Any good M16 war stories?

[The ol one eye.]

The M 16 was'nt in CMBO, but thanks to the lend-lease, the Russkies got lots of 'em. I just wanted to hear if any of you lucky people who previewed the game got a chance to use one and if you did, how well did it work? With the new MG moddeling and quad .50 cals on a half track, there HAS to be some good stories somewhere.

BTW, how many did the Russians get through lend-lease?

Thanks!

[Bruno Weiss]

If it is in CMBB, then the Geneva Gamey Convention will rapidly ban its use.

[lcm1947]

So what is a M16? I know you're not talking about the rifle so it must be a tank or tank destroyer. Any pictures available or a site?

[John D Salt]

Originally posted by The ol one eye.:

The M 16 was'nt in CMBO, but thanks to the lend-lease, the Russkies got lots of 'em.

Errr, not quite.

Originally posted by The ol one eye.:

BTW, how many did the Russians get through lend-lease?

The literal answer is "none" (see page 219 of "Soviet tanks and combat vehicles of WW2", Zaloga & Grandsen, A&Ap 1984, which gives the numbers of lend-lease armoured vehicles supplied to the USSR).

What the Russians were sent was the MGMC M17, which used the same M45D quad 0.5" HMG mount as the M16. They were sent a thousand of these, plus a hundred of the MGMC M15A1, which had a single 37mm and two 0.5" HMGs in a combination mount M54.

The M17 was based on the M5 chassis, whereas the M16 used the M3 chassis. As a rule of thumb, M3 chassis types were kept for US service, and M5 or M9 chassis supplied for lend-lease. The M15A1 appears to be an exception, being based on the M3 chassis.

All the best,

John.

[Zitadelle]

Originally posted by lcm1947:

So what is a M16? I know you're not talking about the rifle so it must be a tank or tank destroyer. Any pictures available or a site?

Check out bone #6 on the first page of the CMBB gallery (the BFC website). It is the halftrack in the background; on the crestline and between the two Matildas. Basically, it was a US M3 halftrack equipped with a quad .50cal gun mount.

BTW, I think the imagine also has a Valentine in the far right background.

[Patrick Moore]

I thought I read that the M16 MGMC was nicknamed the "meat grinder" by the U.S. servicemen because of it's lethal firepower against soft targets.

[Commissar]

In SPWAW, this little gem is absolutlely the ultimate infantry killer in addition to being an AA platform. I mow down Germans by the barrels with just a couple of these special half-tracks. Seeing them in CMBB should make things very interesting as well.

[Guest Mike]

I bought one in teh preview game I played - it semed to be pretty damned effective vs infantry, even tho' it was conscript, but to be honest here weer so many goodies on show iI didn't pay an aful lot of attention to it...I mean there were IS-2's, JSU-162's, BA-64's, 25mm AA guns, ATR's, 300mm rocket preparatory bombardments, platoon leaders for the tanks, optics, cupolas, 2-man turrets..........

[The ol one eye.]

Thanks for the clarification John, I did'nt know the differances between the two halftracks.

Do you really think they'll be gamey? They will probably be easy for almost every tank to desrtoy, and they should'nt have the hit detection problems of the German flak trucks....kfdz thingys that are all but outlawed.

Sept 1, here we come.

[lcm1947]

Thanks Zitadelle for the reply. So an armored car. Very interesting. I wonder how come the American's didn't have it in CMBO? It sure would have come in handy a million times.

[MrSpkr]

Originally posted by The ol one eye.:

Thanks for the clarification John, I did'nt know the differances between the two halftracks.

Do you really think they'll be gamey? They will probably be easy for almost every tank to desrtoy, and they should'nt have the hit detection problems of the German flak trucks....kfdz thingys that are all but outlawed.

Sept 1, here we come.

I dunno. If they get the drop on a light tank or other lightly armored vehicles -- watch out. A fifty can carve through light armor, can certainly cause the armor to button up, and can probably break the morale of any regular, green or conscript crew (think about it - would you want to stay in the field of battle if you were inside a metal box with four jackhammers going at it?).

I think this one will be a pretty nasty weapon in that respect -- however, mortars would (IMHO) be a wonderful counter to the weapon. I would be surprised if it could fire while buttoned up, and if you kill a crew member, I doubt it would be able to keep firing.

Of course, against infantry, it will be nasty. The kill numbers will be pretty decent, but the suppression effect should be outstanding.

Steve

[MrSpkr]

Originally posted by lcm1947:

Thanks Zitadelle for the reply. So an armored car. Very interesting. I wonder how come the American's didn't have it in CMBO? It sure would have come in handy a million times.

Not an armored car, but an upgraded halftrack (like the German halftracks mounting flamethrowers or the 75mm gun).

It wasn't in CMBO for various reasons -- there have been several threads on this.

I think this vehicle would work well in a fine Ker Dessel* scenario.

Steve

*Ker Dessel: When you want to play CM in the WORST way!

[ August 23, 2002, 10:19 AM: Message edited by: MrSpkr ]

[The ol one eye.]

Oh yeah, this thing will probably tear up lighter armour when and if it does get the drop on it, but a Tiger, even buttoned up, will KO it just fine. But against lone infantry, its a badass mobile pillbox for all intensive purposes.

Does it have four individual tracer lines as it fires or just an abstracted one? Hopefully there will be one in the demo scenarios.