Wolverines, Hellcats & Jacksons, Oh My

[BBfanboy]

I suspect the ability to see the target also was considered for Anti-soft. A Bren section would have all-round visibility and could change direction very quickly; the tank turret MG - not so much.

[Ian R]

Didn't Andymac say that they took the LMGs (Brens) out of the Commonwealth infantry sections and put them in the Bren squads? In which case the Matilda has been given an anti-soft less than 11 men with mostly bolt action rifles* (highly reliable and accurate ones, but still).

*And a 2" mortar, i.e, a grenade projector.

[Yaab]

The problem starts with the 75mm Gun, Motor Carriage (GMC) Halftrack (device 1174; 932 in the Philippine Army). The GMC was a stop-gap self-propelled artillery piece and anti-tank gun. It was new to the US army in 1941, and 50 of the first 100 produced were sent to MacArthur in the Philippines. They show up on December 18th, on Bataan, as the Provisional GMC Group (6760) which the US Army Armed Forces Far East (USAFFE) cobbled together from soldiers stripped from anti-aircraft units, plus 3rd Lieutenants from the Philippine Scouts to command gun sections, plus raw Filipino recruits.

In 1942, regular US Army units arrive equipped with the 75mm GMC Halftrack. In some units, those devices eventually upgraded to artillery (device 1186 M7 Priest SP Arty). In others, the GMCs upgraded to self-propelled anti-tank guns (M10 or M18).
When WitP was first overhauled into WitP–AE there were strict limits on the number of new units, bases and devices that could be added. I chose not to have two identical GMC units, each upgrading to different devices. Instead, I set device 1174 to an artillery upgrade (1186) and the first four self-propelled tank battalions arrived in-game already equipped with the M-10 before it was historically available*– in IRL they arrived in theatre equipped with the 75mm Gun GMC Halftrack, then upgraded to tank destroyers in 1944.

Next: The solution


*- This was a unique database problem for the US land OOB. These were the only devices brought in early to skirt the database limitations.

OK, so in scen001 the GMC halftrack unit on Luzon is classified as an artillery unit. However, GMC halftrack's gun range is only 2 in the Editor, thus the GMC unit cannot participate in arty bombardments. The GMC device has armor (armor 10). Since this unit is mostly destroyed on Luzon in the game before M7 Priest device becomes available, it would seem that designating the Luzon GMC unit as a tank-destroyer unit would make more sense gamewise. On the other hand, the GMC unit does not have any withdrawal date so it could be bought out after its destruction and upgraded to SP arty anyway. So, can't the GMC unit be given a withdrawal date .i.e 200-300 days after campaign start and arrive later in the war, this time as an arty unit with SP7 Priest guns?

BTW, it would also make more sense to give this unit the movement allowance of a tank unit. All devices in GMC unit are fully motorised.

[BBfanboy]

It may be that the range for guns to be included in bombardment was reduced to 2K in a patch. I have noticed units with only mortars as guns do participate in bombardments - or at least their unit shows up during the combat resolution of the bombardment.
It has long been an annoyance to me that the Provisional GMC is on a vehicle carriage but does not the the 2X movement bonus that armoured vehicles get. Yes, it is an artillery piece but for movement purposes should have the motorized advantage. IIRC, the Soviet SU-XXX type assault guns are treated as armour.

[Yaab]

Just to clarify.

The previous screenshot is from scen001v5. This is a pre-beta scenario. I have loaded the beta scenario and the GMC gun range is 2 there as well.

BTW, the GMC unit has assault value! It is really weird to see it classed as artillery.

[Yaab]

Well, thought a bit about this unit and it seems designating the GMC as an artillery must reflect the doctrine. The unit was to support the infantry on Luzon, so the devs gave the GMC a movement allowance that almost matches the speed of infantry, thus discouraging players form using the GMC unit as tank/anti-tank unit.

I think I can live with that.

[Alpha77]

Are these issues fixed in the new patch

[Yaab]

Bump.

[byron13]

The Sheridan was my first-ever experience in an armored vehicle. At the end of my year-before-commissioning ROTC training at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina (Ticks! Chiggers!) I got to spend a week with the 82nd Airborne Division's tank battalion as they went through their annual gunnery evaluation ("tank tables").

I attended ROTC advanced camp at Bragg in 1982. Yes, ticks and chiggers; the a**hole of the universe with jack pine and scrub oak. If "scrub oak" doesn't describe the a**hole-ness of the place, nothing will.

Anyway, far and away my most vivid memory of that summer was the LAPES demonstration put on by the 82nd. We were sitting in the bleachers as a C-130 dropped/deposited a Sheridan along what looked to be a straight dirt road or maybe field runway. The Sheridan deployed, the sled immediately caught a corner on something, and the whole thing when tumbling down the road at 150 mph in a cloud of dust and debris. Scratch one Sheridan. Undaunted, the 82nd tried again. In comes another C-130, levels out at 5' - 10', out comes the drogue chute and . . . nothing. The Herc flies by 10' off the ground with a drogue shoot deployed out its rear. Eventually, the Herc runs out of runway and starts to climb. It is at that point (maybe the lifting of the nose?) that the Sheridan deploys from altitude and into the woods, leaving a path of decapitated trees. Scratch two Sheridan. If you've ever watched the first Airbus crash at the Paris Air Show when it flew too slow and mushed into the forest, that's what this looked like. Trees disappearing in lightning fashion in a long path. We cadets, impressed by the extravaganza, could do nothing but yell, "Airborne!" I'm pretty sure those two Sheridans were only good for parts after that, and I determined I would not want to rely on LAPES to supply me with equipment. Hopefully, they practiced this stuff with hulks or retired equipment and not deployable, first-line equipment, though I would expect the end of the show to be a crew of guys cutting the straps and driving off in the Sheridan. Airborne!

[RangerJoe]

The Sheridan was my first-ever experience in an armored vehicle. At the end of my year-before-commissioning ROTC training at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina (Ticks! Chiggers!) I got to spend a week with the 82nd Airborne Division's tank battalion as they went through their annual gunnery evaluation ("tank tables").

I attended ROTC advanced camp at Bragg in 1982. Yes, ticks and chiggers; the a**hole of the universe with jack pine and scrub oak. If "scrub oak" doesn't describe the a**hole-ness of the place, nothing will.

Anyway, far and away my most vivid memory of that summer was the LAPES demonstration put on by the 82nd. We were sitting in the bleachers as a C-130 dropped/deposited a Sheridan along what looked to be a straight dirt road or maybe field runway. The Sheridan deployed, the sled immediately caught a corner on something, and the whole thing when tumbling down the road at 150 mph in a cloud of dust and debris. Scratch one Sheridan. Undaunted, the 82nd tried again. In comes another C-130, levels out at 5' - 10', out comes the drogue chute and . . . nothing. The Herc flies by 10' off the ground with a drogue shoot deployed out its rear. Eventually, the Herc runs out of runway and starts to climb. It is at that point (maybe the lifting of the nose?) that the Sheridan deploys from altitude and into the woods, leaving a path of decapitated trees. Scratch two Sheridan. If you've ever watched the first Airbus crash at the Paris Air Show when it flew too slow and mushed into the forest, that's what this looked like. Trees disappearing in lightning fashion in a long path. We cadets, impressed by the extravaganza, could do nothing but yell, "Airborne!" I'm pretty sure those two Sheridans were only good for parts after that, and I determined I would not want to rely on LAPES to supply me with equipment. Hopefully, they practiced this stuff with hulks or retired equipment and not deployable, first-line equipment, though I would expect the end of the show to be a crew of guys cutting the straps and driving off in the Sheridan. Airborne!

Did they ever teach you how to kill the chiggers? Maybe even not be bothered by them nor the ticks?

[byron13]

Nothing on how to kill the chiggers, and I've occasionally suffered since then from them here in the south. Used to use nail polish, but understand it doesn't work. Hey, if you have a trick, I'd love to hear it.

No, but I remember taking sticks of Cutters and rubbing it around the tops of boots and even rubbing diesel on the boots to keep the ticks away because someone said. I was desperate and would try anything. I don't remember having a tick actually embed in me, but I do remember a guy in our squad bay freaking out when he found a tick embedded on his pecker. That was a good laugh. Ah, the good ole days . . .

[RangerJoe]

Nothing on how to kill the chiggers, and I've occasionally suffered since then from them here in the south. Used to use nail polish, but understand it doesn't work. Hey, if you have a trick, I'd love to hear it.

No, but I remember taking sticks of Cutters and rubbing it around the tops of boots and even rubbing diesel on the boots to keep the ticks away because someone said. I was desperate and would try anything. I don't remember having a tick actually embed in me, but I do remember a guy in our squad bay freaking out when he found a tick embedded on his pecker. That was a good laugh. Ah, the good ole days . . .

I heard about but never used nail polish. I do know that if you eat enough garlic that it keeps the blood sucking females away and that it should keep ticks away.

Tuck in your boots and then wrap double sided sticky tape there to catch those things!