, i.e. deal with 'A' and 'B' of the laundry list. I did not comment on the penetration because I did not look at it. Soddball - the reboring was only done on the towed 76.2 divisional gun (probably not on all of them either), not the tank ones, AFAIK.

Okay, so you made me order it, you redleg. Another book. I need another book like I need another hole in my head. :mad: Simon, thanks a lot for taking the time anyway, I understand. All the best Andreas

That's only because he does not want to go himself. So it is Cabron after all. He must have found his meds. Someone needs to tell Seanachai. </font>

The German captured tanks are assumed to have better vision devices, cupolas. That gives them an advantage in acquiring the enemy tanks, all other things being equal.

Der Fuehrer was Austrian, you have to make allowances for their command of German. Command of grammar in what is essentially a foreign language is a bit much to ask for. Should be 'in Gold', I would guess, BTW.

That's only because he does not want to go himself. So it is Cabron after all. He must have found his meds. Someone needs to tell Seanachai.

Could you then outline the key points of the rationale please?

Could you then outline the key points of the rationale please?

Add Le Paradis, Wormhout, and you'll sign up a bunch of the tossers.

Yep, I guess so, if the below is correct, something about which I have my doubts (13mm sounds like a lot): Linky

That'll shut even me up.

Therein lies the rub. While the guy on the receiving end is not going to quibble, your ammo supply person is, and since the guy on the receiving end is not going to quibble anyway, why not use 800 RPM instead of 1,200? At least that is what the Bundeswehr was doing postwar. That does not make it a dud by any means, but the high cyclic rate was a significant drawback for the Wehrmacht with its already strained logistics, and declining recruit qualities as the war went on.

Cold, ruthless Kraut. Michael </font>

S.m.K. Spitzgeschoss mit Kern armor piercing (AP) S.m.K.H. Spitzgeschoss mit Kern Hart AP w/tungsten carbide core Pointed round with core </font>

Please do not let your irritating sensibility come between me and my righteous anger. First the dimwits at Alitalia (may they go bankrupt soon), and now dimwitted neo-nazis. Still, if I wanted to look for a ray of sunshine, I could console myself in that it is better to have stupid Nazi admirers than smart ones.

It's 'Leibstandarte'. Bloody f*cking Nazi adolation dimwits. Wet their panties over the lEEt r0x0r Waffen-SS and are too fecking stupid to get the spelling right. Idiots.

S.m.K. Spitzgeschoss mit Kern armor piercing (AP) S.m.K.H. Spitzgeschoss mit Kern Hart AP w/tungsten carbide core Pointed round with core

Probably different munitions too. 50mm mortars are not very useful in deep(ish) snow, and presumably heavy mud conditions. Which was the norm in the east for what? 3/4s of the year on average, variations ranging from year-round in the swampy parts to 6 months in the south?

Yes, but so could the Germans. All it needed was an order from a regimental commander to put 4./8./12.Kp in support of I./123 and you are off. Now you have 36 sMGs and 18 81mm mortars, and the possibility to add an IG coy and an AT coy, and you have not divested the division of any support asset at this stage. Everybody else still has their sMGs. Still appears more flexible to me, and with higher FP. I take cassh's explanation over some attempt to post-rationalise it, I think.

As I pointed out in the other thread - at least with sMG/MMG firepower, that similarity in FP is rather unlikely though, since you just need to pool one German regiment's sMGs (36) to have almost the same sMG/MMG firepower as the whole British division has (42 - clearly the British Army knew the answer to life, the universe, and all the rest). The German division could call on 110-150 sMGs (with most at the very low end of this figure). To me it is clearer now that the British simply thought the MMG would occupy a wholly different role (one honed in WW1), from what the Germans were thinking (although their thinking may also have been on WW1, just a different experience in it). In the process of adapting the organisation to that role (or better, failing to think of a new role, and therefore not adapting the organisation), they weakened the key maneuver element of their infantry formations, compared to their opponent. This they may have been able to fix by cross-attaching, but in reality, I think they would have been better off not putting themselves into this position in the first place, or at least to change things as the war went on. If they had given 12 MMGs to each battalion, they could still have done all the arty etc.pp. attachments they liked, and motorised the lot, because these developments were quite independent. How much it mattered in the end on the tactical level is another question.

Since they were more mobile, there may also have been a realisation that they would not be able to call on centralised assets as easily as infantry battalions. It would be interesting to know however how outraged the Vickers types were at this sacrilege of treating them just like any other weapon. Maybe it was made easier by knowing they were with the armour?

Or, you can just have lots of machineguns, so that every subordinate unit can have one. A German 1. Welle Infanteriedivision had 110 sMGs. These were the elite divisions used for offensive purposes. A 3. Welle Infanteriedivision had 150 HMGs, these were used for manning the Westwall. 2. & 4. Welle 114 sMGs According to John Salt's 'Britorg' document, 42 MMG in the British divisional MG Battalion. So you can either have 114 sMGs, close to the line of command you need them at, or 42, and hope that some are cross-attached. Thank you, I know what I would choose.