Can you do damage to any tanks w/ a 5o. cal machine gun unit ??

max · Post by **max** » Wed Dec 20, 2000 9:57 am

was just curious , i know a 30 cal wont do much but can a 50.cal do any damage at all ??? thx

Captn_Jack · Post by **Captn_Jack** » Wed Dec 20, 2000 10:01 am

Originally posted by max:
was just curious , i know a 30 cal wont do much but can a 50.cal do any damage at all ??? thx

Most certainly! Shoot the tracks right off them!

CJ

Flashfyre · Post by **Flashfyre** » Wed Dec 20, 2000 10:19 am

Of course. Shoot the tracks off(suspension damage), knock out the radio(radio mast destroyed), the toolbox, even the sights(optics hit). Rare, but I have seen it happen. More often on lighter armored units than the big guys, but it is possible.

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panda124c · Post by **panda124c** » Wed Dec 20, 2000 6:20 pm

Originally posted by max:
was just curious , i know a 30 cal wont do much but can a 50.cal do any damage at all ??? thx

If you will press the space bar while the .50 cal unit is selected you will see the armor penatration table. The .30 cal does not have this. I love'em the .50 cal can suppress HT's and sometimes even kill them, against AC's they are also good. They also do a great job on inf.

AmmoSgt · Post by **AmmoSgt** » Wed Dec 20, 2000 7:11 pm

The U S 50cal M2 heavy machine gun WAS in fact orginally suposed to be an Anti-tank gun much like an anti-tank rifle in other armies , only full auto and belt fed ... but back when that was the thought of the day , Tanks didn't have much armor ... oh well always good to have a plan B the 50 cal is STILL one heck of a gun

BA Evans · Post by **BA Evans** » Wed Dec 20, 2000 7:30 pm

The .50 cal is very deadly against scout car, tankettes, and halftracks.

Against 'real' tanks, about the best you can get is suspension damage.

BA Evans

Lou · Post by **Lou** » Wed Dec 20, 2000 8:51 pm

Originally posted by Flashfyre:
Of course. Shoot the tracks off(suspension damage), knock out the radio(radio mast destroyed), the toolbox, even the sights(optics hit). Rare, but I have seen it happen. More often on lighter armored units than the big guys, but it is possible.

I can understand why damage to the tracks, optics, and radio mast are bad things. But, what does a toolbox "kill" do?

Lou

Dedas · Post by **Dedas** » Wed Dec 20, 2000 8:55 pm

Thats a very good question...

Bob Minge · Post by **Bob Minge** » Wed Dec 20, 2000 10:10 pm

Is a crew able to "fix" a tank if the tank had minor damage and you let it sit for a couple of turns? If 'yes', then they probable could not if the toolbox was damaged.

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Tanker Bob

Musashi · Post by **Musashi** » Wed Dec 20, 2000 10:32 pm

Originally posted by Lou:
I can understand why damage to the tracks, optics, and radio mast are bad things. But, what does a toolbox "kill" do?

Lou

You may not have seen this happen, or it whizzed right by you. You immobilized units repair themselves occasionally and become mobile again. I see this about once every couple of games. Most common (for me) has been repairing mine damage. The tool box may make this possible or enhance the probability of success.

Musashi

Scipio Africanus · Post by **Scipio Africanus** » Wed Dec 20, 2000 10:37 pm

I often find that concentrated .50Cal fire combined with mortar strikes (even just ~80mm) goes a long way toward slowing a tank platoon down- If they're slow, then they're not doing what tanks do best- moving, exploiting etc.

I discovered the real effect of .50Cal on armor in an email game in which I found a pair of Panthers moving rapidly on my right flank- I wasn't in good position to stop this advance, so I threw everything I could at the tanks - a pair of Dshk's and an 81mm mortar. The Dshk's slowed the tanks down so that it became much easier to get the mortars on target, which in turn further slowed the Panthers by suppressing them.

It took around 10 turns to actually land a mortar on one of the tanks with killing power, but I would have been fine even had this not happened- The Panthers were tactically eliminated from the engagement by a pair of Dshk's and a mortar (I concentrated my fire on one- the second tank moved away into a treeline very early)- this was a bit of luck, but when in trouble and unable to move one unit, often players will try to move another to safety (especially a valuable tank)- he didn't know what else I had in the treeline, and the 50Cal's were putting on a good show.

Anyway- the 50cal is very useful against tanks- if you concentrate your fire and combine it with artillery, you will get tank "mission kills" and stall your opponents advances. The Germans don't have the 50cal- or a decent troop halftrack: two things oft overlooked that seriously inhibit their effectiveness.

Cheers,

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Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus

Kluckenbill · Post by **Kluckenbill** » Wed Dec 20, 2000 10:39 pm

If at all possible I recommend that all gamers visit the Armor Museum at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland (but not in the winter, its mostly outdoors.) Since all of the non-US tanks were drug off of various battlefields, you can get a good idea of the effects of ordnance on tanks.

Most of the German tanks there show the effects of aerial strafing as well as air burst artillery. I think I can usually tell one from the other, but not always.

Anyway, to the point of this post: You can see that the .50 cal MGs of Allied aircraft did a lot of damage to all sorts of things on the German tanks, such as fenders, spaced armor etc. but didn't penetrate any of the'real' armor.

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Target, Cease Fire !

Musashi · Post by **Musashi** » Wed Dec 20, 2000 10:42 pm

Originally posted by max:
was just curious , i know a 30 cal wont do much but can a 50.cal do any damage at all ??? thx

I routinely kill Half-tracks and all forms of lightly armored and open top vehicals. The German Army is quite vulnerable to this due to the large number of open tops! I try to buy the "A" variants of US HTs for this reason. The "Ma' Duece" turns them into killers. DO NOT take this weapon lightly when the other guy is playing the US or Soviets. The 50 also plays a role in my absolute favorite US vehical the M15. I've had the M15's 50s kill Marders and SIGs after the 37 missed!

Ma' duece rules!
Musashi

Flashfyre · Post by **Flashfyre** » Thu Dec 21, 2000 12:00 am

The toolbox, if hit and destroyed, negates any chance of repair. So, if you immobilize the track, or knock out the radio, the crew is unable to repair them.

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The Motor Pool
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Lou · Post by **Lou** » Thu Dec 21, 2000 1:04 am

Originally posted by Flashfyre:
The toolbox, if hit and destroyed, negates any chance of repair. So, if you immobilize the track, or knock out the radio, the crew is unable to repair them.

The detail level of this game never ceases to amaze me. I wonder what would happen if the crews ration cases are on the side of the tank when it gets hit.

Lou

Hussar · Post by **Hussar** » Thu Dec 21, 2000 1:09 am

Speaking from personal experience (ex Chieftain/Centurion crewman). If your sleeping bag which was stoed in the turret basket to dry out, gets hit by shell fragments when you have been too close to the "dropshorts" it really does p*$*! you off!(spoils your night's sleep and the feathers get everywhere!!!)

Hussar ain't called Hussar for nothing!

bravo.john · Post by **bravo.john** » Thu Dec 21, 2000 2:06 am

I love using the .50 on light armor, pops them right open. As for heavier armor, I can often suppress them enough to button them up, then I just waltz in a squad for a close assault. *BOOM* Scratch one enemy tank.

The all time strangest battle result I have ever seen was a front hull kill on a Vickers 6 ton tank with a .30! cal machinegun from 100m.

Flashfyre · Post by **Flashfyre** » Thu Dec 21, 2000 8:26 am

The detail level of this game never ceases to amaze me. I wonder what would happen if the crews ration cases are on the side of the tank when it gets hit.

Lou

Uhh....they'd probably call a cease-fire and go shake the hands of the crew that just blew their C-rations all over the landscape!

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The Motor Pool
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kmcferren@cvn.net

Igor · Post by **Igor** » Thu Dec 21, 2000 10:19 am

The booze and goodies being safely inside the armor with the crew...

RobertMc · Post by **RobertMc** » Fri Dec 22, 2000 2:28 am

Interesting thing happened to me concerning 50 cal HMG and a Jagdpanther. The Jag had evidently thrown a track and was immobilized. I kept hammering it with a 50 cal and in a few turns (five or six, as I recall) the crew abandoned their tank.