A simple modification to AAA

[akdreemer]

ORIGINAL: el cid again

There are also duplicate weapons - apparently - and sometimes this is a waste of a slot but other times it is for a reason.

Much of the duplication lies in the upgrade paths tied to specific units. An example is the .50cal M2. In the US Coast Arty AA rgts (which, btw, are grossly underequipped in the game) the upagrade path would be 16x3" --> 90mm, 32x.50cal --> 40mm, an 32x.50cal --> M51 quad .50cal.

Thus, the CAAA Regiment (Semi-mobile) should have in game terms (before the regiment system was dissolved in mid-43 and replaced by independent BN's):
12/41
12x3" AA
64x.50cal M2(WC)
12x.50cal M2
72xSupport

by 01/43
16x90mm AAG
32x40mm or 37mm AA
32xM51 quad .50
16x.50cal M2
4xSCR
80xSupport

Again, just one example



To further complicate things the US had a home grown 37mm AA gun which was used also throughtout the war, so and additional path must be made to accomondate this. This is the upgrade path for just one unit type!

[akdreemer]

ORIGINAL: el cid again


This set of comments - and the previous one about representing mountings - begins to get at the complexity of the decisions a modder must make. But the SYSTEM in use is NOT to consider mountings at all - that is - you specify the gun and then how many are in a mounting on each line of the ship (or land unit) record. We COULD use different guns - 5 inch for single - 5 inch for twin - etc - but there are nowhere near enough slots to play this game.

Ideally we should be modelling weapons systems instead of just guns. Weapons systems include sensors, fire control, and guns.

[akdreemer]

Maybe we should start with some basic definitions (from Hogg, Anti-Aircraft Artillery):

Maximim Ceiling: The height that a shell can reach when fired at the maximum elevation of the gun, all other restrictions being ignored.

Prectical ceiling: The height that a shell can reach at maximum elevation of the gun and maximum fuze setting.

Effective ceiling: The altitude of an aircraft target that can be engaged for a specific period of time. For example, the height at which an aircraft flying at 350mph can be engaged for 20 seconds before the gun reaches its maximum elevation. Note:This last altitude is important in that other claculations such as rate of fire and CEP of a damaging hit also come into play. In those twenty seconds that the gun fire maybe only 5 rounds. Battery fire of 4 guns would give only 20 rounds. Lets say that the entire unit of 16 guns fire for a total of 80 rounds at a single target. Needless to say that while that target is being engaged any other targets are not, and the possiblity of a critically damaging hit is not very good. Next time I here anyone state that AA fire should be more effective one only needs to look at reality instead of wishing for fantasy.

However, in the games we should strive to use effective altitude but herein lies the delimma. Effective ceiling varies with target speed and elevation. It stands to reason that slower, higher flying targets can be engaged at a higher altitude, whereas fast targets can be be only engaged down to a mimimum altitude. We must determine what targets a gun was designed to engage. This will suggest that other targets, especially if they are faster and fly lower than the intended will not be successfully engaged. Other factor come into play, such as engaging a crossing target.

[el cid again]

Ideally we should be modelling weapons systems instead of just guns. Weapons systems include sensors, fire control, and guns.

Yep. We need to model sonar, MAD, snorkels, ECM sets, lots of things we do not.