GI JOE

The Canadian Carl Gustav may have an effective HE round versus APC's (it may even be high explosive dual purpose rounds) but in open warfare in Syria against armor I am sure the tactical situation would require giving units HEAT rounds or the more effective T-HEAT rounds. Unlike all the other nations armoured personel carriers which have numerous extra infantry HEAT rounds to acquire, the Canadian LAV III and Nyala APC's only have two rounds of 84mm HE (Carl Gustav) and no 66mm HEAT (LAWs) or ERYX rounds.

I picked up CMSF (v1.20) in the bulk bin a while ago and enjoy the game and plan to order the modules when I get my new PC this summer. Since I am Canadian I have special interest in the Nato Module and have been keeping an eye on the forums. I have been reading on the forums that the Canadians Carl Gustav has only limited ammo and no HEAT rounds? Also I see from the online manual that the LAV III and Nyala APC's only have two rounds of 84mm HE (Carl Gustav) and no 66mm HEAT (LAWs) rounds or any ERYX. This restricts the Canadians ability to combat armour. Since the Syrian Campaign is not a policing action but open warfare I assume they would equip their units and vehicles with more rounds and also give HEAT or T-HEAT rounds for the Carl Gustav. It seems the they are using a Canadian Army organized for policing action not open warfare. A good example is the Nyala having a passenger capacity of only eight with no inherent driver and gunner to give fire support to the dismounted infantry section. A google search on the Nyala RG31 MK3 that the Canadian Army is using and found most sites have the passenger capacity at ten (including driver). Also the text description of the Nyala in the online manual for the Nato module at the Battlefront site has the passenger capacity at ten (including driver). There should be room for a driver and gunner. In open warfare of the Syrian Campaign the infantry section would need all its men on the ground and all the the fire support it can get from the Nyala APC.

Managed to get a download of the new demo of Combat Mission Normandy. DEMO In the demo battle Busting the Bocage the US squads with the bazooka in the first weapons column (2nd platoon Echo Co.) when a assault team (A) is split off, the bazooka is with the assault team (A) when it should be with the support team/squad. US squads with the bazooka in the second weapons column (1st platoon Echo Co.) when a assault team (A) is split off, the bazooka is correctly with the support team/squad. But if a second assault team ( is split off, the bazooka is with the assault team ( when it should be with the support team ©. I doubt very much that the bazooka would be with the assault team especially if it involves close quarter fighting (i.e. house clearing). I also noticed that in the demos editor that some of the modular buildings have no roofs. MANUAL Looking at the manual I noticed that the SPW 251/1 (Ausf D) only has a driver as the crew but no dedicated gunner. From most references I have seen the SPW 251/1 (Ausf D) halftracks had a crew of two (driver and gunner) which following tactical doctrine allowed the halftrack to provide supporting fire for the dismounted panzer grenadier squad. The M2A1 halftrack has two machineguns (M2HB and M1919) but only has a driver and no gunners. I assume this is so because this halftrack was the standard gun tower ( i.e. room for the gun crew and ammo carrying team). The SPW 251/10 has no 37mm gun. The SPW 251/9 Stummel and SPW 250/10 has no 7.92 machinegun. The PSW 222 and 223 Armoured cars should be the late models with 30mm hull armour and the original 8mm turret armor. The US M4A1 and M21 halftrack mortars carriers are present but no SPW 251/2 and SPW 250/7 halftrack mortars carriers? The M10 tank destroyer has only 13 rounds of HE but from my reading of the M10 use in combat was that it often was used in the infantry support role. Which resulted in the abandonment of the dedicated tank destroyer units after the war since tanks were more effective in the dual infantry support/tank destroyer roles.

Since I only play WEGO dismounting a squad from the Nyala RG31 MK3 then splitting the squad and remounting one of the split teams to reman the vehicle would take over a minute (maybe even under enemy fire) with the loss of fire power of the Nyala's weapons. I have noticed in v1.20 that when using a split Syrian Special Forces team to man the UAZ-469 vehicle that when the other split team remounts the vehicle and combines into a full squad that there remains a ghost split team still manning the UAZ-469. As a result the player looses control of the UAZ-469 (no command menu for vehicle) also this generally results in the game crashing. The only way to advoid this is to have the squad dismount and remount the UAZ-469 vehicle (which eliminates the quick pickup and exit tactics). I assume this is the case also for the Nyala RG31 MK3 if this bug has not been fixed in later patches. Also in v1.20 I have noticed in using supply Hummers to carry a dismountable mout split squad 3-man fire teams that when starting the battle the A.I. generally assigns the 3-man fire teams as the Hummer crew and the crews as the passengers? Resulting in having to dismount and remount all units in the Hummers during/before battle.

I picked up CMSF in the bulk bin a while ago and enjoy playing the game (v1.20) and plan to get the modules when I get my new PC. Since I am Canadian I have special interest in the Nato Module and have been keeping an eye on the forums. In the forums people are having problems with the Nyala having a passenger capacity of only eight with no inherent driver and gunner to give fire support to the dismounted infantry section. I did a google search on the Nyala RG31 MK3 that the Canadian Army is using and found most sites have the passenger capacity at ten (including driver) and these include sites describing the official Canadian model. Also the text description of the Nyala in the online manual for the Nato module at the Battlefront site has the passenger capacity at ten (including driver). From my web search there should be room for a driver and gunner, in fact pictures and ingame screenshots show five firing ports on each side of the Nyala. Also in the game all other armed infantry section\squad carriers have a inherent driver and gunner. I doubt very much that Canadian military tactics would have the infantry section loose two men (AT-team) or 4 men (split team) to man the Nyala to give fire support or get the vehicle out of harms way. Also the Syrian Campaign in the game is open warfare combat not the policing actions in Afghanistan. In such combat the infantry section would need all its men on the ground and all the the fire support it can get from the Nyala APC. http://army.ca/wiki/index.php/RG-31_Nyala_Armoured_Patrol_Vehicle http://defense-update.com/products/r/RG-31.htm http://www.warwheels.net/RG31NyalaINDEX.html http://www.deagel.com/Tactical-Vehicles/RG-31_a000631001.aspx http://wapedia.mobi/en/RG-31 http://www.casr.ca/bg-apv-rg31.htm

The HEAT-FS ammo loads for the T72M(early), T72M and T72M1 are far to high and APFSDS ammo loads very very low. The ratio is about 2.5 HEAT-FS rounds for every APFSDS round, for other T55/T62/T72M1V's it is about 2 APFSDS rounds for every HEAT-FS round (with the T72M1V having about an 1 to 1 ratio). According to numerous JANES and other sources the normal load for the T72M was 21 HE-FRAG-FS, 6 HEAT-FS and 12 APFSDS-T rounds. The T72M1 with an increase load from 39 to 45 rounds would have some extra HEAT-FS/APFSDS-T rounds. I have installed the recent Combat Mission Shock Force patch v1.10 and the error in ammo loads is still there. I would have assumed some one would have caught this serious error earlier (but it did take this long to fix the Republican Gaurds BMP-2 (Machinegun) weapons platoon to be able to load into their two BMP-2's). I remember the older Combat Mission games had a direct e-mail address for game bugs etc. but I assume now we post it in the forums? JANES Armour and Artillery 1998-1999, 19th Edition, Editor Christopher F. Foss, pg88 JANES Tank Recognition Guide, 2006 Edition, Editor Christopher F. Foss JANES Tank Recognition Guide, 1996 Edition, Editor Christopher F. Foss JANES AFV Recognition Handbook, 1987 Edition, Editor Christopher F. Foss TANKS: Over 250 of the Worlds Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles, Chris Chant, 2004, pg221 Illustrated Directory of Tanks of the World, David Miller, 2000, pg268-273

Just installed Combat Mission Afrika Korp v1.03 and found an error that came up when they reinstated the PZIIIJ’s in the game. In the V1.01 patch they correctly gave the PZIII Specials (50mm L/60) the May 1942 date of introduction and appropriate high rarity. But they failed to do this for the PZIIIJ 50mm L/60 (Special) when they reinstated it in the game. I suspect that they did not double check changes they made to the game when making their corrections. Starting December 1941 the PZIIIJ 50mm L/60 (Special) is available in North Africa even though it did not first see action in that theatre until the Battle of Gazala in May 1942. The PZIIIJ 50mm L/60 (Special) has a rarity of 10% in May 1942 making it almost as common as the PZIIIJ (Short) even though at the start of the Battle of Gazala (27 May 1942) the Germans had only 19 PZIIIJ (Specials) out of 242 available PZIII tanks. If the Germans had as many PZIII specials, as early and with the 10% rarity, then the shock of the Grant tanks would have been minimal (in fact Rommel would have armor superiority over the British). Battle of Gazala 27 May 1942 40 PZIV’s 19 PZIII Specials 223 PZIII’s Battle Alam Halfa 30 August to 4 September 1942 27 PZIV Specials 10 PZIV’s 73 PZIII Specials 93 PZIII’s Battle of Alamein October 1942 30 PZIV Specials 8 PZIV’s 88 PZIII Specials 85 PZIII’s -Rommels Desert War, Samuel W. Mitcham Jr., 1982, pages 39-40 & 146. -Afrika Korps: Rommels Desert Soldiers, K. J. Macksey, Ballantine Illustrated History of World War II, 1977, pages 68 & 104. -Panzer Battles, Maj.Gen. F.W. von Mellenthin, 1971, pages 64 & 111. -Alamein: The Tide Turns, Major-General Sir Francis de Guingand, History of the Second World War Part 39, Marshall Cavendish, 1973, p1078. The Germans in the North African Campaign were low on priority for reinforcements and new equipment was slow to arrive. According to Von Mellenthin it was not till January 1942 that new model PzIII’s and PzIV’s arrived with special face-hardened armor (i.e. PzIIIJ(short) and PzIVF with 50mm armor) that proved difficult to defeat with the 2-pounder gun. Also PZIIIG’s were up armored to PZIIIH standards in the field work shops (i.e. 30mm to 30+30mm upper and lower hull armor) and by 1942 most were to PZIIIH standards. So during late 1941 to 1942 the rarity of PZIIIG’s should increase and the rarity of PZIIIH’s should decrease. -Panzer Battles, Maj. Gen. F.W. Von Mellenthin, 1971, page 64 footnote 17. -Bir Hakim: Desert Citadel, Richard Holmes, Ballantine Illustrated History of World War II, 1971, page 75. -War in the Desert: The Eighth Army at El Alamein, James Lucas, 1982. -The Life and Death of the Afrika Korps, Ronald Lewin, 1977, page 126. -Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two, Peter Chamberlain and Hilary Doyle, 1978, page 65. -World War II Tanks, Eric Grove, 1987, page 12.