BTS: CMBB vehicle ideas

[c3k]

Hi all.

An idea sprang to mind as I was perusing some TO&E manual

last night. Since CMBB will incorporate a command radius

for vehicles, shouldn't it include command tanks??

(Background: the early war - up through '42 - German AFV's

were frequently outmatched and outnumbered. They achieved victory

through better command and control. One of their innovations

was the dedicated command tank. It had to be dedicated because

the early war radio equipment was so bulky and complex, that to fit

it into a tank required the removal of the tank's main gun. Often,

instead of a turret, the command tank had a boxy superstructure. Now,

these vehicles were obvious targets. For operational camoflauge, they'd

use a fake wooden barrel to simulate one of the battle tanks. These

vehicles had various radios with differing frequencies, ranges, and links.

Erickson's appendix has a good listing. In contrast, Soviet tank unit commanders

had to set a plan prior to battle, then, to modify it, had to stand up

out of the turret and wave signal flags. A standard early war practice.

Later in the war the radio sets were small enough not to require the removal

of the main weapon.)

How do command tanks add to the game? Well, they give the German player a

much larger command radius. I imagine them very similar to a CMBO HQ unit.

The fact that it's a command tank should be hidden from the opponent unless

they're very close. Fog of war. The loss of it should hurt the German player.

Also, I've read many after-action accounts of German Pioneer units using

specialist vehicles. Usually converted Pz II's. These could drop off

demo charges, and perform other engineering functions. Again, mostly limited

to the early war period. Will these be included in CMBB?

I don't think it'd be hard to model these two types of vehicles. But then, I'm

not a game programmer.

What do the rest of you think?

Thanks,

Ken

[ April 25, 2002, 10:29 AM: Message edited by: c3k ]

[Captain Wacky]

I think its a little late for new vehicles to be programmed, researched, modelled, and then skinned & tested.