PaulMG Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I'm looking forward to seeing how the humble anti-tank gun gets on now that Borg spotting has gone. I often found in CM1 that they would fire a shot or two and then become the centre of a web of targeting lines. Been playing the SF demo. No target lines. Only paths. Makes it hard to follow for me. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brille Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 The 8-wheeled terror. And for the Americans: Imagine all those tracers hailing into an infantry filled hideout. >) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Grey Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 As far as I know, those particular Centaurs were directed by Navy spotters from the ships via binoculars. Not really sure how that would work from the inside of the tank, but that's what I found out... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vergeltungswaffe Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Shermans. Lots of 'em. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panzermartin Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Paks, mortars and inf guns in indirect role. Sweet... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gromit Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Hmmm... so many choices! I think on the American side I am looking forward to the M16 Quad .50 "meat chopper" and off-board 155mm and 8" arty support. The Germans- well, still waiting on the Hetzer (he's just a little guy!) and the always deadly Jagdpanther, so I guess I'd say the Sd.Kfz. 251/22 with the short 75mm CS gun. The Brits- I gotta go with the Firefly Sherman. So many toys... so little time. **sigh** 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finalcut Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Can't wait to cut thru the enemy invaders like a hot Knife thru Land O lakes Low Cholesterol Margerine with one of these. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lets_All_Fight Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 On-map mortars without a doubt. Can't wait to try them out. Panzer IVs as well. Should be lovely. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocMcJansen Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Same here! I am looking forward to play with the on-map-mortars... I am missing the M2A1 105mm Light Howitzer on the american side 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wengart Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I will be waiting patiently for the Panzer Mark II Luchs. He's such a plucky little guy with that 20mm cannon. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShiftZ Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zukkov Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Can't wait to cut thru the enemy invaders like a hot Knife thru Land O lakes Low Cholesterol Margerine with one of these. invaders!? hell, the germans were the invaders! we're the liberators! anyway, my afv of choice is the m-36 jackson. have no idea if they're in for the first one or not, but since so many are posting british stuff, that's my choice. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisND Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 invaders!? hell, the germans were the invaders! we're the liberators! anyway, my afv of choice is the m-36 jackson. have no idea if they're in for the first one or not, but since so many are posting british stuff, that's my choice. Won't be in CMBN initially, as it wasn't around during the June-August time period. Which is too bad, because that and the Hellcat are easily my favorite AFVs of the war. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 As far as I know, those particular Centaurs were directed by Navy spotters from the ships via binoculars. Not really sure how that would work from the inside of the tank, but that's what I found out... Sounds like something has gotten badly mangled somewhere. Post- D-Day the Centaur were used to conduct indirect fire missions (and did utilise the markings on the outside of the turret for that purpose), but there's no way the FOs were on the ships, several thousand yards behind the Centaurs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogCBrand Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Sounds like something has gotten badly mangled somewhere. Post- D-Day the Centaur were used to conduct indirect fire missions (and did utilise the markings on the outside of the turret for that purpose), but there's no way the FOs were on the ships, several thousand yards behind the Centaurs. I was thinking the same thing. It's been a while since I read about them, but didn't the observer use a phone on the back of the tank to tell the commander that a target was such-and-such degrees off of the turret facing? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Yeah, something like that. IIRC, after a few days ashore the RMASG pretty much parked them up and abandoned them. The 6th A/B Div then 'acquired' the few that were still operational (they weren't wildly reliable) to create themselves another gun battery for regular indirect fire missions. They needed it because the airborne divs were scaled with a fairly small number of guns, but the 6th plus attached Commandos were being used as a regular infantry division. After about 6 or 8 weeks the Centaurs were handed over to the Canadians, who re-created the battery as a Corps-level asset from their own manpower resources. I guess the paras and commandos were scratching for men by late July, while the Canadians were still relatively flush. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sakai007 Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 On map mortars are what I am waiting for the most. Then the Wespe, I just love SPG's!!!! For the Americans, Infantry is what I am waiting for. I can't wait to see my Airborne hopping fences and moving through meadows. Really can't wait!!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmar Bijlsma Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I was thinking the same thing. It's been a while since I read about them, but didn't the observer use a phone on the back of the tank to tell the commander that a target was such-and-such degrees off of the turret facing? I like how they reversed/mirrored/whatever the compass, so the person calling out the bearing is assumed to read the number to the gunner/commander from behind the tank. Btw I kinda figured that it has nothing to do with FOs and indirect fire. Seems a rather impractical way to direct "artillery". I reckon it's more intended so that any accompanying infantry can just shout out the relevant bearing for some 95mm direct fire support. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 After rummaging about a bit, I think I owe Earl Grey an apology. The Centaurs were intended to fire from their landing craft on the run in, with each acting as an improvised 4-gun gunboat. Orders to engage targets were sent from other warships*. The markings were to allow the Centaurs to lay-off, so presumably also on the landing craft (or another ship?) was some kind of director which observed the Centaur, read the bearing off the turret, the operator did some trig, then radioed a corrected bearing to the turret crew. Or sumfink like that. My guess for the reason why the markings on the turret appear to be reversed is so they automatically provide a back bearing for any remote observer. The same - or a very similar - procedure would work once they were ashore. Sorry Earl Jon * presumably either via direct observation from the warship, or from observers ashore. Although, given the Centaurs were scheduled to land at H, presumably direct observation from the warship was more likely. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paper Tiger Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 A lot of what I'm excited about using has yet to make it into the title and probably won't until the final 'funnies' module. I don't share most folks' excitement here about Tigers, Panthers or their Jag counterparts. I much prefer Infantry action with a small number of light vehicles thrown into the mix although I do love StuGs and Stuarts. It's not nearly so psychologically damaging for the player to lose his one PSW 222 AC as opposed to losing his lone Tiger. It's more likely that I'll continue the fight to the bitter end after losing my AC than I would had it been a Tiger. The on-map mortars and Infantry guns are my absolute favourite thing about the Normandy title. The WW2 Infantry game is my focus, in both campaigns and QBs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongLeftFlank Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 (right side) Do these leopard-print camouflage trousers make my arsch look grosse? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gromit Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 You know you're right PT- thinking about things other than AFVs, I have to say I am most excited that (by all indications) infantry combat is gonna totally kickass now. I gotta believe that will make CM:BN seem a much more realistic depiction of WW2 ground combat. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fetchez la Vache Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 The same - or a very similar - procedure would work once they were ashore. From what I have read, the markings were only for the Landing Craft 'phase'. Once onshore they would have reverted back to direct-fire mode I reckon. Although maybe they were useful for doing Maths homework? I'm also not sure that the CS Centaurs were abandoned on the beach since again I have seen references to them fighting inland for the next 1-2 weeks. But, as was pointed out, several of them were 'acquired' by A/B and other such needy types since the RM Support Group they were originally attached too was ad hoc and really only intended for the landings themselves. At some point all/most of the Centaurs were rounded up, shipped back the UK (?) and then re-distributed in a more formal fashion. To me, these were the 'Rodin' of the Commonwealth forces. That's why I like 'em. :-D (Note that my knowledge and references are mainly about vehicles types and modelling, rather than TOE or actual historical happenings. I'm only really interested in the vehicles themselves.) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krilly Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 The on-map mortars and Infantry guns are my absolute favourite thing about the Normandy title. The WW2 Infantry game is my focus, in both campaigns and QBs. I remember the onboard mortars being a joy to behold in the preview. It will be interesting to see some 150mm inf guns lobbing their load across the board . Also, there are no quad's in CM:BN afaik. So bad luck for the lovers of the meatchopper. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magpie_Oz Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Sounds like something has gotten badly mangled somewhere. Post- D-Day the Centaur were used to conduct indirect fire missions (and did utilise the markings on the outside of the turret for that purpose), but there's no way the FOs were on the ships, several thousand yards behind the Centaurs. The Centaurs were originally meant to provide direct fire onto strong points on the beaches from landing craft, but I think maybe someone worked out that the chances of hitting something from a bobbing platform like an LC was pretty slim so instead they were landed on the fore shore. The degree markings on the turret were to be used while in the Landing Craft. As there were 4 Centaur to a boat the could easily align each other to the same target by simply matching the bearing of their turret to the number they can see on the tank that has the target, that is why the degrees are back to front. See how 180 is at the front of the tank? Well if you looked at the tank and saw 180 you knew the target was behind you so you would have to turn your turret around 180 to see it, consequently if you saw 45 degrees you would rotate your turret to 45 degrees (relative to your own hull) and you would be looking at the target. The tanks could be targeted by observers on ships who could spot targets for the tanks as they were expected to be within a smoke screen. It is not really indirect fire "unsighted fire" is probably a better term. Once the decision was made to land the tanks rather than have them at sea the degree marks and artillery scopes on the tanks became redundant. The Centaurs were attached to the Royal Marines for fire support as they had crap engines and were not expected to leave the beaches. As it turned out the Marines kept them along for a bit to help out in the bocage fighting until they were withdrawn back to Britain after about 2 weeks "in country" 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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