hank24

One of my favorite German divisions. Former 1. Kavallerie Division, hence the Springreiter.

I grew up just 8 km from the inner-german border and never felt any fear or such - today I think that is strange.
Just the opposite, there are many nice memories concerning the military of that time. We often had the 16/5th Queens Royal Lancers on exercise at the farm of my father. They were stationed at the town of Wolfenbüttel nearby and everybody loved to see them, my mother because we talked english all day, the soldiers because they had warm places to sleep and a shower, and my father because he had an agreement to get a bottle of Famous Grouse for each day of their stay. We did things you never get elswhere, driving a Ferret Mk1 (I called it armored Dune Buggy), a Scorpion tank and even firing a Sten SMG on the meadow behind the barn. Once my father and me visited their barracks for some claybird shooting and the officers invited us to the officers mess. Wow, never saw so many silver cups and a living tradition like that.
When I served at PzAufklBtl 1 (Armored Recon) from '79 to '83 (just the proper time for this game) we were not even allowed to keep our battalion coat of arms, it was from the Black Hussars from Brunswick who fought with the British against Napoleon, but was too similar to the SS sign. That happens to military traditions when you loose your wars.
At that time I met kind guys from the 2nd Armored Division on Reforger exercise near Brunswick and found some nice friends there (Cpt. Hutto somewhere around here?).
And I served as contactperson for the team of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards during the Boeselager Cup, an international competition among reconaissance forces. Still remember the 'Biwak' on the last evening.
One day I heard the sound of a Huey helicopter nearby and it did not disappear. So I looked for the source and found some thee or four Huey Cobra hovering directly at the outskirts of the village. I immediatly fetched my brothers and we tried to follow them with my Renault R4. Tough job, soon they were gone. But suddenly they reappeared one after the other over a ridgeline and took my car as a training target. Oh, man, that was exciting. I tried to make their job as difficult as I could but these helis were really fast and agile. I would love to ride one of those, must be like a flying Kawasaki.
I think Germany really lost something important with all these kind soldiers who are gone now and with them the BFBS radio and the British Wargamers Association with which I had so nice times at Rheindahlen and elsewhere.
And, by the way, a german Recon Btl was a complete all arms force in '79, ideal for a Bundeswehr expansion one day. There was a ground surveillance radar plt, two companies with Luchs and Leopard1, and a heavy company with grenadier plt (on Schützenpanzer kurz, later Fuchs), engineer plt, and 120 mm mortar plt.
And now I am here, working as an engineer on military simulation and looking forward to my retirement next year being excited to have all the time necessary to play my favorite game then, CM:CW.
 
 

SPZ 12-3 HS 30
 

SPz 11-2 Kurz
 

Some Bundesheer vehicles to look forward to:
Spähpanzer 2 Luchs

I grew up just 8 km from the inner-german border and never felt any fear or such - today I think that is strange.
Just the opposite, there are many nice memories concerning the military of that time. We often had the 16/5th Queens Royal Lancers on exercise at the farm of my father. They were stationed at the town of Wolfenbüttel nearby and everybody loved to see them, my mother because we talked english all day, the soldiers because they had warm places to sleep and a shower, and my father because he had an agreement to get a bottle of Famous Grouse for each day of their stay. We did things you never get elswhere, driving a Ferret Mk1 (I called it armored Dune Buggy), a Scorpion tank and even firing a Sten SMG on the meadow behind the barn. Once my father and me visited their barracks for some claybird shooting and the officers invited us to the officers mess. Wow, never saw so many silver cups and a living tradition like that.
When I served at PzAufklBtl 1 (Armored Recon) from '79 to '83 (just the proper time for this game) we were not even allowed to keep our battalion coat of arms, it was from the Black Hussars from Brunswick who fought with the British against Napoleon, but was too similar to the SS sign. That happens to military traditions when you loose your wars.
At that time I met kind guys from the 2nd Armored Division on Reforger exercise near Brunswick and found some nice friends there (Cpt. Hutto somewhere around here?).
And I served as contactperson for the team of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards during the Boeselager Cup, an international competition among reconaissance forces. Still remember the 'Biwak' on the last evening.
One day I heard the sound of a Huey helicopter nearby and it did not disappear. So I looked for the source and found some thee or four Huey Cobra hovering directly at the outskirts of the village. I immediatly fetched my brothers and we tried to follow them with my Renault R4. Tough job, soon they were gone. But suddenly they reappeared one after the other over a ridgeline and took my car as a training target. Oh, man, that was exciting. I tried to make their job as difficult as I could but these helis were really fast and agile. I would love to ride one of those, must be like a flying Kawasaki.
I think Germany really lost something important with all these kind soldiers who are gone now and with them the BFBS radio and the British Wargamers Association with which I had so nice times at Rheindahlen and elsewhere.
And, by the way, a german Recon Btl was a complete all arms force in '79, ideal for a Bundeswehr expansion one day. There was a ground surveillance radar plt, two companies with Luchs and Leopard1, and a heavy company with grenadier plt (on Schützenpanzer kurz, later Fuchs), engineer plt, and 120 mm mortar plt.
And now I am here, working as an engineer on military simulation and looking forward to my retirement next year being excited to have all the time necessary to play my favorite game then, CM:CW.
 
 

And the sound of the Leopard1!
Not long ago I happened to hear one again at Trier proving ground. It roars like a lion, pure brutality - I love it. Leopard2 does not have that.

Yes, it is the badge of 24. PzDiv, one of my uncles served in it, he was flown out of Stalingrad wounded and my grandfather was missing in action while serving in the artillery branch of this division 1945.
And now this is the color of the German recon forces, which I served in.

I grew up just 8 km from the inner-german border and never felt any fear or such - today I think that is strange.
Just the opposite, there are many nice memories concerning the military of that time. We often had the 16/5th Queens Royal Lancers on exercise at the farm of my father. They were stationed at the town of Wolfenbüttel nearby and everybody loved to see them, my mother because we talked english all day, the soldiers because they had warm places to sleep and a shower, and my father because he had an agreement to get a bottle of Famous Grouse for each day of their stay. We did things you never get elswhere, driving a Ferret Mk1 (I called it armored Dune Buggy), a Scorpion tank and even firing a Sten SMG on the meadow behind the barn. Once my father and me visited their barracks for some claybird shooting and the officers invited us to the officers mess. Wow, never saw so many silver cups and a living tradition like that.
When I served at PzAufklBtl 1 (Armored Recon) from '79 to '83 (just the proper time for this game) we were not even allowed to keep our battalion coat of arms, it was from the Black Hussars from Brunswick who fought with the British against Napoleon, but was too similar to the SS sign. That happens to military traditions when you loose your wars.
At that time I met kind guys from the 2nd Armored Division on Reforger exercise near Brunswick and found some nice friends there (Cpt. Hutto somewhere around here?).
And I served as contactperson for the team of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards during the Boeselager Cup, an international competition among reconaissance forces. Still remember the 'Biwak' on the last evening.
One day I heard the sound of a Huey helicopter nearby and it did not disappear. So I looked for the source and found some thee or four Huey Cobra hovering directly at the outskirts of the village. I immediatly fetched my brothers and we tried to follow them with my Renault R4. Tough job, soon they were gone. But suddenly they reappeared one after the other over a ridgeline and took my car as a training target. Oh, man, that was exciting. I tried to make their job as difficult as I could but these helis were really fast and agile. I would love to ride one of those, must be like a flying Kawasaki.
I think Germany really lost something important with all these kind soldiers who are gone now and with them the BFBS radio and the British Wargamers Association with which I had so nice times at Rheindahlen and elsewhere.
And, by the way, a german Recon Btl was a complete all arms force in '79, ideal for a Bundeswehr expansion one day. There was a ground surveillance radar plt, two companies with Luchs and Leopard1, and a heavy company with grenadier plt (on Schützenpanzer kurz, later Fuchs), engineer plt, and 120 mm mortar plt.
And now I am here, working as an engineer on military simulation and looking forward to my retirement next year being excited to have all the time necessary to play my favorite game then, CM:CW.
 
 

Hopefully when the West Germans are eventually added we'll also get the CAF. Cold War Germany has so many options for interesting TOEs.
 

Yes, it is the badge of 24. PzDiv, one of my uncles served in it, he was flown out of Stalingrad wounded and my grandfather was missing in action while serving in the artillery branch of this division 1945.
And now this is the color of the German recon forces, which I served in.

Yes, it is the badge of 24. PzDiv, one of my uncles served in it, he was flown out of Stalingrad wounded and my grandfather was missing in action while serving in the artillery branch of this division 1945.
And now this is the color of the German recon forces, which I served in.

I grew up just 8 km from the inner-german border and never felt any fear or such - today I think that is strange.
Just the opposite, there are many nice memories concerning the military of that time. We often had the 16/5th Queens Royal Lancers on exercise at the farm of my father. They were stationed at the town of Wolfenbüttel nearby and everybody loved to see them, my mother because we talked english all day, the soldiers because they had warm places to sleep and a shower, and my father because he had an agreement to get a bottle of Famous Grouse for each day of their stay. We did things you never get elswhere, driving a Ferret Mk1 (I called it armored Dune Buggy), a Scorpion tank and even firing a Sten SMG on the meadow behind the barn. Once my father and me visited their barracks for some claybird shooting and the officers invited us to the officers mess. Wow, never saw so many silver cups and a living tradition like that.
When I served at PzAufklBtl 1 (Armored Recon) from '79 to '83 (just the proper time for this game) we were not even allowed to keep our battalion coat of arms, it was from the Black Hussars from Brunswick who fought with the British against Napoleon, but was too similar to the SS sign. That happens to military traditions when you loose your wars.
At that time I met kind guys from the 2nd Armored Division on Reforger exercise near Brunswick and found some nice friends there (Cpt. Hutto somewhere around here?).
And I served as contactperson for the team of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards during the Boeselager Cup, an international competition among reconaissance forces. Still remember the 'Biwak' on the last evening.
One day I heard the sound of a Huey helicopter nearby and it did not disappear. So I looked for the source and found some thee or four Huey Cobra hovering directly at the outskirts of the village. I immediatly fetched my brothers and we tried to follow them with my Renault R4. Tough job, soon they were gone. But suddenly they reappeared one after the other over a ridgeline and took my car as a training target. Oh, man, that was exciting. I tried to make their job as difficult as I could but these helis were really fast and agile. I would love to ride one of those, must be like a flying Kawasaki.
I think Germany really lost something important with all these kind soldiers who are gone now and with them the BFBS radio and the British Wargamers Association with which I had so nice times at Rheindahlen and elsewhere.
And, by the way, a german Recon Btl was a complete all arms force in '79, ideal for a Bundeswehr expansion one day. There was a ground surveillance radar plt, two companies with Luchs and Leopard1, and a heavy company with grenadier plt (on Schützenpanzer kurz, later Fuchs), engineer plt, and 120 mm mortar plt.
And now I am here, working as an engineer on military simulation and looking forward to my retirement next year being excited to have all the time necessary to play my favorite game then, CM:CW.
 
 

I grew up just 8 km from the inner-german border and never felt any fear or such - today I think that is strange.
Just the opposite, there are many nice memories concerning the military of that time. We often had the 16/5th Queens Royal Lancers on exercise at the farm of my father. They were stationed at the town of Wolfenbüttel nearby and everybody loved to see them, my mother because we talked english all day, the soldiers because they had warm places to sleep and a shower, and my father because he had an agreement to get a bottle of Famous Grouse for each day of their stay. We did things you never get elswhere, driving a Ferret Mk1 (I called it armored Dune Buggy), a Scorpion tank and even firing a Sten SMG on the meadow behind the barn. Once my father and me visited their barracks for some claybird shooting and the officers invited us to the officers mess. Wow, never saw so many silver cups and a living tradition like that.
When I served at PzAufklBtl 1 (Armored Recon) from '79 to '83 (just the proper time for this game) we were not even allowed to keep our battalion coat of arms, it was from the Black Hussars from Brunswick who fought with the British against Napoleon, but was too similar to the SS sign. That happens to military traditions when you loose your wars.
At that time I met kind guys from the 2nd Armored Division on Reforger exercise near Brunswick and found some nice friends there (Cpt. Hutto somewhere around here?).
And I served as contactperson for the team of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards during the Boeselager Cup, an international competition among reconaissance forces. Still remember the 'Biwak' on the last evening.
One day I heard the sound of a Huey helicopter nearby and it did not disappear. So I looked for the source and found some thee or four Huey Cobra hovering directly at the outskirts of the village. I immediatly fetched my brothers and we tried to follow them with my Renault R4. Tough job, soon they were gone. But suddenly they reappeared one after the other over a ridgeline and took my car as a training target. Oh, man, that was exciting. I tried to make their job as difficult as I could but these helis were really fast and agile. I would love to ride one of those, must be like a flying Kawasaki.
I think Germany really lost something important with all these kind soldiers who are gone now and with them the BFBS radio and the British Wargamers Association with which I had so nice times at Rheindahlen and elsewhere.
And, by the way, a german Recon Btl was a complete all arms force in '79, ideal for a Bundeswehr expansion one day. There was a ground surveillance radar plt, two companies with Luchs and Leopard1, and a heavy company with grenadier plt (on Schützenpanzer kurz, later Fuchs), engineer plt, and 120 mm mortar plt.
And now I am here, working as an engineer on military simulation and looking forward to my retirement next year being excited to have all the time necessary to play my favorite game then, CM:CW.
 
 

I grew up just 8 km from the inner-german border and never felt any fear or such - today I think that is strange.
Just the opposite, there are many nice memories concerning the military of that time. We often had the 16/5th Queens Royal Lancers on exercise at the farm of my father. They were stationed at the town of Wolfenbüttel nearby and everybody loved to see them, my mother because we talked english all day, the soldiers because they had warm places to sleep and a shower, and my father because he had an agreement to get a bottle of Famous Grouse for each day of their stay. We did things you never get elswhere, driving a Ferret Mk1 (I called it armored Dune Buggy), a Scorpion tank and even firing a Sten SMG on the meadow behind the barn. Once my father and me visited their barracks for some claybird shooting and the officers invited us to the officers mess. Wow, never saw so many silver cups and a living tradition like that.
When I served at PzAufklBtl 1 (Armored Recon) from '79 to '83 (just the proper time for this game) we were not even allowed to keep our battalion coat of arms, it was from the Black Hussars from Brunswick who fought with the British against Napoleon, but was too similar to the SS sign. That happens to military traditions when you loose your wars.
At that time I met kind guys from the 2nd Armored Division on Reforger exercise near Brunswick and found some nice friends there (Cpt. Hutto somewhere around here?).
And I served as contactperson for the team of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards during the Boeselager Cup, an international competition among reconaissance forces. Still remember the 'Biwak' on the last evening.
One day I heard the sound of a Huey helicopter nearby and it did not disappear. So I looked for the source and found some thee or four Huey Cobra hovering directly at the outskirts of the village. I immediatly fetched my brothers and we tried to follow them with my Renault R4. Tough job, soon they were gone. But suddenly they reappeared one after the other over a ridgeline and took my car as a training target. Oh, man, that was exciting. I tried to make their job as difficult as I could but these helis were really fast and agile. I would love to ride one of those, must be like a flying Kawasaki.
I think Germany really lost something important with all these kind soldiers who are gone now and with them the BFBS radio and the British Wargamers Association with which I had so nice times at Rheindahlen and elsewhere.
And, by the way, a german Recon Btl was a complete all arms force in '79, ideal for a Bundeswehr expansion one day. There was a ground surveillance radar plt, two companies with Luchs and Leopard1, and a heavy company with grenadier plt (on Schützenpanzer kurz, later Fuchs), engineer plt, and 120 mm mortar plt.
And now I am here, working as an engineer on military simulation and looking forward to my retirement next year being excited to have all the time necessary to play my favorite game then, CM:CW.
 
 

I grew up just 8 km from the inner-german border and never felt any fear or such - today I think that is strange.
Just the opposite, there are many nice memories concerning the military of that time. We often had the 16/5th Queens Royal Lancers on exercise at the farm of my father. They were stationed at the town of Wolfenbüttel nearby and everybody loved to see them, my mother because we talked english all day, the soldiers because they had warm places to sleep and a shower, and my father because he had an agreement to get a bottle of Famous Grouse for each day of their stay. We did things you never get elswhere, driving a Ferret Mk1 (I called it armored Dune Buggy), a Scorpion tank and even firing a Sten SMG on the meadow behind the barn. Once my father and me visited their barracks for some claybird shooting and the officers invited us to the officers mess. Wow, never saw so many silver cups and a living tradition like that.
When I served at PzAufklBtl 1 (Armored Recon) from '79 to '83 (just the proper time for this game) we were not even allowed to keep our battalion coat of arms, it was from the Black Hussars from Brunswick who fought with the British against Napoleon, but was too similar to the SS sign. That happens to military traditions when you loose your wars.
At that time I met kind guys from the 2nd Armored Division on Reforger exercise near Brunswick and found some nice friends there (Cpt. Hutto somewhere around here?).
And I served as contactperson for the team of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards during the Boeselager Cup, an international competition among reconaissance forces. Still remember the 'Biwak' on the last evening.
One day I heard the sound of a Huey helicopter nearby and it did not disappear. So I looked for the source and found some thee or four Huey Cobra hovering directly at the outskirts of the village. I immediatly fetched my brothers and we tried to follow them with my Renault R4. Tough job, soon they were gone. But suddenly they reappeared one after the other over a ridgeline and took my car as a training target. Oh, man, that was exciting. I tried to make their job as difficult as I could but these helis were really fast and agile. I would love to ride one of those, must be like a flying Kawasaki.
I think Germany really lost something important with all these kind soldiers who are gone now and with them the BFBS radio and the British Wargamers Association with which I had so nice times at Rheindahlen and elsewhere.
And, by the way, a german Recon Btl was a complete all arms force in '79, ideal for a Bundeswehr expansion one day. There was a ground surveillance radar plt, two companies with Luchs and Leopard1, and a heavy company with grenadier plt (on Schützenpanzer kurz, later Fuchs), engineer plt, and 120 mm mortar plt.
And now I am here, working as an engineer on military simulation and looking forward to my retirement next year being excited to have all the time necessary to play my favorite game then, CM:CW.
 
 

I grew up just 8 km from the inner-german border and never felt any fear or such - today I think that is strange.
Just the opposite, there are many nice memories concerning the military of that time. We often had the 16/5th Queens Royal Lancers on exercise at the farm of my father. They were stationed at the town of Wolfenbüttel nearby and everybody loved to see them, my mother because we talked english all day, the soldiers because they had warm places to sleep and a shower, and my father because he had an agreement to get a bottle of Famous Grouse for each day of their stay. We did things you never get elswhere, driving a Ferret Mk1 (I called it armored Dune Buggy), a Scorpion tank and even firing a Sten SMG on the meadow behind the barn. Once my father and me visited their barracks for some claybird shooting and the officers invited us to the officers mess. Wow, never saw so many silver cups and a living tradition like that.
When I served at PzAufklBtl 1 (Armored Recon) from '79 to '83 (just the proper time for this game) we were not even allowed to keep our battalion coat of arms, it was from the Black Hussars from Brunswick who fought with the British against Napoleon, but was too similar to the SS sign. That happens to military traditions when you loose your wars.
At that time I met kind guys from the 2nd Armored Division on Reforger exercise near Brunswick and found some nice friends there (Cpt. Hutto somewhere around here?).
And I served as contactperson for the team of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards during the Boeselager Cup, an international competition among reconaissance forces. Still remember the 'Biwak' on the last evening.
One day I heard the sound of a Huey helicopter nearby and it did not disappear. So I looked for the source and found some thee or four Huey Cobra hovering directly at the outskirts of the village. I immediatly fetched my brothers and we tried to follow them with my Renault R4. Tough job, soon they were gone. But suddenly they reappeared one after the other over a ridgeline and took my car as a training target. Oh, man, that was exciting. I tried to make their job as difficult as I could but these helis were really fast and agile. I would love to ride one of those, must be like a flying Kawasaki.
I think Germany really lost something important with all these kind soldiers who are gone now and with them the BFBS radio and the British Wargamers Association with which I had so nice times at Rheindahlen and elsewhere.
And, by the way, a german Recon Btl was a complete all arms force in '79, ideal for a Bundeswehr expansion one day. There was a ground surveillance radar plt, two companies with Luchs and Leopard1, and a heavy company with grenadier plt (on Schützenpanzer kurz, later Fuchs), engineer plt, and 120 mm mortar plt.
And now I am here, working as an engineer on military simulation and looking forward to my retirement next year being excited to have all the time necessary to play my favorite game then, CM:CW.
 
 

I grew up just 8 km from the inner-german border and never felt any fear or such - today I think that is strange.
Just the opposite, there are many nice memories concerning the military of that time. We often had the 16/5th Queens Royal Lancers on exercise at the farm of my father. They were stationed at the town of Wolfenbüttel nearby and everybody loved to see them, my mother because we talked english all day, the soldiers because they had warm places to sleep and a shower, and my father because he had an agreement to get a bottle of Famous Grouse for each day of their stay. We did things you never get elswhere, driving a Ferret Mk1 (I called it armored Dune Buggy), a Scorpion tank and even firing a Sten SMG on the meadow behind the barn. Once my father and me visited their barracks for some claybird shooting and the officers invited us to the officers mess. Wow, never saw so many silver cups and a living tradition like that.
When I served at PzAufklBtl 1 (Armored Recon) from '79 to '83 (just the proper time for this game) we were not even allowed to keep our battalion coat of arms, it was from the Black Hussars from Brunswick who fought with the British against Napoleon, but was too similar to the SS sign. That happens to military traditions when you loose your wars.
At that time I met kind guys from the 2nd Armored Division on Reforger exercise near Brunswick and found some nice friends there (Cpt. Hutto somewhere around here?).
And I served as contactperson for the team of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards during the Boeselager Cup, an international competition among reconaissance forces. Still remember the 'Biwak' on the last evening.
One day I heard the sound of a Huey helicopter nearby and it did not disappear. So I looked for the source and found some thee or four Huey Cobra hovering directly at the outskirts of the village. I immediatly fetched my brothers and we tried to follow them with my Renault R4. Tough job, soon they were gone. But suddenly they reappeared one after the other over a ridgeline and took my car as a training target. Oh, man, that was exciting. I tried to make their job as difficult as I could but these helis were really fast and agile. I would love to ride one of those, must be like a flying Kawasaki.
I think Germany really lost something important with all these kind soldiers who are gone now and with them the BFBS radio and the British Wargamers Association with which I had so nice times at Rheindahlen and elsewhere.
And, by the way, a german Recon Btl was a complete all arms force in '79, ideal for a Bundeswehr expansion one day. There was a ground surveillance radar plt, two companies with Luchs and Leopard1, and a heavy company with grenadier plt (on Schützenpanzer kurz, later Fuchs), engineer plt, and 120 mm mortar plt.
And now I am here, working as an engineer on military simulation and looking forward to my retirement next year being excited to have all the time necessary to play my favorite game then, CM:CW.
 
 

First Fire & Rubble and now THIS? What the heck shall I do? It is coming too early, my retirement is next year!
But joke aside, I am absolutely exited to see CM:CW; I requested this years ago and very much look forward to play it and see the Bundeswehr later. Steve, I hope you did not hammer a nail through your toe, as you promised to do in December 2006. But if you did, just think of all the nice Bundeswehr uniforms which are to be designed, the Moleskin Arbeitsanzug, the Panzerkombi and so on.
All my dreams came true, Jagdpanther on the eastern front, Leopard 1, Luchs and the SCHWIMMWAGEN!
Many thanks to the team, especially @Bil Hardenberger and @The_Capt.

When I served in the Bundeswehr 40 years ago, I always hoped that if this goes hot, it will be as during WW II. Everybody had chemicals and, therefore, nobody used it. Maybe due to own experience not even Mr. Hitler used them at the end of the war. And at least my unit was nearly not prepared for it. I did not have the impression to be well trained for the case. The British Army showed a different picture judging by the small insight I had at that time.
In a game like this it is most certainly a factor which can easily unbalance a scenario and a whole bag of new interdependencies which need to be researched, designed, and programmed. So, I can very much understand the decision to keep it out.

When I served in the Bundeswehr 40 years ago, I always hoped that if this goes hot, it will be as during WW II. Everybody had chemicals and, therefore, nobody used it. Maybe due to own experience not even Mr. Hitler used them at the end of the war. And at least my unit was nearly not prepared for it. I did not have the impression to be well trained for the case. The British Army showed a different picture judging by the small insight I had at that time.
In a game like this it is most certainly a factor which can easily unbalance a scenario and a whole bag of new interdependencies which need to be researched, designed, and programmed. So, I can very much understand the decision to keep it out.

First Fire & Rubble and now THIS? What the heck shall I do? It is coming too early, my retirement is next year!
But joke aside, I am absolutely exited to see CM:CW; I requested this years ago and very much look forward to play it and see the Bundeswehr later. Steve, I hope you did not hammer a nail through your toe, as you promised to do in December 2006. But if you did, just think of all the nice Bundeswehr uniforms which are to be designed, the Moleskin Arbeitsanzug, the Panzerkombi and so on.
All my dreams came true, Jagdpanther on the eastern front, Leopard 1, Luchs and the SCHWIMMWAGEN!
Many thanks to the team, especially @Bil Hardenberger and @The_Capt.

Interesting discussion. During my time in the German Bundeswehr, I had the pleasure to use the MG3 often which is very similar to the MG42 (ROF was reduced to less than 1200 rds/min; too much heat and too much ammo to carry forward I heard. The only machine I ever heard of where the performance was reduced). Phantastic piece of engineering, we fired single shots on a bunker target at 600 m - no problem to hit an opening 1 ft x 1/2 ft with the first shot.

Barrel exchange is really made in seconds. The container for the substitute barrel is a cylinder which opens lengthwise to two half cylinders with the barrel lying on one half. Take the asbestos glove, open the barrel arrestor, pull out the hot barrel, lay that into the empty half of the open container, take the cold one , put it in, close the arrestor, recock and fire. We had drills to train that, I would estimate some 10 sec. When I remember correctly, this was required after some 250 rds fired. The same quick exchange was made with the breech block, approximately the same time needed when trained (after 500 rds?).

Against ground targets always short bursts were recommended. Aerial targets were to be fought in long bursts.

Carry and use: In CM, the MG is fired standing and kneeling, something we never did or were trained and it was not part of the field manual for the MG; at least I cannot remember to having seen that. I am convinced, no matter how strong or heavy you are, most of the burst will go upwards into the sky. This piece pushes really hard and steady.

Mostly it is fired prone, the trick is to find some arrest at your feet, push into the two leg support at the front with your shoulder somewhat high, and then lower your body so, that there is a strong pushing tension between your feet and the front support. Then, the MG lies perfectly fixed and does not deviate when fired. Left hand is always at this small hook at the underside of the shoulder piece and pushes that rearwards.

During extended training we had an exercise to advance with five soldiers, one with MG3, and half size targets (head to hip) flipping up suddenly at relatively short distances. There I found at the field manual how to fire the MG from the hip and immediately implemented that. The leather carry belt is actually composed of two parallel belts, as you can see at the photo on the previous page with the soldier carrying it with one hand. This belt is fixed forward at an eye at the centre of gravity, rear end of belt unfixed at pistol grip, split in two and hung around the neck. The right hand takes the pistol grip and the left both legs of the frontal support. The legs are pulled to the left side of the barrel. Now you have a configuration like Vasquez at Alien2. Nice to carry, quick, stable, and precise. I used that at this execise, one short burst at each emerging target, aimed low and pulled up, all targets hit, some ammo left, no other comerade was able even to fire one shot with their G3 assault rifle - quick shooting was never trained.

Besides the old but decent shotgun of my father, this was always my favourite weapon.

Interesting discussion. During my time in the German Bundeswehr, I had the pleasure to use the MG3 often which is very similar to the MG42 (ROF was reduced to less than 1200 rds/min; too much heat and too much ammo to carry forward I heard. The only machine I ever heard of where the performance was reduced). Phantastic piece of engineering, we fired single shots on a bunker target at 600 m - no problem to hit an opening 1 ft x 1/2 ft with the first shot.

Barrel exchange is really made in seconds. The container for the substitute barrel is a cylinder which opens lengthwise to two half cylinders with the barrel lying on one half. Take the asbestos glove, open the barrel arrestor, pull out the hot barrel, lay that into the empty half of the open container, take the cold one , put it in, close the arrestor, recock and fire. We had drills to train that, I would estimate some 10 sec. When I remember correctly, this was required after some 250 rds fired. The same quick exchange was made with the breech block, approximately the same time needed when trained (after 500 rds?).

Against ground targets always short bursts were recommended. Aerial targets were to be fought in long bursts.

Carry and use: In CM, the MG is fired standing and kneeling, something we never did or were trained and it was not part of the field manual for the MG; at least I cannot remember to having seen that. I am convinced, no matter how strong or heavy you are, most of the burst will go upwards into the sky. This piece pushes really hard and steady.

Mostly it is fired prone, the trick is to find some arrest at your feet, push into the two leg support at the front with your shoulder somewhat high, and then lower your body so, that there is a strong pushing tension between your feet and the front support. Then, the MG lies perfectly fixed and does not deviate when fired. Left hand is always at this small hook at the underside of the shoulder piece and pushes that rearwards.

During extended training we had an exercise to advance with five soldiers, one with MG3, and half size targets (head to hip) flipping up suddenly at relatively short distances. There I found at the field manual how to fire the MG from the hip and immediately implemented that. The leather carry belt is actually composed of two parallel belts, as you can see at the photo on the previous page with the soldier carrying it with one hand. This belt is fixed forward at an eye at the centre of gravity, rear end of belt unfixed at pistol grip, split in two and hung around the neck. The right hand takes the pistol grip and the left both legs of the frontal support. The legs are pulled to the left side of the barrel. Now you have a configuration like Vasquez at Alien2. Nice to carry, quick, stable, and precise. I used that at this execise, one short burst at each emerging target, aimed low and pulled up, all targets hit, some ammo left, no other comerade was able even to fire one shot with their G3 assault rifle - quick shooting was never trained.

Besides the old but decent shotgun of my father, this was always my favourite weapon.

Interesting discussion. During my time in the German Bundeswehr, I had the pleasure to use the MG3 often which is very similar to the MG42 (ROF was reduced to less than 1200 rds/min; too much heat and too much ammo to carry forward I heard. The only machine I ever heard of where the performance was reduced). Phantastic piece of engineering, we fired single shots on a bunker target at 600 m - no problem to hit an opening 1 ft x 1/2 ft with the first shot.

Barrel exchange is really made in seconds. The container for the substitute barrel is a cylinder which opens lengthwise to two half cylinders with the barrel lying on one half. Take the asbestos glove, open the barrel arrestor, pull out the hot barrel, lay that into the empty half of the open container, take the cold one , put it in, close the arrestor, recock and fire. We had drills to train that, I would estimate some 10 sec. When I remember correctly, this was required after some 250 rds fired. The same quick exchange was made with the breech block, approximately the same time needed when trained (after 500 rds?).

Against ground targets always short bursts were recommended. Aerial targets were to be fought in long bursts.

Carry and use: In CM, the MG is fired standing and kneeling, something we never did or were trained and it was not part of the field manual for the MG; at least I cannot remember to having seen that. I am convinced, no matter how strong or heavy you are, most of the burst will go upwards into the sky. This piece pushes really hard and steady.

Mostly it is fired prone, the trick is to find some arrest at your feet, push into the two leg support at the front with your shoulder somewhat high, and then lower your body so, that there is a strong pushing tension between your feet and the front support. Then, the MG lies perfectly fixed and does not deviate when fired. Left hand is always at this small hook at the underside of the shoulder piece and pushes that rearwards.

During extended training we had an exercise to advance with five soldiers, one with MG3, and half size targets (head to hip) flipping up suddenly at relatively short distances. There I found at the field manual how to fire the MG from the hip and immediately implemented that. The leather carry belt is actually composed of two parallel belts, as you can see at the photo on the previous page with the soldier carrying it with one hand. This belt is fixed forward at an eye at the centre of gravity, rear end of belt unfixed at pistol grip, split in two and hung around the neck. The right hand takes the pistol grip and the left both legs of the frontal support. The legs are pulled to the left side of the barrel. Now you have a configuration like Vasquez at Alien2. Nice to carry, quick, stable, and precise. I used that at this execise, one short burst at each emerging target, aimed low and pulled up, all targets hit, some ammo left, no other comerade was able even to fire one shot with their G3 assault rifle - quick shooting was never trained.

Besides the old but decent shotgun of my father, this was always my favourite weapon.