Patrick Moore Posted September 11, 2002 Share Posted September 11, 2002 I observed several AI-controlled Shermans breaching bocage with no difficulty. I ordered one of my Panthers to move across the bocage and instead of breaching the bocage the panther moved, IN REVERSE mind you, to an opening in the field to get to the final destination point. Of course moving in reverse in view of several shermans this panther did not last long! Are Panthers unable to breach bocage? Do Shermans have better breaching ability? Any enlightenment on this matter would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridge Posted September 11, 2002 Share Posted September 11, 2002 I noticed on page 46 of the manual..explains the use of "Rhinos" mounted on the front of Allied tanks. Begining July 44'and on. NC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mud Posted September 11, 2002 Share Posted September 11, 2002 The Allies made "rhino tanks" by welding attachments to the front of Shermans. These attachments allowed the tanks to breach the bocage. In CMBO, this is modelled by letting all the Allied tanks (IIRC, only the fully-tracked vehicles do this, but I might be wrong. It's in the manual where it describes what units can move through what terrain) move through bocage after... July '44, I think. The Germans don't get this ability, as they apparently never did this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Moore Posted September 12, 2002 Author Share Posted September 12, 2002 Duh-oh! Yup, there it is on page 42 of my CMBO book! Thanks for the replies. I'll make a note to check the book before posting a question! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KG_Jag Posted September 14, 2002 Share Posted September 14, 2002 It's on page 46 of my manual that came with an early version of CMBO, ver. 1.02 I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted September 14, 2002 Share Posted September 14, 2002 Gentlemen, I brought a similar subject up a few weeks ago. I was told this had been discussed previously, which turned out to be sometime in January 2001, if I remember correctly. Bocage seems to be a terrain feature that required some compromises with reality. Anyway, the behavior I ran into was when Universal Carriers not only drove directly through bocage, but did it in reverse! While I'm aware the Allies, particularly the US, did fashion plows so many tanks could bull their way through the bocage, I don't think carriers had the horsepower. Evidently many tracked vehicles could drive over the earthen bank portion of the bocage. However, in such close quarters the life expectancy for pulling a stunt like that was pretty short. Too much chance of bogging, added to too much exposure of the light tank bottom armor, made this a highly risky business. But since the Allies did eventually overcome the obstacle, all of their fully tracked vehicles get to cross bocage freely. The Germans, being on the defensive, were not interested in plowing holes through the bocage. That's why German armor never gets to cross it. It was definitely a feature favoring the defender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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