scharfschutze

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Charlie Rock, Looks like we still don't see eye to eye, probably never will - that's OK, happens all the time, I guess. But, we can agree to disagree. Meanwhile, I'm burying the hatchet, and pouring two drinks. Good luck to you. best regards, scharfschutze

Hi Snow Leopard, Thanks for posting those links! I found them interesting and informative. best regards, scharfschutze

Good thing Charlie Rock wasn't there to straighten those poor guys out about things - maybe he can hire on as a consultant and offer some advice to one of today's armies about what they could do better. (Charlie Rock in Iraq - strides up to an Iraqi insurgent lying, weapon ready, in an ambush position) Hands on hips, juts jaw out with a scowl - "Hey mister! Don't you know that AK-47 you're carrying is a fundamentally flawed weapon?" (Iraqi looks up at Charlie Rock, says nothing) Charlie Rock - "You might as well give up right now - I can't believe you're using that thing! I mean, the magazines are clumsy and take too long to reload; the bolt doesn't hold open after the last shot; the safety is too noisy to operate in an ambush; the sights are too hard to adjust when zeroing the weapon; the muzzle climb is too extreme when you fire it on auto to stay anywhere near the target, magazine juts downward too far to fire comfortably when prone - the list goes on and on!" (Iraqi, still looking up, says nothing - ) Charlie Rock - "Seems like no one can get it into their heads how bad this piece of junk is! (spits some tobacco juice on the ground, straightens his US Cavalry hat, scowl gets even meaner) Why, those idiots have been using this thing against us for years - Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm I, Somalia, Afghanistan, even now! - must be the only thing you guys can afford to buy, huh?" (Iraqi, still saying nothing, but a slight smile on his face now - ) Charlie Rock - "It doesn't even look like a solid weapon - nothing like the profile of our great and flawless weapons! Hell, I - aw, why am I wasting my breath? You guys are too dumb to understand what I'm saying, anyway!" (turns on his heel, strides off like Col. Kilgore in Apocalypse Now - ) (Iraqi insurgent quietly gets up and displaces to a new ambush postion, gets ready to fire a few more fundamentally flawed bullets) Moral of the Story - Don't get in the way of any fundamentally flawed bullets - they still hurt. Scharfschutze

Yes, well, around here I guess everything depends on one's opinion. Everyone has their own, I guess. "Fundamentally flawed" or not, I'd still carry it. See ya out on the steppes, Scharfschutze

I disagree with those that say the weapon was a misstep in weapons development. I don't think the primary intent of the weapon was as a squad automatic weapon, but as a selective fire rifle. Recall that the Germans did not have a standard semiautomatic rifle in a full-size caliber - their primary weapon was the Kar98 bolt-action rifle. I think the optical sight was supplied with the FG-42 to give the soldier the capability of long-range, accurate single shot fire, with faster reload through a semiautomatic action. (Ever tried to keep a running man, who knows he's being shot at, in the sights of a bolt-action rifle scope at 200-300 meters, while you're cycling the bolt?) The automatic function was available only for suppression, or as a last resort - not to give every soldier his own personal machine gun. Though not designed the same, the postwar US M14 and the Belgian FN-FAL were both of the same configuration - selective fire rifles, which could be fitted with optical sights, firing a full power rifle cartridge (as opposed to the StG44, followed by the AK-47). Both the M14 and FN-FAL enjoyed huge usage worldwide, and are still in wide use today. If seen from this perspective, maybe the FG-42 was not so "off target" (please forgive the pun.) best regards, Scharfschutze

Hi Sirocco, Regarding how the FG42 and other weapons would be secured in a jump, I checked several of my books on FJ. After Crete, the Germans recognized the flaw in using the weapons containers to drop the personal weapons. If the FJ didn't have the time to locate them and distribute them after the jump, they would be armed only with P08 pistols. From what I can see (could not find any pictures of new gear, or troops dropping with their weapons), the Germans gave little effort to the problem anyway, after the FJ began being used more and more in a regular ground infantry role. One reason gliders were in vogue for so long was that the glider troops could land fully armed and equipped, also carrying light guns and radios, ammo, supplies, etc. The only thing I did find about the Ardennes drop was that, in addition to the pilots dropping the guys everywhere but their intended DZ, that the troops that von der Heydte could assemble had difficulty in locating the weapon containers that were actually dropped successfully, nearby. Hope this is of help! Scharfschutze

Hi Sirocco! That was Kampfgruppe von der Heydte. The commander, Oberst (Colonel) Freidrich von der Heydte, was one of the most experienced and highest-decorated commanders in the FJ. On the eve of the Ardennes offensive, he was ordered to assemble a unit of 800 men, drawing 100 of the best and most experienced parachutists from each of the 8 regiments in the II. Fallschirmkorps. So it was a composite unit of FJ from various units. On paper, von der Heydte had organized the FJ into 4 light infantry companies, a heavy weapons company, a signal platoon and supply platoon. All this from the book "Battle of the Bulge - Then and Now", by Jean-Paul Pallud. A great book! best, Scharfschutze

Hi K Tiger! No, I don't own them - I wish I did! Only a few hundred of these beauties survive, I've heard - mostly in museum collections, a few in private hands. I've just found these pictures on the net while surfing - do a google search on "fg-42" and you will be surprised what comes up! I, too, think it is interesting that the optical sight was issued with the weapon. Until just recently, besides use by snipers and other specialists, armies have generally considered it a waste of money to issue these items to "average" soldiers, because of their fragility and likelihood of being misued or broken by poor/inept handling. I think this speaks volumes for the high quality and top training of the Fallschirmjager. Here is a link to another pic - I post the link only, because it is a graphic pic. It shows a dead Waffen SS officer, defender of Berlin. He is a lieutenant (rank of SS-Untersturmfuhrer), decorated with the Iron Cross 1st Class, an unidentifiable badge, and what appears to be a Wound Badge - he is a decorated veteran fighter. What one might only notice later is that the weapon is an FG-42, and the helmet is a FJ helmet! http://stitchen.echoes.net/ssfj-berlin.jpg So, he must have an interesting story indeed. The SS Parachute Battalion 500, and some small commando teams, of which I can only find a little reference material about, were formed late in the war and saw action only in the East, the big operation being the 500 Battalion drop on Drvar in Yugoslavia, in 1944, to attempt to capture Tito; and the fighting for defense of the Reich, and Berlin. So, despite being a propaganda photo, it shows one of the elite fighters of the Reich. Gents, enjoy! If I create a FG-42 BMP, I'll post it here in case anyone wants to use it. best regards, Scharfschutze [ February 16, 2004, 05:29 AM: Message edited by: scharfschutze ]

Hi all, There are a lot of books out there that discuss the FG42 in detail. I personally would have chosen it to carry if it was available. I think I may try, just for fun, to sub a FG42 into the game, replacing the MG34 squad weapon icon when playing FJs, if I get ambitious. Here are a couple photos, for some "eye candy" for you guys that also like it. The pic with two rifles in it shows the early version on top, and the later version below. Enjoy! Scharfschutze

Greetings gents, I bought CMBB about 6 weeks ago and think it may be the best tactics/strategy game I've ener played! Getting ready to try ROCQ, Operation Storfang; been playing around with mods and tried a few of my own, one of which I show below. I can see why the designers show the CDV logo and Battlefront logo in the first two opening screens, but I got tired of them rapidly - so I first modified the existing BMPs with Paint - then found some pics I liked, converted them to BMPs using some software that came with my digital cam, and substituted them into the file. I then decided to work with the main options screen - some quick work produced this: Lots more fun to look at, and of course I can change it again anytime. Any of you guys doing this type of stuff? I've enjoyed/downloaded many of your mods. I plan to look for opponents online, maybe join a club - see you around! Scharfschutze