met1966 Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 John, A thought then about the calliope.....since it's attached to the cannon via a rod would it not seem that the recoil from the gun would possible damage the linkage? Seems logical to me. Your thoughts? Thanks for posting so much good information(everyone)..on a side note...my wife finds it interesting (and a bit unsettling) that I am so fascinated by military history and yet have been for years an avowed pacifist. I tell her its precisely because I've done all this study and listened to my dad and uncles descriptions of combat that I AM so anti-war. I just love history and history tends to revolve around big events for which wars certainly qualify. Great discussion everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R33GZ Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Just to get back on topic (not that the info in this thread isnt intersting) I was playing the Allies 'bulge' mission last night. Not sure how possible this is, but I had a Sherman 76 take 4 direct hits to the turret... it wasnt unitll the 4th hit that life ceased to exist inside its steel hulk. Whats even more amazing is that all 4 hits were centered around the base of the barrel and all shot from one extremely accurate panther at about 100m... that poor gunner and loader had their brains blown out the back end of the turret 4 times before they stopped firing! shame they didnt hit anything in the exchange. I would post a screenshot, but I cant seem to find out how to do this... any tips? file formats? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 met1966, It took some serious digging, but I finally found some pictures that allow your question to be answered. From this, it looks as though some addons were made to the mantlet, and the elevation assembly was attached to that via a pivot, permitting normal cannon recoil functioning. http://www.battletanks.com/images/M4_w_Rocket_L-2.jpg http://afvgal.8m.com/cgi-bin/i/cal02.jpg This may be a different type of installation. Hard to tell because of all the shadows. http://www.panzerlexikon.de/aarti.htm What appears to be the same kind. No bigger pic, though. http://www.100thww2.org/support/781m4.html As for the comments from your wife, many if not most wargamers (not FPS players) are pacifists, for precisely the reasons you cited. Of course, we also have lots of military and various types of nationalists. I have the same love/hate relationship with war that you do. Endlessly fascinating to study and game; absolutely horrible in its execution and what it says about us as human beings! Regards, John Kettler [ May 24, 2007, 02:46 AM: Message edited by: John Kettler ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
met1966 Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Thank for the great info, John and the additional comments. Seems like designers would want an operational main cannon if it was at all possible. And that it appears very simple to do so (eg:a modification to the mantle) seems to me to make it very likely it could fire. I've been playing CoH quite a bit lately and though it is a-historical in many ways....its also really dang fun and the graphics are wonderful. But the graphics in ToW are perhaps better in their realism but I honestly havent played it enough to get a good handle. It takes much more of my brain to play ToW and therefore it currently takes a back seat to CoH. Nice to have options though! Thanks again for the great info. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platoon Crusher Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 I wonder how enthusiastic the crew would be to go into battle with 60 rounds of HE strapped to the turret? I always assumed the rockets would have been fired before hand and the calliope jettisoned before actual combat with the tank occurred. Otherwise it was basicly another form of mobile arty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiloAlpha4 Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 well sherman's were called tommy cookers for a reason and it wasn't due to good armor protection. many sherman crews did not sing it's praise it was quite the opposite. The tank however was designed to be mass produced and not around significant armor or crew protection with it's focus being on numbers vs the enemy not quality They are tougher in the game then they were in reality I have seen that from playing most of the campaigns. I mean when it took 5 sherman tanks to defeat I german tiger and at that trying for rear shots and they lost 4 in the process, that says something about the survivability of the sherman's in reality but also about the bravery of it's crews in combat. [ May 25, 2007, 11:15 AM: Message edited by: KiloAlpha4 ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnN Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 During the German campaign I found the Sherman 76s to be the most dangerous opponents, but I suspect at least part of that was down to the terrain and numbers you face in the mission design. Have fun Finn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts