[Burning tank graphics]

Let me start by saying that this is no doubt a very low priority for Battlefront, as it should be. This is also just idle speculation by me, and I'd imagine some of you may have better sources for this sort of thing.

But if you feel like updating the flames on burning tanks to something more realistic, AJE has some good footage of burning tanks in Libya right now. In particular, it looks as if flames emerge mostly from the hatches and rear decks. Tracks seem to burn--I wonder if this is burning rubber, which tends to last longer than the internal fires? I suppose it could also be spilled fuel, but it seems to be too neatly around the rims of the wheels. The decks generally appear to be fully aflame, rather than in a localized spots as we have now. They also generally seem to be taller than we have now. The second tank is particularly spectacular, and I would guess it was hit more recently than the others.

Of course, these were killed by air-strikes, and fires may be substantially different when killed by other weapons.

Tanks start at 1:22

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/201132681812362552.html

[Elvis vs. JonS DAR Discussion Thread]

I've gotta say,the thing I was most impressed by was the ability of the German sniper.The sniper action played out in a very realistic action according to the exploits of snipers I have read about.Very good job and thanks to both of you for taking the time to do that.I hope all the time spent putting together the DAR's didn't cost you your carreers and marriages.

I feel vaguely uneasy about the sniper's performance, to be honest. JonS reports that he achieved roughly 1/7 of his total kills, and looking at the victory screen, that would be somewhere around 35 casualties (or 21, if considering only the killed, rather than all casualties). It's not an impossible figure, but it's really up there--IIRC, Simo Häyhä achieved no more than 25 kills a day. What was the range of that engagement, and did the rifle platoon manage to spot the sniper while they were pinned down?

Also, thank you both. That was a very interesting AAR (and very pretty ). The breaching of the Alamo was awesome, and particularly funny given JonS' realisation that there wasn't anything he could do about it. I can't wait to see this (and Rhinos) applied to the new hedgerows.

[Jeep crew survives catastrophic brew-up]

I thought this was interesting enough to share.

---

A foolish Jeep-MG wandered in front of my tiger in a recent QB against the AI.

Amazingly, both crewmen survived the explosion.

[How to assault tanks with infantry?]

You're right; I was typing my summary with only the timing results available. It was a IV/J.

I'm rather impressed that you knew which models were fitted with the Nah off the top of your head.

I specifically removed rifle grenades from the inventory of all these units in the editor.

IIRC, the troops at 0m were using grenades, though I could be misremembering. I'll need to get back to you about that.

[How to assault tanks with infantry?]

I set up a battle in which an Elite US Rifle Company with no heavy weapons or heavy explosives attacks a buttoned Conscript Panzer IVG, trapped by heavy buildings.

They were able to knock out the panzer, but not reliably or quickly. There did not appear to be any distinction between charging the tank (not move, fast, nor crawl) and a target order, save that moving troops were spotted and shredded by the Nahverteidigungswaffe.

The best time was 0'11'' to immobilize and 0'18'' to knock out, following a move order. Another test, also under the influence of a move order, resulted in them taking 0'19'' to immobilize, and failing to knock it out after 2'00'' (troops were ordered to move towards the tank again after the first minute). Average time with "Target" orders was 0'14'' to immobilize and 1'14'' to knock out. I'm guessing that each grenade thrown has a low, flat chance to hit and damage, modified by armor, resulting in the wide distribution of results.

I also note that the Panzer never bailed out, even when immobilized. They apparently do not consider unsupported infantry a serious threat. They also, unsurprisingly, were unable to spot stationary infantry in buildings. This may be why the Hotchkiss was unperturbed by my attacks. Unfortunately, I do not have a save from that game, and so cannot check if it was shocked.

I am unsure if range plays a role. However, I note that in a less scientific test, a rifle squad failed to damage a Lynx at 0m range over the course of 1 minute.

Are you thinking of the "Follow Vehicle" command of later games? It does not appear to be implemented in CMBO, and setting a waypoint on a vehicle does not appear to do anything special.

Thanks for the advice, and the link.

[How to assault tanks with infantry?]

I fought a very small QB against the AI today. As luck would have it, I was given no proper AT weapons, while the AI wound up with a Hotchkiss H-39. In urban combat in the fog, I was able to strip away the German infantry. But that Hotchkiss went and parked itself by the VL. No problem, I though. Squad, assault that tank!

Well, first of all, the stupid Hotchkiss just sat there. After lobbing grenades at it for about three minutes, to no effect, I tasked another squad with destroying it. This went on--still to no effect for about two more minutes, before I agreed to a cease fire.

The one thing that occurs to me is the range--my soldiers were lobbing grenades from about 20m, from the cover of buildings. Should I have sent them closer? Does it just take time?

[Brushfires]

I've been playing Frühlingswind in the demo, and I've been wondering about the (frequent) brushfires ignited by shellfire.

It seems there are two degrees of brushfires--minor and full. I've seen infantry run through a minor fire (in brush), and I've seen infantry flee from the edges of a full fire on their own. Do infantry experience any problems if stationary within a minor fire?

I assume that full fires can actually cause casualties. How quickly? If a minor fire becomes a full fire while they are in the tile, what happens? A rifle squad and platoon HQ were nearly surrounded by one of the fires, so this was on my mind.

How are tanks affected by fires? Other vehicles?

[Repair of damaged armor [real world question]]

RS14 (Russian ICBM fan?)

Italian reconnaissance seaplane fan, in this case, though not properly punctuated, I'll admit.

Welcome aboard! Sometimes, the tank's fought as is, especially if the situation's dire and a partially penetrated or even damaged tank is better than no tank at all (Heckmann's fabulous Rommel's War In Africa details an incident in which a 2 pdr shot pierced a Panzer III and wound up lodged in the ammo bin; after checking that the ammo was intact, the slug was removed and the tank returned to the fight. In another incident a partial penetration right in front of the driver's face caused the poor man to fail his morale check and bolt from the tank in terror). Other times, the offending intruder is driven out and some sort of steel is hurriedly welded over the gouge to provide at least some protection. The more elaborate repairs costard describes are the province of specialist units and can be extensive and time consuming.

Suggest you read Belton Cooper's Death Traps for an ordnance officer's views on U.S. practice (overview at http://www.3ad.com/history/wwll/memoirs.pages/cooper.htm ), see this short vid of such a tank repair unit at work and play

visit www.tankbooks.com for the online version of the brilliant Tanks for The Memories and the numerous tanker interviews, check out this Lone Sentry link to an Intelligence Bulletin on German practice

http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/tankmaint/index.html

, ponder this major Tiger 1 repair photo set

http://www.v-like-vintage.net/en/search~result/tiger%20tank/

and peruse this great thread on Russian WW II tank recovery and repair.

http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76746

Aren't you glad you asked?

costard,

That is the back of the plate, with the nose of the projectile (believe it's a 17 pdr and display's at IWM) peeking out. Looks to me as though a substantial chunk was dislodged when the projectile broke through the back of the plate. Probably not fun for the crew!

Regards,

John Kettler

Quite a lot of info; thank you.

I'm not surprised to learn that they were often usable, but I'm impressed that the more serious repairs were even possible. I'd love to have seen some of those in progress.

I've bookmarked "Tanks for the Memories," I'll need to return to it when I have more time.

[Repair of damaged armor [real world question]]

I'm accustomed to seeing numerous "partial penetration" messages in my battles. But I've also, on this forum, seen a rather impressive photo of such a partial penetration.

What would happen to a tank if its armor was partially penetrated? Would it be written off for parts? Used regardless? Or is there some way to repair such damage?