Keith Posted May 18, 2000 Share Posted May 18, 2000 I noticed that sometimes the AI will have the German panzerfaust and panzerschreck teams fire at infantry, and in fact inflict considerable damage. I think this highly unrealstic given that these weapons fired shaped charged projectiles. These projectiles essentially burned through armor. How can this be effective against soft targets? Yes to tanks and pillboxes, no to soft targets. A good website on these weapons is http://www.geocities.com/Augusta/8172/panzerfaust.htm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak40 Posted May 19, 2000 Share Posted May 19, 2000 These are still essentially High Explosive Anti Tank weapons. The "High Explosive" part is still very dangerous to any soft target. Anything that can burn its way through 3" of armor can burn a man to a crisp or blow through a wood or brick building. It seems like they would be more effective in an urban setting - blowing out walls which would send a shower of projectiles that would injure infantry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted May 19, 2000 Share Posted May 19, 2000 The AI will usually only fire its light AT weapons at infantry, when the enemy is in a "tough" spot, e.g. foxholes, woods, houses, rough terrain etc., therefore using the blast capability of the AT rocket/projectile to lessen the defensive value of such "fortifications". It will rarely - if ever - fire a personal AT weapon at enemies in the open (unless the player orders it to do so). That's the theory at least... BTW, didn't some AT weapons like Panzerfaust etc. have special HE caps to be used against soft targets? I remember something about that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Username: Posted May 19, 2000 Share Posted May 19, 2000 The shaped charge is not a 'blowtorch' but rather a focused explosion that is driving the liner (the internal part of the shell that forms the 'hollow') onto a point. You can think of the liner being liquid dense metal particles that are each tiny penetraters. They are traveling much faster than a AP round from an AT gun. I was about 50 yards from a LAW that detonated (away from me into an embankment). It is an exceptionally LOUD explosion. It blew a considerable amount of dirt through at least 4 foot of hill. I wouldnt want to be on the recieving end of any shaped charge explosion. In Vietnam RPGs (B40s) were squad level weapons that were feared by US infantry and armor. I have read of them hitting sandbagged positions and the the spray of supersonic sand would permanately blind GIs. If the Germans had developed something with the range of RPGs (500 yards) allied armor and infantry would have been hurting. I think the russians especially would have been stopped as the massed armor tactics would have been blunted. Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark IV Posted May 19, 2000 Share Posted May 19, 2000 A thing that weighs 7 lbs. and is traveling 200 fps and blows up when it hits something is, well, kind of dangerous. I think the only anti-infantry version that actually saw much combat use was the shrapnel ring adaptors, that were slipped over the regular warhead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Madmatt Posted May 19, 2000 Share Posted May 19, 2000 As I understand it German AT man portable rockets (fausts and schrecks) had a fragmentation sleeve that they could slip over the head of the shell for use against soft or human targets. It is assumed that the AI troopers fit this sleeve over the shells before engaging infantry in the game. Madmatt ------------------ If it's in Combat Mission, it's on Combat Mission HQ! And if it's NOT on CMHQ then its just GOT to be on CMHQ-ANNEX... CMHQ http://combathq.thegamers.net CMHQ-Annex http://cmhq.tzo.com Both now proud members of the Combat Mission WebRing [This message has been edited by Madmatt (edited 05-18-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supertanker Posted May 19, 2000 Share Posted May 19, 2000 As evidence of the anti-personnel effectiveness of a bazooka round (which is smaller than a schreck or a faust warhead), I offer the citation awarding the Medal of Honor (posthumous) to Pvt. John R. Towle. Pvt. Towle was a bazooka gunner with the 82 Airborne. Here is a link to the entire citation, though you may have to scroll down to his name: http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/mohiib2.htm The relevant portion: "Still under intense fire and fully exposed to the enemy, Pvt. Towle then engaged a nearby house which 9 Germans had entered and were using as a strongpoint and with 1 round killed all 9." I first learned of Pvt. Towle because his story is used as the basis for a Squad Leader scenario (#37, Medal of Honor, which came with GI: Anvil of Victory). Avalon Hill states that 10 soldiers were killed by that rocket, including the SS Captain leading the attack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GriffinCheng Posted May 19, 2000 Share Posted May 19, 2000 Oops, I see the URL to the fraust page trailed with a dot "." and causes broken links, the link should be: <A HREF = "http://www.geocities.com/Augusta/8172/panzerfaust.htm">http://www.geocities.com/Augusta/8172/panzerfaust.htm</A> Griffin @ lunch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HvF Posted May 19, 2000 Share Posted May 19, 2000 Thanks for the link, GriffinCheng! Outstanding site and information, worth reading it. Brillant_27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted May 19, 2000 Share Posted May 19, 2000 The Germans also found that PFs were really good to have in street fighting. Slinters of wood and shards of stone can take out a soldier just as effectively as hot metal. Just remember what Mom always said and don't fire that PF from *INSIDE* the house Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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