gredeker

Got this from a web site about Wallis' bombs: Tallboy's sleek shape enabled it to gain as much speed as possible during its fall, giving maximum penetration into the ground which was essential to maximise the earthquake effect. This speed also gave rise to a couple of problems with the design. Firstly, the ground impact at high speed meant that the casing had to be very strong to prevent it bursting open, and special metals were developed for this purpose; the weight of the case was thus a high proportion of the weight of the bomb so, despite its size, it was classed as a "medium capacity" weapon! Secondly, during trials, it was found to be inaccurate, and this was attributed to the bomb "toppling" off course as it passed through the sound barrier. Wallis solved this problem rather neatly by offsetting the bomb's tailfins; this made the bomb spin as it fell, and the gyroscopic effect prevented the toppling and thus maintained the accuracy. So it looks like at least the TallBoy was supersonic. Since they used the same overall ratios, the Grand Slam was probably supersonic as well. I also seem to recall (no references handy again, darnit) that they were pushing new ground metallurgically with the Grand Slams, something on the order of tensile strength of 22 tons/inch. The quote is from http://www.computing.dundee.ac.uk/staff/irmurray/bigbounc.asp#grandslam Edited because inserting a link is easier than I thought. If you scroll to the top left of the page, it shows the bombs, and you can understand why their aerodynamics would allow a supersonic speed. [ 11-07-2001: Message edited by: redeker ]</p>

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Soddball: Incidentally, wasn't the 22,000lb "Earthquake Bomb" used by the British in the war one of the largest? I know it doesn't come close to the Daisy Cutter in terms of explosiveness, but it's still a whopper. Used to knock down a viaduct, I think.<hr></blockquote> IIRC, this bomb, also known as the Grand Slam, was the largest brainchild of British scientist Barnes Wallis, who also invented the 12,000 lb Tall Boy bomb and the skipping Dam Buster bomb. I do remember that it was the Tall Boys that finished off the Tirpitz, scoring direct hits that pierced through all the armor layers and hull of the ship, then exploding underneath her and cracking her back. Also IIRC, the 22,000 Grand Slam was primarily an AP bomb, designed to penetrate some huge distance into the ground (I want to say 60 or 80 feet) then cause a small earthquake that actually takes out the target. I think it was actually designed to take out the previously impregnable U-boat pens on the French coast. Sorry, no references handy, I'm at work... P.S. Is the Daisy Cutter a FAE munition?

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by panzerwerfer42 (talking about M1 Abrams 120mm rounds: It does however use combustible case ammo, which means there isn't a big brass case rolling around on the turret floor after it's fired.<hr></blockquote> From what I've read, combustible case ammo also means they can operate at higher barrel pressures without any extraction problems, i.e. there isn't any case to which might expand during firing and then get stuck in the barrel. Edited to make more sense... [ 10-30-2001: Message edited by: redeker ]</p>

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Kingfish: It's a raid by Finnish ski troops... <hr></blockquote> Did they have pulkkas?

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by YECoyote: Hmm, I always thought that it translates to "Tank Terror"<hr></blockquote> Panzer = Armor(ed vehicle) Schreck = Terror or nightmare Panzerschreck = Armor(ed vehicle's) nightmare

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Treeburst155: What possible advantage or disadvantage could accrue from knowing the TITLES of the scenarios?? <hr></blockquote> Because with a title like "Silent Nacht" it tells me that it's probably a nighttime Bulge scenario, giving me a heads-up to work on my night-time snow tactics. It's not that big a deal, really. It just reduces the intensity of my love/hate relationship with the wonderfully complete fog of war surrounding this tournament. As a matter of fact, I think a case can be made to rename the tourney. "WBW's Fog of War Tournament".

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Treeburst155: I have your AAR for "We Can't Wait"... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> STOP STOP STOP!!! [Clamps hands over ears and begins running away] LA LA LA LA... I CAN'T HEAR YOU... I DIDN'T HEAR THE NAMES OF SCENARIOS I HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED YET... LA LA LA LA... Seriously, these kind of comments belong in private e-mail until the tournament is done. [ 10-22-2001: Message edited by: redeker ]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by RMC: A lot refused to abandon hexes and wanted ASL on a computer screen and nothing more. I wonder if any of those folks ever bought CM or remember their misgivings if they did.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Some of us still play ASL and other games (particularly Advanced Civ and Junta) because you still can't have the kind of noise-making, beer-drinking, bad-joke-making, back-slapping camaraderie over the Internet that you can have in person. I will admit that my ASL playing has decreased since acquiring CM, but I'm anal retentive enough to want to know all the rules and probabilities. I would frankly wish for more information in the manual on what is happening behind the scenes (first round hit probability for X tank against Y target in Z environment, exactly what a +1 bonus does, etc.) because of my extreme left-brain nature. Call me gamey, but I prefer informed decision making. One thing where CM wins hands-down - set up and takedown. I remember playing a Red Barricades campaign game, where determining the front line, recording everyone's position and covered arc, and putting away the units took more than an hour. With CM, it's just alt-S.

I'll add my $0.02... Spend a lot of time "proofreading" your map down at level 1. Then go up to 3 or 4 and check lines of sight to see if they're what you intended. Then go back and add more stuff to add visual interest and break up lines of sight. Go back to level 1 and make sure that your roads are engineered correctly, especially the paved and/or major ones. Try to think like a civil engineer and examine where you would do cut and fill to level out the road - it adds both visual interest and cover [ 10-19-2001: Message edited by: redeker ]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sergeant Saunders: In a PBEM game I am currently in, had a RG fired at an infantry unit in scattered trees, it caused a fire. Severely scorched the unit it hit. I had never seen that before.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Recently my German forces were engaged in a city fight with some British paratroops, when the LARGE HEAVY building they were in was set on fire by a gammon bomb. :eek:

I seem to have an impression (sorry, can't cite any sources) that using captured weapons in the WWII US Army was either frowned upon or outright prohibited at night - it led to too much friendly(?) fire.

I once took out a KT in a QB with a zook, but it was from directly behind and a little bit below the KT (thereby lessening the relative slope of the rear armor) from a range of 20 yards.

I'll second the recommendation to go with veteran AT teams and sharpshooters. I'll also go with somewhere between a platoon and a company of veteran troops, especially if they're stout 2LMG German squads. I never buy better than veteran quality for anything, as the points seem to be wasted - my experience with crack and elite troops is that they stupidly keep moving to their objective and get killed in their entirety, or stay in their defensive spots too long when they should have routed. Run away, run away...

I've been having good success recently with using too many waypoints. By that I mean placing waypoints every couple of meters near the firing position you want to be in the turn before you get there. Then, on the next turn, delete and/or move the waypoints to get to exactly where you want to go, then issue a new movement order to hightail it out of there. The unit will go to the firing position (the last red waypoint), will then wait a number of seconds depending on the command delay for the unit (during which they will generally get off one shot, at least if the unit is regular), then will hightail it out of there. If the firing position looks like it's going to be too hot, you can use the multiple waypoints to plot a new path rearward or laterally. This is one of the few situations where you want regular instead of crack troops - the command delay for crack is too small to always get off shot. I've used the vehicle version of this tactic to good use recently with a SPW 251/16 - move, wait for 13 seconds (long enough to flame the building across the way) then reverse out of there.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Equinox: I just had a Hetzer survive something like five rounds from a Bazooka at 50-60 meters. I was astonished and rather pissed off. Upper Hull hit, no damage. Arg!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You've gotta remember that the bazooka is significantly smaller diameter (60mm) than a panzerschreck (88mm) or a panzerfaust (not sure, but >88mm). With a shaped charge, bigger is definitely better. And, of course, that Hetzer front upper hull armor is tilted back at 60 degrees. Basically, a panzerfaust is in the same "one hit, one kill" category as the 88L71 gun, but with a much shorter range; the bazooka is pretty similar to a Sherman's short 75. Panzerschreck is somewhere in between (75L70 or 88L56?). All of this is probably off a little bit, as I don't have the game open right now...

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Cpl Carrot: Are there any wives/girlfriends that like it?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I think it all depends on what you were doing before you got CM. If you were going out drinking with the guys, she'll probably enjoy having you at home more where she can keep an eye on you. If you were cleaning the house, doing the dishes, or giving foot massages, you'll probably soon be in the dog house...

I'm up in Chico (3 hours from SF), but it would be a hard sell to the wife unless we're already down there for another reason. If we had the meeting up here, I'd suggest the Sierra Nevada taproom - you can still get in if you're not 21, the beer batter onion rings are great, and they have lots of Sierra Nevada varieties on tap, including some specialty brews that somehow never get bottled.

I have to join the choir of those praising the SS Mot. Inf. squads - they're my personal favorite and, IMHO, the best-adapted to a variety of combat situations. Yes, they're expensive, and yes, they sometimes run out of ammo (especially if under the influence of a HQ with morale and/or firepower bonuses) but in the meantime, they win the game. Just for fun, the other day I defended against the computer (yeah, yeah, I know...)in an infantry-only scenario with two platoons of SS Mot. Inf. and a Gebirgsjaeger (sp?) MG Company - that's 12 :eek: HMGs, mister, arranged into three platoons, along with a 120mm Mortar FO. Talk about firesack! I almost felt sorry for the computer by the end.

I vote for posting scores -- it allows the head game to begin before you've even started playing. Posting scores allows you to know the other guy's reputation, and allows reactions that range from to going up against Rommel in May 1940 (Rommel... :confused: who's that?) vs going up against him in 1944 (Rommel! :eek: ). Besides, it helps to lay the foundation for the post-tourney woofing match. Run away, run away...

I know that I'm only up to turn 5 in the games that I'm playing. I could privately forward you my DARs if you're really desperate to read something. BTW, I think there's a good case for renaming this tournament from "Rumblings of War" to "Fog of War". The wonderfully secure, time-consuming method used for distributing the scenarios has resulted in my feeling like I have NO FREAKIN' IDEA what is going on - what reinforcements I will receive, what enemy forces are present - much like a commander at the scene who never has full information. I love/hate it.

Yeah, what everyone else said. Point out how much money you'll save by not wanting to buy any other games, go out to the movies, or in any other way have a real life... er, um...

I would second the sentiment that the combat bonus increases a unit's ROF. I suspect it may be one additional shot per minute per level of bonus. All I know is that whenever I have veteran squads under a leader with a +2 combat bonus, everyone runs out of ammo wayyyyy too fast.

As a long time SL/ASLer, I'd like to give it a go as well. E-mail address is in my profile.

Winecape, I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I've e-mailed you a scenario I made called "Taking the Chateau". I designed it for single person play vs. the AI, but it should be playable for PBEM with a new OOB. And the best in my "cellar" (pantry) is some 8-year old Mondavi Cab... sigh I'll be trusting you to make some good recommendations if I somehow manage to win the RoW tourney.

I keep checking in every now and then for new info, but it seems like right now BTS is actually _working_ on the darn thing instead of talking about it... go figure.