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Grenades in the Woods


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I was playing a forested scenario, when I noticed volleys of grenades going back and forth, sometimes up to 40m. The problem is all terrain tiles were tall pines. No grenades were bouncing off trees, etc...

Isn't this inaccurate? In descriptions of Hurtgen fighting, riflemen had to memorize where the trees were near their foxhole so if they threw a grenade it wouldn't come back to them. I doubt they threw any grenades 40m, either.

Anyone have any comments, experience with this?

BTS?

Remember, baseball games are played on open fields, not forests!

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Was the fighting at night, or during the day? It seems to me that a person should easily be able to throw a grenade through the trees in a forest for 30m's during the day. I'm guessing that defenders in the Hurtgen had to memorize tree locations for fighting at night, where they wouldn't be able to see the trees and could hit one of them with a grenade. Were they scattered trees, woods, or tall pines?? Either way though, these aren't rain forests we're talking about. I could go out to my backyard right now and chuck a grenade a good 40-50m's at a target. And I would say that I live in "woods". But, I'm no expert.

Thanks,

Jim

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In one of the books I've recently read, I remember one of the infantry recalling rolling a grenade at the enemy, because he knew if he threw it the bounceback chance was high.

In another account, I remember someone mentioning teaching Green infantry to toss underhand in forests, as overhand would cause more bounce if it struck a tree.

Anyhoo, just assume your GI Joes know what they are doing.

[This message has been edited by Mr. Clark (edited 01-06-2001).]

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It very much depends on the specific kind of woods, and the time of year. The most open woods would be controlled and deciduous during winter, whereas the densest would be natural and evergreen. By 'controlled' I mean planted in rows as such:

woods2.jpg

You can see how long LOS is parallel to the trees, and how short it is diagonally.

These are deciduous trees, but I wouldn't fancy trying my luck with a grenade:

woods1.jpg

PS. These are Scottish woods, so not dissimilar to what you'd find on the continent.

David

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It seems to me that a person should easily be able to throw a grenade through the trees in a forest for 30m's during the day. Were they scattered trees, woods, or tall pines?? Either way though, these aren't rain forests we're talking about. I could go out to my backyard right now and chuck a grenade a good 40-50m's at a target. And I would say that I live in "woods". But, I'm no expert.

Thanks,

Jim

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I know this is a wee bit off subject but...

I was wondering why no trees ever fall in the forest, either during a firefight when grenades are being used or a heavy artillery strike, I've seen many pictures where forests were totally turned into plywood after a battle. I think, I'm not sure but there were some injuries once, when a tree fell on a soldier. That was from a veteran who was at Dunkirk whom I had the honour of talking to a while back. He said he and fellow soldier were waiting under a fruit tree or some other small tree outside on a road outside of Dunkirk when a stray artillery shell fell just meters away, which sadly killed his friend and felled the tree, which fell on him, breaking his leg. He was later picked up by some other soldiers that were heading to Dunkirk. That would be cool if that could be simulated, but might be a little too complicated.

David

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don't forget guys that squads are an abstraction, so although it may say '40m' the reality is some members of the squad may be close than that, and likewise with the enemy platoon. End result is that the front guys of a squad are able to chuck at the front guys of another squad.

Likewise hand-to-hand and hand-to-tank combat can take place as far as 20m (from memory) from the unit.

PeterNZ

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Guest Andrew Hedges

I'm not 100% sure what CM means by tall pines, but I've been in a lot of woods in Germany that I would describe as "tall pines" where you could easily throw something 40m. FWIW, these forests had pretty old trees, and there was substantial overhead cover, blocking the light. As a result, branches on the trees didn't start until about 40' up (presumably because there was no light). For the same reason, there was no underbrush.

Picture trees sort like in David's first picture, but larger, planted farther apart, not in rows, with the branches and leaves on the upper part of the trees spread out more, mostly blocking the sky, and the tree trunks bare for 40'.

Of course, not all forests are like that.

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