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Earl

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Posts posted by Earl

    Redux: are there any high-flying aircraft for heavy AA to engage?

    in Combat Mission Archive #4 (2002)

    Posted

    WWII fighter attack aircraft, cruising around looking for targets at about 500 ft and a minimum of 240 KIAS (which is 4 miles per minute). Much above 500 ft you can't see much in the way of tactical targets (aircraft in CMBB have really good eyesight). LOS horizon at 500 ft is about 27 nmi (with no obstuctions). So horizon to horizon is about 6 minutes. On a good day you can spot a fighter at about 10 nmi max (yes I know Chuck Yeager did 50 nmi once, that's why he's Chuck). Giving you about 2.5 mins of vulnerability. Inside of about 3 nmi the LOS angle changes are probably going to exceed any large gun's tracking capability (unless you are the target). So of the 2.5 minutes of vulnerability you have about 30 seconds to detect, track, and engage an inbound aircraft with any reasonable probability of kill and about the same for revenge shots as he departs.

    All that being said, when there are aircraft overhead, everyone hides. When you are on the ground with aircraft attacking, I was taught that everyone shoots back, with every weapon you can bring to bear. Golden BB rule applies. More aircraft have been lost in every war to small arms fire than any other cause.

    I haven't seen a vehicle mounted MG (or infantry)engage an attacking aircraft, will this happen in CMBB? Yes I know the Pk is fairly small, but I think it is historically accurate.

    Feel free to correct me if this is full of dung, I hardly qualify as a grog.

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    Identify eliminated units - why not?

    in Combat Mission Archive #4 (2002)

    Posted

    Take a look a the D-Day photos of Allied troops and then the same units about a month later. I dare you to find I external unit designation on the US troops that isn't encrypted in some way. The Germans were gaining way too much useful intelligence from the shoulder patches. Not conversant on what late war Germans were doing but I would expect something similar.

    I think even a fairly green troop would know branch of service info, the difference in uniforms between SS and old men and boys in the Volks units and everyone else. Quality/unit designation would be take longer to determine (and would almost always be estimated higher than actual - something about bullets in your personal space). Searching the bodys happens as soon as the shooting stops IIRC. USMC is teams of two with overwatch carefully checking for booby traps as they go. Sounds very similar to the UK description above.

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    Curious cover arcs?

    in Combat Mission Archive #4 (2002)

    Posted

    In a PBEM game I'm currently in, I witnessed the "O'Reilly effect" with a ATG. With 5 or so PzIII at less than 200 m, my opponents ATG that was hidden in a wheatfield with a armor CA (per his email) was spotted by my tanks and KO without ever getting a shot off. From examining my playback, it appears that the ATG was first targeted by a halftrack another 200 or so back before he even unhid. Seems kinda strange.

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    As The Smoke Blows...

    in Combat Mission Archive #4 (2002)

    Posted

    port, left and red have less letters than

    starboard, right and green.

    up and forward to starboard, aft and down to port during GQ.

    one more good quote and I can sign off your PQS.

    you would not believe the number of flight students that fall prey to the "sucking" headwind problem (run out of gas and make improptu landings). the jetstream never helps you get from NY to CA.

    don't spit into the wind, pull the mask on the lone ranger, etc.

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    Prob just me but are AT guns worth the points

    in Combat Mission Archive #4 (2002)

    Posted

    This is probably obvious, I use the small guns in pairs covering a single avenue of approach with good concealment to the front (e.g. behind a copse of trees or a house) so it's difficult to spot from the front. I set the one (or more) gun on each flank of the avenue of approach and use covered arcs to limit them to the designated kill zone. I try to limit the range of the covered arcs to something that should be lethal (never let them shoot as max range).

    Ideally they will fire almost simultanously at the target, which will then normally pick one or the other gun to align its hull against, presenting a flank shot for the other gun.

    Important to have infantry support in front also with limited covered arc range to provide protection but not unnecessarily give away the position.

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    Fog Settings (!?)

    in Combat Mission Archive #4 (2002)

    Posted

    Visibility on the order of 1/2 mi (800 m) for fog and 1/8 mi (200 m) for heavy seem reasonable to me. Very infrequent anywhere to get WXOF (weather - ceiling completely obscured to the ground and zero (less than 1/8 mi) visibility). When it does happen, troops hunker down and wait for it to lift. You could get hurt wandering around in weather like that.

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