Captured vehicles?

[MikeyD]

One impediment to randomly picking up enemy weapons to use is the *sound footprint*. A US soldier during a hot engagement picking up and using an MP40 would be likely to draw more friendly fire than enemy. You don't want to draw fire from your own team. I recall a conversation with an old Pacific jungle fighter. He had a story of one of his buddies in a foxhole in the dead of night looking up and seeing a Japanese soldier peering down at him. Did he shoot him? No. Because he feared the blind incoming fire from his own surrounding men wildly firing in his direction than he did that Japanese scout. The opposite to that case would be stories of infantry in Vietnam using an AK instead of the (despised) M16 because the sound of AK firing wouldn't draw enemy return fire. If your platoon knows you're carrying an AK they're less likely to shoot you. Pick one up off the ground to use and they'll mistake the sound for enemy fire.

[panzersaurkrautwerfer]

I will contend it's pretty hard to pick out Frank's AK vs the enemy's AKs in a firefight.  

Getting back to being grounded:

1. In terms of small arms, I don't think units in CMBS should  come with captured weapons unless there's a really good reason.  Even fairly cut off US forces seemed to cling to their M1s until the bitter end, Germans the same with their K98s.  Occasional MP-40 using Americans or that one German who strapped a .50 cal to a Panther or whatever just don't really seem to fit programming in the odds for it occurring.  

2. In terms of Panzerfausts, having them present in some supply caches seems about spot on.  Some units certainly trained on them, and they were certainly available to Allied forces in not small numbers.  Having a specific supply cache that contains them might be helpful though (or at "veteran" settings it assumes it's a unit that's been a scavenging).  Perhaps the same could apply to some small arms (extra BARs, Carbines, Shotguns, an STG44 whatever).

3. In regards to vehicles, the following certainly showed up on the wrong side of the fence in a combatant role:

   M8 Greyhound
   M4 Sherman (both 75 and 76 MM)
   M20 
   M5A1
   Jeeps

Having these available with the proper german markings and adhoc crews as single vehicles would be authentic.  Giving this as a straight forward option instead of trying to make players edit their way is the better choice.

[Sublime]

I think either on scenarios or qbs with high rarity and only say like for example for purchasing US vehicles and only as single units in December Shermans and M5s for Dec 44 would be ok imo for the Germans. I can cite at least 4 or 5 examples in a Time for Trumpets that Germans led attacks with M4s and it worked and was too late when the GIs realized what was up.

In fact reading the book amd other accounts made me realize maybe the game lets troops ID tanks at night too readily. For example a famous example I can recall from the Bulge involves Barkmann. His panther got seperated from its column going to attack some US troops relatively late in the battle (early Jan I believe) and he took a wrong turn. He encountered a US tank said somethijg to the cmdr and they both realized they were enemy. Both dived in their turrets and Barkmanns cannon slammes against the hull of the m4. He ordered a reversal and they KOd the tank from 3 yards. Anyways the rest of the night Barkmann is Barkmann rolling through 3 diff US roadblocks orvillages without anyone noticing, probably also because he kept his cool and ordered them to not stop or open fire. They finally were discovered passing a US tank column but escaped.

Interestingly in Coopers other book about being a company cmdr he recalls another Bulge incident where US troops doing a night attack got disjointed and seperated in a large wood full of Germans. At one point a company cmdr looking for Cooper and his hq team approach a group of 30 or 40 men milling about in a clearing. He goes up and taps the guy who seems to be in charge on the shoulder and says "This Item company?"

The German screamed Vas ist los??! Both sides hit the deck and a firefight erupted. Lol

As far as US trucks and Jeeps thr further into the Bulge and end of war we get I wouldnt mind seeing jeeps and trucks only continously available as a seperate German vehicle purchase albeit with high rarity. For one most accounts from the Bulge I read especially the Germans yse every truck and jeep they can. Peiper wa furious his men at Baugnez crossroads (where the Malmedy massacre actually happened) had shot up US trucks.  Of course Im advocating this for jeeps and trucks only. Armored vehicles imo super high rarity and only Dec 44. The Germans actually didnt have *that much* captured US armor. After all if they did they wouldnt have been welding plates onto Panthers to look like M10s.

As far as small arms I think a very very occasional enemy small arm would be cool but perhaps better is scrounging enemy small arms. ISTR units now will only scrounge a diff. Small arm if theirs is out of ammo. In that case itd make sense to pick up an enemy weapon and the associated clip or two with it which isnt much.

The fausts maybe as an option earlier for 82nd AB where one squad per platoon gets one, availible later for other US units with associated cost and rarity. Or the ammo cache or truck idea Pz espouses.

[Sequoia]

Somewhat on the same track, would the inclusion of an occasional unauthorized by TO&E weapon be desirable? It certainly was historical. I'm thinking of things such as a tank crew having a grease gun or a squad with an extra Thompson or BAR. The tank crew thing might tempt players to be ever more willing to treat their crews as scouts after losing a vehicle I suppose though ( I wish there were some way to discourage that in gameplay).

[panzersaurkrautwerfer]

Re: tank crews

Ideally I'd like it if you gained victory points for evacuating tank crews.  Like they're trained specialist crews.  Their value isn't being throw away adhoc infantry (well, most of the time), it's in returning to the rear and getting on a different tank (right away or in a few days).  Maybe it'd be a refund thing, like if the enemy gained 100 points for killing one of your tanks, you'd get back 10 points per crewman returned to the rear by retreating them off a friendly map edge.

Re: Unauthorized guns

Totally.  It got discussed earlier, but having it either be something more experienced soldiers have a chance of occurring for (so a veteran skill level US Squad might have several BARs sometimes) or having the extra weapons in one of the various supply caches in game so you can plus up squads as required.