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For me it is the 8-barrel QF 2-lbr pom-pom gun.



Designed mainly because at the end of WW1, the UK had millions of spare 2-lb shells that didn't want to go to waste.

The round was relatively low velocity, which restricted its range and effectiveness. However, available in 1, 2, 4 and 8-barrel mounts, this weapon equipped most of the Royal Navy throughout WW2 and shot down a couple of thousand enemy aircraft.

The 8-barrel mount is particularly impressive, weighing over 17 tons and had an ammo capacity of 140 rounds per barrel, allowing a continuous spray of fire at the combined rate of nearly 8 rounds a second.

That's a particularly specific thread title!

40mm Bofors for me. Ground defence of RAF and British Army alike during the second world war and still in use today, including in an about-turn on the AC-130. A ground based anti-aircraft gun attacking ground based targets from an aircraft.

Well, the whole "favorite {military thing}" trend has certainly reached its inevitable and absurd conclusion...

Yeah I can't help but see this one as a little tongue in cheek

Maybe we should just have a "Your Favorite WWII Toys" Thread before someone starts one about our favorite squad support weapons

Lol..

Aye, but the Bofors 40mm quad mount..
Certainly a workhorse of the RN fleet later in the war.

My Grampa was on thr battleships and they had dozens the lengh of the ship in various forms from singles to quad mounts.

They could lay down hundreds of rounds a minute.

Lol, so many militaristic threads.

Acht-Acht


85mm Soviet gun

Wouldn't 85mm put it in the category of heavy AA?

 Peregrine wrote:
Well, the whole "favorite {military thing}" trend has certainly reached its inevitable and absurd conclusion...

Sounds like a challenge right there

simonr1978 wrote:
Wouldn't 85mm put it in the category of heavy AA?

Pfffffff.... Didn't noticed that requirement. This all makes the topic close to the absurd.

Sublimely specific topic!

My favorite is a sort of chain round used by the ISS Yamato. Basically two shells joined by a chain they'd fire out of the main guns to cover a wider area. No idea how useful it was but I love the idea of using a medieval technique to try and keep battleships relevant in the age of air war.

My favourite is the 3-line rifle M1891 Mosin-Nagant.


Because everything is a light AA piece when you're being bombed by the Luftwaffe.

40mm bofor.

No love for the Browning Quadmount? Sure, not the greatest AA weapon...but hey, it was great at dealing with personnel later on!

I prefer my guns mounted on trucks to be Italian.....



Cannone da 90/53 on a Lancia truck
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannone_da_90/53


Edit: I look forward to the "Your Favorite Military Grade Entrenching Tool" thread.....

The starling. Or a seagull, a sparrow, or avian of your choice.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Sublimely specific topic!

My favorite is a sort of chain round used by the ISS Yamato. Basically two shells joined by a chain they'd fire out of the main guns to cover a wider area. No idea how useful it was but I love the idea of using a medieval technique to try and keep battleships relevant in the age of air war.

They also have had massive AA shells fired from main battery that blanketed huge areas in flak. Not every effective.. The gunnery and gun targeting tech like radar was a whilw behind US.

There optical sights where excellent however.

My favorite is the old "Sit down with those aircraft and have a honest-to-goodness talk. Really understand their motivations, share my feelings and see what we can work out".

Flak 36 8.8cm

Because of its versatility and place in history.

The M45 Quadmount with four of the magnificent M2 .50cals. It also happens to be an excellent anti-German weapon too.

Looks like a kid drew it.

As medicore as it was the 20mm oerlikon cannons are a favorite. Also the Sanshikidan of the Yamato class.

This thread is weirdly specific.

But...Flak 88. Godamn were they OP af in Company of Heroes 1.

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
This thread is weirdly specific.

But...Flak 88. Godamn were they OP af in Company of Heroes 1.

As with the Soviet 85mm mentioned earlier, wouldn't the 88 be considered heavy AA rather than medium? I'd have thought that "light to medium" would broadly mean anything from infantry small arms up to about 50mm.

I always liked the concept of the Kugleblitz myself.

For when you want low-riding off road performance, a bit of Dakka to drive off those pesky Stukas and want to look dammed good while strutting across Northern Europe like a boss.

simonr1978 wrote:

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
This thread is weirdly specific.

But...Flak 88. Godamn were they OP af in Company of Heroes 1.

As with the Soviet 85mm mentioned earlier, wouldn't the 88 be considered heavy AA rather than medium? I'd have thought that "light to medium" would broadly mean anything from infantry small arms up to about 50mm.

Besides Bofors, Flak 88 is the only WW2 AA gun that I can name.

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:

simonr1978 wrote:

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
This thread is weirdly specific.

But...Flak 88. Godamn were they OP af in Company of Heroes 1.

As with the Soviet 85mm mentioned earlier, wouldn't the 88 be considered heavy AA rather than medium? I'd have thought that "light to medium" would broadly mean anything from infantry small arms up to about 50mm.

Besides Bofors, Flak 88 is the only WW2 AA gun that I can name.

Same here. So my favorite is probably the Flak 88 I guess.

Bren LMG. Because there's something really special about one guy lining up an enemy plane over iron sights, squeezing the trigger and hoping to get really, really lucky.

 Peregrine wrote:
Well, the whole "favorite {military thing}" trend has certainly reached its inevitable and absurd conclusion...

I'm sure we can think of some more. We haven't touched on auxiliary transport.

So, does it count if it started within the period and then continued on after?

Because if so, the P-51 Mustang is my favorite.

 Xenomancers wrote:
40mm bofor.

Sorry, but this is a pet peeve of mine: Bofors is a proper noun, like Browning or Oerlikon. You don't drop the S for singular, and it's never pronounced as if it were a French word, because it isn't.

It also happens to be my favourite AA gun because my grandmother worked for Bofors at Bofors (the original place the company's named after) in Karlskoga.