A wish regarding German Forward Observers

[Big Boss]

Often when I see pictures from WW2 with German Forward Observers (Vorgeschobener Beobachter) I notice that they predominantly use the Scherenfernrohr or Scissor scope. This type of scope hade much higher magnification than the regular binoculars, had more binocular vision ,was more stable and pretty important, It could be used while in some cover.

I suspect the FO:s in game are probably to some degree generally equipped. Is it the same binocular for all units or have the FO:s a "better" one? If not, a added Scissor scope would be a nice feature to add. It could have a set up time just like other heavier equipment like MGs and if it was destroyed the FO could still call in support with the regular binocular but with higher degree of uncertainty regarding range, position etc (i.e. higher marginal of error). For the regular small on-map mortar missions this feature would maybe be a little too much work for little gain but as the game supports really big maps and up to corps and army level artillery mission (thinking about battleships, airplanes 203mm etc..) I would still be happy to see the possibility of added FO abilities.

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[Abbasid111]

I usually see them being used in prepared locations. Be interesting to check on actual battlefield practice. I don't think they would be treated any different from regular binocs, but I haven't really looked into them.

[Michael Emrys]

42 minutes ago, Abbasid111 said:

I don't think they would be treated any different from regular binocs, but I haven't really looked into them.

The main difference would be in allowing them to be used from entrenchments as in the photo and also to give height advantage in other situations allowing them to see over obstacles where they would not be able to do that with standard binocs. I have even seen photos of them set up on top of vehicles.

Michael

[Abbasid111]

Exactly, more for use in a prepared position

[JasonC]

Higher magnification is hopeless for handheld use.  You need a fixed mount, whether ground or vehicle.  7x is about as high as is practical with anything hand stabilized; even at 10x you get plenty of object movement from "jitter".  At 25 or 50 as used on true telescopes or spotting scopes you can't even hold the intended point inside the field of view with your hands.

Googling around, I find the standard artillery set usually had 8-10 magnification, even with the quite heavy mount and tripod.

Edited July 16, 2016 by JasonC

[Big Boss]

On 2016-07-16 at 4:29 PM, JasonC said:

Higher magnification is hopeless for handheld use.  You need a fixed mount, whether ground or vehicle.  7x is about as high as is practical with anything hand stabilized; even at 10x you get plenty of object movement from "jitter".  At 25 or 50 as used on true telescopes or spotting scopes you can't even hold the intended point inside the field of view with your hands.

That´s why I would like it to have a set up time just like for example mortars and HMGs. But when its deployed it would be far superior to standard binoculars during spotting for artillery missions.