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Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






Please feel free to add your own to the thread.

"My center is giving way, my right is retreating, situation excellent, I am attacking."
General Ferdinand Foch, later Marshal, 1914.

''Scratch one flattop!'' - Lt. Commander Robert E. Dixon, later Admiral, May 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea.

"Take her down!" - Last command of Commander Howard W. Gilmore, USN, commanding the Gato-class submarine USS Growler, 1943.

The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.” - General George Smith Patton Jr

Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in de
Boom! Leman Russ Commander






"Klotzen, nicht Kleckern!", Heinz Guderian, WW2 Germany

=> meaning something along the line "go big or go home". Refered to approach of concentrating the tanks (and forces in general) to achieve a certain goal with overwelming force instead of distributing ("kleckern" ) them along the whole frontline. Regardless of Guderians Character it proved a pretty successful principle and the saying is still alive in the german language.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/10/26 08:05:11


~6550 build and painted
819 build and painted
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Made in gb
Leader of the Sept







We go to Iraq to liberate not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country. We are entering Iraq to free a people and the only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Show respect for them.

There are some who are alive at this moment who will not be alive shortly. Those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send. As for the others I expect you to rock their world. Wipe them out if that is what they choose. But if you are ferocious in battle remember to be magnanimous in victory.

Iraq is steeped in history. It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood and the birthplace of Abraham. Tread lightly there. You will see things that no man could pay to see and you will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright people than the Iraqis. You will be embarrassed by their hospitality even though they have nothing. Don't treat them as refugees for they are in their own country. Their children will be poor, in years to come they will know that the light of liberation in their lives was brought by you.

If there are casualties of war then remember that when they woke up and got dressed in the morning they did not plan to die this day. Allow them dignity in death. Bury them properly and mark their graves.

It is my foremost intention to bring every single one of you out alive but there may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign. We will put them in their sleeping bags and send them back. There will be no time for sorrow.

The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his nemesis and that we are bringing about his rightful destruction. There are many regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are stoking the fires of hell for Saddam. He and his forces will be destroyed by this coalition for what they have done. As they die they will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show them no pity.

It is a big step to take another human life. It is not to be done lightly. I know of men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts, I can assure you they live with the Mark of Cain upon them. If someone surrenders to you then remember they have that right in international law and ensure that one day they go home to their family.

The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please.

If you harm the regiment or its history by over-enthusiasm in killing or in cowardice, know it is your family who will suffer. You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest for your deeds will follow you down through history. We will bring shame on neither our uniform or our nation.

[Regarding the use by Saddam of chemical or biological weapons] It is not a question of if, it's a question of when. We know he has already devolved the decision to lower commanders, and that means he has already taken the decision himself. If we survive the first strike we will survive the attack.

As for ourselves, let's bring everyone home and leave Iraq a better place for us having been there.

Our business now is north.

-Col Tim Collins OBE

Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!

Terranwing - w3;d1;l1
51st Dunedinw2;d0;l0
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

‘I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you feth with me, I’ll kill you all.’
- General Mattis

"“I spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.”
- Smedley Butler


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Made in us
Executing Exarch




"Nuts!"

- General McAuliffe, US 101st Airborne Division, Battle of Bastogne



Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have
striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The
hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.
In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on
other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war
machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of
Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well
equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of
1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats,
in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their
strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home
Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions
of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.
The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to
Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in
battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great
and noble undertaking.


SIGNED: Dwight D. Eisenhower

   
Made in us
Leutnant





Louisville, KY, USA

"So…you have to have luck…and eyes in your head…and a Jagdpanther… and a great crew!"
— Oberfeldwebel Hermann Bix

"We stared at each other without moving; we were literally transfixed. Then, quite slowly, the rigid
mask of the Russian started to loosen up. A slight, suppressed smile slitted over the weather-beaten,
yellowish face; it remained hidden in his eyes. The whites of his teeth shimmered through the brownish
lips. A white breath cloud formed in front of his face. From far, far away it seemed to me that a
whispered word fluttered towards me. It hit me like a bolt of lightning. All of my senses, stretched to
the breaking point, took it what he was tossing my way: 'Woina*–pfui!' He actually didn't say 'pfui.'
Instead, he spit out to the side with a contempt that came completely from the heart.

You could have knocked me over with a feather. I had anticipated everything but that. Deeply
embarrassed, I looked at him and looked back into those warm and good eyes. Eyes that had no
hate. Eyes that were not afraid. They were flashing in anger, but the anger was not directed towards me.

I didn't speak his language, and he didn't speak mine. Despite that, I understood him. I knew what his
heart was saying. We kept up that silent conversation for a while. We attempted to know one another
better. We had so much to say and, at the same time, didn't need a single word.

Never before in my life had I burned the image of a face into my soul so quickly as that of the Russian,
who stood within my reach and yet was till a world away from me. His submachine gun was still at the
ready, but it was no longer pointed at my breast.

He moved back a few steps while still facing in my direction. He said, 'Woina,' one more time and then
spit into the snow off to the side in an unmistakable gesture. It was not in my direction. It was as if he
wanted to say: 'I don't mean you!' Then he turned around and went back the way he had come, light on
his feet and without paying any attention to me. I was still standing there, a pillar of salt. Subconsciously
at first, I put my pistol back in my overcoat pocket with clammy hands.

After about fifty meters, he stopped, smiled from his very soul, waved to me like a high0spirited boy, slung his
submachine gun around his breast, and disappeared slowly into the underbrush.

I simultaneously felt really lousy and unspeakably happy. My picture of the world had received a little rip in it."
— Oberwachtmeister Hans Schäufler about his encounter with a Soviet soldier near Chatkowo
* Woina - transliteration of the Russian for the word "war"

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/10/27 19:55:15


 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






“The Devonshires Held this Trench, The Devonshires Hold it Still”
- Epitaph of 8th & 9th Battalions, Devonshire Regiment, 4 July 1916 {After the survivors were able to retrieve their comrades for burial. Original wooden cross stolen, replaced by a stone memorial in the 1980s.}

“The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.”
- Air Marshal Arthur “Bomber” Harris, RAF 1942

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

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Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch




dorset

Sweat saves blood,
Blood saves lives
brains saves both.

Ewin Rommel.

the first line was a common saying in the German army at the time, a reminder to put the effort in and "Do it right the first time", to dig your foxholes as deep as they told you, because when the bombs started falling, their wasn't going to be time to make it deeper.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/11/05 20:17:31


To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Coven of XVth 2000pts
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Made in fr
Pyromaniac Hellhound Pilot





France

"My body be walked upon, rather than stepping backwards"
"You are a sacrificed generation. Tomorrow, you'll all be dead."

Colonel Michon, 1940.

The dude rallied the trainees of the Cavalry school of Saumur, which he at the time commanded to resist the German advance for three days, rather than surrender. THAT is pretty badass. And said trainees held up 3 days against the Wehrmacht, having all joined willingly and with nothing but their training weaponry and equipement.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/11/15 12:22:34


40k: Necrons/Imperial Guard/ Space marines
Bolt Action: Germany/ USA
Project Z.

"The Dakka Dive Bar is the only place you'll hear what's really going on in the underhive. Sure you might not find a good amasec but they grill a mean groxburger. Just watch for ratlings being thrown through windows and you'll be alright." Ciaphas Cain, probably.  
   
Made in us
Executing Exarch




"After the demise of the best Airborne plan, a most terrifying effect occurs on the battlefield. This effect is known as the rule of the LGOPs (Little Groups of Paratroopers). This is, in its purest form, small groups of pissed-off 19 year old American paratroopers. They are well trained. They are armed to the teeth and lack serious adult supervision. They collectively remember the Commander's intent as "March to the sound of the guns and kill anyone who is not dressed like you" — or something like that. Happily they go about the day's work..."

The source for the above is usually listed as unknown.


"And those machine guns were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around me something awful. And the Germans were yelling orders. You never heard such a racket in all of your life. I didn’t have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush… As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them. There were over thirty of them in continuous action, and all I could do was touch the Germans off just as fast as I could. I was sharp shooting… All the time I kept yelling at them to come down. I didn’t want to kill any more than I had to. But it was they or I. And I was giving them the best I had."

- Sgt. Alvin York, describing an action in which he (while still a corporal) fought and captured a large number of German Soldiers by himself in October 1918


“Well buddy, just pull that vehicle behind me. I’m the 82nd Airborne and this is as far as the bastards are going.”

- PFC Martin, 325th Glider Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, to a retreating American tank destroyer, December 1944

(there's at least one account of this that claims that Bill Rogers, the son of Will Rogers, was the commander of that tank destroyer)
   
Made in gb
Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch




dorset



"The 75(mm gun) is firing. The 37(mm gun) is firing, but it is traversed round the wrong way. The Browning (machine gun) is jammed. I am saying "Driver, advance" on the A set, and the driver, who can’t hear me, is reversing. And as I look over the top of the turret and see twelve enemy tanks fifty yards away . . . . someone hands me a cheese sandwich."

(British tank commander, Western Desert, 1942)

truly a great example of the chaos of combat and the lack of situational awareness that plagues many soldiers.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Coven of XVth 2000pts
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Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






xerxeskingofking wrote:


"The 75(mm gun) is firing. The 37(mm gun) is firing, but it is traversed round the wrong way. The Browning (machine gun) is jammed. I am saying "Driver, advance" on the A set, and the driver, who can’t hear me, is reversing. And as I look over the top of the turret and see twelve enemy tanks fifty yards away . . . . someone hands me a cheese sandwich."

(British tank commander, Western Desert, 1942)

truly a great example of the chaos of combat and the lack of situational awareness that plagues many soldiers.
Yes it is. Is it from a book about the North African campaign?


Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
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Made in gb
Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch




dorset

 Ancestral Hamster wrote:
Spoiler:
xerxeskingofking wrote:


"The 75(mm gun) is firing. The 37(mm gun) is firing, but it is traversed round the wrong way. The Browning (machine gun) is jammed. I am saying "Driver, advance" on the A set, and the driver, who can’t hear me, is reversing. And as I look over the top of the turret and see twelve enemy tanks fifty yards away . . . . someone hands me a cheese sandwich."

(British tank commander, Western Desert, 1942)

truly a great example of the chaos of combat and the lack of situational awareness that plagues many soldiers.
Yes it is. Is it from a book about the North African campaign?



Ive seen it bandied about the internet a few times, and I first encounted it at The Tank Museum in Bovington, southern england, where they have plastered it on one of the walls.

A quick google says its was a quote by a "British Lieutenant named Ken Giles", and its dated to shortly before the 2nd battle of El Alamein (presumably either 1st El Alamein or the skirmishing between the two battles).

form the text, it's clear he was commanding a American-built M3 Grant/Lee*, as no other tank in the allied inventory had a 37mm and a 75mm. the problem with talking to the diver was apparently a common one, often mentioned in british tank crew memoirs**. its due to the way the radios were set up, with two different radios (normally tuned to your platoon net and your company net), and the tank intercom, all being fed into the tank commanders headset, with a three position selector switch being used to pick which to speak on. it was very easy to either knock it to the wrong setting or just forget which you were on, which lead to issues like the tank commander giving order to his crewmen over platoon net, or making a lenghty recce report to his gunner becuase he's still on IC.

its worth noting that the same system is still in use on modern british AFVs, but doesnt seem to have quite the same problem. i think the difference is modern IC systems can support both full duplex traffic (ie, the driver can interrupt and say "your still on IC, boss"), and they have live mike functionality (ie the commander can just talk to use IC, but needs to use his push-to-talk button to use the radios, thus making it harder for him to confuse the two)


*same basic tank, the Grant had a british designed turret installed. they operated both the Grant and the Lee.

**or rather, i know of it form British memoirs. it might be found in russian, american and german accounts as well but i havent read those.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/11/18 16:13:55


To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Coven of XVth 2000pts
The Blades of Ruin 2,000pts Watch Company Rho 1650pts
 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






@xerxeskingofking: Thank you for the in-depth reply. If those difficulties were due to the design, then it's likely Soviet & US tank commanders had that same problem. I've read that the French tanks had a problem that the turret was one man, which meant the tank commander had to do everything himself, with the loss of effectiveness that entails. [Load, aim, fire, and still command the driver.]

*****
War is a series of catastrophes that results in a victory.
- Georges Clemenceau. Paris Peace Conference, 1919

In the first six to twelve months of a war with the United States and Great Britain I will run wild and win victory upon victory. But then, if the war continues after that, I have no expectation of success.

- Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, IJN

The time has come to deal the enemy a terrific blow in Western Europe.
The blow will be struck by the combined sea, land and air forces of the Allies together constituting one great Allied team, under the supreme command of General Eisenhower.
On the eve of this great adventure I send my best wishes to every soldier in the Allied team.
To us is given the honour of striking a blow for freedom which will live in history; and in the better days that lie ahead men will speak with pride of our doings. We have a great and a righteous cause.
Let us pray that " The Lord Mighty in Battle " will go forth with our armies, and that His special providence will aid us in the struggle.
I want every soldier to know that I have complete confidence in the successful outcome of the operations that we are now about to begin.
With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory.
And, as we enter the battle, let us recall the words of a famous soldier spoken many years ago :
"He either fears his fate too much,
Or his deserts are small,
Who dare not put it to the touch,
To win or lose it all. "
Good luck to each one of you. And good hunting on the main land of Europe.

- Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, Eve of D-Day Message to the 21st Army Group

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Dropzone Commander: PHR
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Made in gb
Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch




dorset

 Ancestral Hamster wrote:
@xerxeskingofking: Thank you for the in-depth reply. If those difficulties were due to the design, then it's likely Soviet & US tank commanders had that same problem. I've read that the French tanks had a problem that the turret was one man, which meant the tank commander had to do everything himself, with the loss of effectiveness that entails. [Load, aim, fire, and still command the driver.]


your welcome. I happen to be a serving soldier in the British army, AND i am bit of a history nerd.


thinking about it some more, i know that some armies and tanks had a different solution that avoided the problem but encounted different ones, namely they employed a separate radioman to operate the radio (i know the US M3 Lee was built like this, before they switched to the "radios used by the TC" in the M4 Sherman). this avoided the possibility of channel confusion, but added a extra step in the flow of information and another possible breakdown point between the TC and the radioman (one speaks and the other doesnt hear, etc), especially as the radioman was often the first position that was left empty if they were short of crew.

the one man turrets were a real issue for the french, as were two man turrets on a lot of other tanks as well. basically, the biggest issue was, again, situational awareness. the biggest flaw with the French turrets was that their wasnt a way for the TC to look out without sticking his head out of the large rear hatch on the turret. Inside the turret, they could only look though the gunsights, which (naturally) had a narrow field of vision. It was very diffcult to translate what they could see form outside the turret into what little they could see inside the turret, so they were very slow to spot, lay and aim at a target that presented itself. then they had to duck down and scrabble around to find a new round to reload the gun, stick thier head out of the turret to re-acquire the target, and then lay on it agian. While hes doing all this, hes basically blind to anything else that might be happening around him, like a new threat that might have appeared.

in two man turrets, it was somewhat better, depending on the division of labour in the turret. theirs two ways to run a two man turret (gunner/TC and loader, Gunner and TC/loader).

basically, by having a gunner and a TC, the TC can keep his eyes on the target, and the surrounding area for new threats, while the gunner stays at his gunsight, and is talked onto the target by the TC ("traverse left......on! red-painted barn, 500 yards, right hand corner, AT gun! load HE and fire!"). the problem is the TC then need to duck in and reload the gun, then get his head up and reacquire the target.

The Russians had a tendency to prefer the TC/Gunner + loader version of two man turret, which was arguably much worse. it was better than the one man turret, but it still had the issues with the TC/Gunner trying to relate what he could see though his gunsight with what he saw when he stuck his head up. a lot of the german accounts of 1941 remark that the Russian tanks were "almost blind". their is a account of a KV-1 tank that was hit 30+ times by german 37mm AT guns, and still operational. its often held up as a example of how tough the KV-1 was, but the flip side is the german AT gun was able to sit there, in direct line of sight, and plink 30+ rounds into the tank without the tank being able to work out where they were and shooting back.


the three man crew avoids all this, as the gunner and the TC can both keep thier eyes on the target, and thus the targeting process is much, much faster.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Coven of XVth 2000pts
The Blades of Ruin 2,000pts Watch Company Rho 1650pts
 
   
Made in us
Executing Exarch




In addition to the one man turret, French tanks had another problem. The turret hatch was on the back of the turret instead of the top. The commander could only look around through a rotating vision slit on top of the turret.
   
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Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch




dorset

"Gentlemen, the battle against the Scharnhorst has ended in victory for us. I hope that any of you who are ever called upon to lead a ship into action against an opponent many times superior, will command your ship as gallantly as the Scharnhorst was commanded today."


Admiral Bruce Fraser, 22nd December, 1943

the Scharnhorst had attempted to attack a convoy off the North Cape of Norway, in terrible weather. the convoy was defended by the HMS Duke of York, a modern King George V class battleship that was in itself capable of beating the Scharnhorst, as well has a quartet of cruisers and several destroyers. The British ships all had superior radar to the german ship, and a lucky shot in the first few minutes disabled the Scharnhorst's primary radar system, leaving her fighting blind in a snowstorm trying to sight off the muzzle flash of British ships otherwise invisible in the driving sleet. Needless to say, she was sunk, with only 36 survivors out of a crew of nearly 2,000. But she fought as best she could, and again proved to the British that the Kriegsmarine, in the words of the then-commander of the Kriegsmarine, Admiral Erich Raeder "that they know how to die gallantly" .

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

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Battleship Captain





Bristol (UK)

Accounts of naval 'gun duels' are insane, particularly in WW1/2. Crews absolutely fighting to the death and it's absolutely stunning to have the engagements then concluded with something like "of the thousands of crew, a couple dozen survived".
I really don't envy those boys, but by gods do I respect them.
   
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Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch




dorset

considering the weight of fire being thrown around, its not hugely surprising how deadly it was.

HMS Duke of York, mentioned before, had a main battery of ten 14 inch guns, each firing a 720Kg shell, for a broadside weight of 1,080 Kg. to put that in perspective, the standard field gun used by the British was a 25 pounder, which fired a shell of 11.5 Kg. To match a single broadside of the Duke of York, you would need 877 25pndr guns, or about the artillery firepower of 12 infantry divisions.

and thats just the main guns.

the fighting in Normandy bogged down fairly close to the cost, and several german attempts at counter-attacks were stopped by naval shellfire, as the germans simply had no answer to that amount of firepower.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Coven of XVth 2000pts
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Made in us
Executing Exarch




The second largest guns that the US Army used were 8-inch guns (203mm; the largest were 240mm). The typical USN heavy cruiser carried nine of those guns.

The modern USN battleships of the era carried nine 16-inch guns. The older USN battleships (which included some from WWI) carried a full dozen 14-inch guns.
   
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dorset

The difference is greater than that simple comparison implies, as not all 8 inch guns are made equal.

The 8 inch gun, m1 that you refer to had a shell weight of 108Kg

The 8 inch guns on the Baltimore class heavy cruisers built by the us during the war had a shell weight of 152Kg, and due to the machinery of the turret, naval guns had a higher rate of fire than the land based guns.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

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Slaanesh Havoc with Blastmaster





New Orleans

"Neptune's Inferno" has some absolutely grisly combat reports from the Guadalcanal battles...
frightening to read (especially as a former Naval Officer)

also the reports on the naval gunfire used in the invasion of Sicily is mind boggling in its volume of fire
   
Made in fr
Pyromaniac Hellhound Pilot





France

xerxeskingofking wrote:

.
its worth noting that the same system is still in use on modern british AFVs, but doesnt seem to have quite the same problem. i think the difference is modern IC systems can support both full duplex traffic (ie, the driver can interrupt and say "your still on IC, boss"), and they have live mike functionality (ie the commander can just talk to use IC, but needs to use his push-to-talk button to use the radios, thus making it harder for him to confuse the two)
.


Until tank commanders sits on push to talk button so every on in the company can hear you takling trash while you wonder "why is every one so damn silent?"






Automatically Appended Next Post:
Eumerin wrote:
In addition to the one man turret, French tanks had another problem. The turret hatch was on the back of the turret instead of the top. The commander could only look around through a rotating vision slit on top of the turret.


To be honest they could, sitting on the hatch and looking around, but getting your head out of your tank, while somtimes necessary, is not really advise, you are a priority target and become vulnerable to a whole lot of battlefield threats. While they needed to get out for lack of our modern optics (which are great yet not always enough), I doubt you could actually safely do it right in the heat of battle.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/25 07:43:45


40k: Necrons/Imperial Guard/ Space marines
Bolt Action: Germany/ USA
Project Z.

"The Dakka Dive Bar is the only place you'll hear what's really going on in the underhive. Sure you might not find a good amasec but they grill a mean groxburger. Just watch for ratlings being thrown through windows and you'll be alright." Ciaphas Cain, probably.  
   
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Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch




dorset

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
xerxeskingofking wrote:

.
its worth noting that the same system is still in use on modern british AFVs, but doesnt seem to have quite the same problem. i think the difference is modern IC systems can support both full duplex traffic (ie, the driver can interrupt and say "your still on IC, boss"), and they have live mike functionality (ie the commander can just talk to use IC, but needs to use his push-to-talk button to use the radios, thus making it harder for him to confuse the two)
.


Until tank commanders sits on push to talk button so every on in the company can hear you takling trash while you wonder "why is every one so damn silent?"






Automatically Appended Next Post:
Eumerin wrote:
In addition to the one man turret, French tanks had another problem. The turret hatch was on the back of the turret instead of the top. The commander could only look around through a rotating vision slit on top of the turret.


To be honest they could, sitting on the hatch and looking around, but getting your head out of your tank, while somtimes necessary, is not really advise, you are a priority target and become vulnerable to a whole lot of battlefield threats. While they needed to get out for lack of our modern optics (which are great yet not always enough), I doubt you could actually safely do it right in the heat of battle.



yhea, they thought about that. the button is on a chest piece, which sits on the sternum (ie, the front of the ribcage), and is in a recessed space, so its quite hard to accidently press it.


on the "sticking your head out" thing, yhea, the french turrets let you sit out and look around, which was great for non-combat use, but crap in combat. However, many tank commanders form many nations would prefer to fight head out, because the situational awareness they gained form doing so was so much better that it outweighed the personnel risk (ie, the whole tank was safer, including them, because they could see and react to threats quicker). I refer you to my comment earlier about the russain tank that was so blind when buttoned up, the Germans were able to put 30 rounds into it without being engaged in return.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Coven of XVth 2000pts
The Blades of Ruin 2,000pts Watch Company Rho 1650pts
 
   
Made in fr
Pyromaniac Hellhound Pilot





France

Well dont know how modern britisch Tanks Work, all my assumptions are based on being a Leclerc tank commander. I guess there may well be a few differences.

But still, I'd avoir fighting headout as much as possible, although at the time of WW2 that maybe more frenquently became an option.

40k: Necrons/Imperial Guard/ Space marines
Bolt Action: Germany/ USA
Project Z.

"The Dakka Dive Bar is the only place you'll hear what's really going on in the underhive. Sure you might not find a good amasec but they grill a mean groxburger. Just watch for ratlings being thrown through windows and you'll be alright." Ciaphas Cain, probably.  
   
Made in gb
Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch




dorset

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
Well dont know how modern britisch Tanks Work, all my assumptions are based on being a Leclerc tank commander. I guess there may well be a few differences.

But still, I'd avoir fighting headout as much as possible, although at the time of WW2 that maybe more frenquently became an option.


well, i work with current, in service British armoured vehicles, and as far as i know, the pressel unit i use for my APC variant (AFV 436, a bulldog variant) is the same as the one used by armoured corps proper, as its part of the same radio/IC suite (bowman). and I agree that modern tanks are better for not needing the commander to fight head out, but it was definately something done historically.


I dont know anything about how the Leclerc's IC and comm system is setup, and it is perfectly possible to do, as i have seen it with the non-commanders push to talk switchboxes we use, just that the commanders have a different version designed to make it less likely.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/27 16:53:37


To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Coven of XVth 2000pts
The Blades of Ruin 2,000pts Watch Company Rho 1650pts
 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut



London

Le pantalon rouge, c'est la France! (The red trousers are France!) Eugène Étienne, former French Minister of War, in reply to Adolphe Messimy's call for reform of the French Army's uniform.

"I do not say, my Lords, that the French will not come. I say only they will not come by sea." John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/27 17:16:31


 
   
Made in us
Executing Exarch




 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
Well dont know how modern britisch Tanks Work, all my assumptions are based on being a Leclerc tank commander. I guess there may well be a few differences.

But still, I'd avoir fighting headout as much as possible, although at the time of WW2 that maybe more frenquently became an option.


Fighting with your head safely inside the tank is always preferable. But when you know that someone is shooting at you, but the vision slots don't seem to quite show enough, sometimes poking your head out of the hatch to quickly figure out where the enemy is turns out to be the safest option.


The first thing the Germans did with the French tanks they captured after the French surrender was to cut the tops off of the rotating vision slits in the French turrets, and turn them into copulas so that the tank commanders could take a quick look around when they needed to.


I also suspect that tanks like the LeClerc you mentioned have monitors that provide much better visibility than the old vision slits.
   
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Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

"My God, I wish we had [the] 9th Australian Division with us this morning [D-Day]."
—Major General Freddie de Guingand, Chief of Staff, Allied Land-force Headquarters Europe, 1944.

9th Australian fought in North Africa & is famous for holding Tobruk for 6 months (April-Sept. 1941) against repeated & determined German attacks.
Overall they suffered 3k & some odd casualties, but in the end they still held Tobruk.

   
Made in us
Fighter Pilot




The conversations about tanks and weight of naval gunfire are quite interesting, and this is not in the least a "damning with faint praise" comment - I really enjoy these "digressions". Bravo, and thanks.

Anyway, this is my current favorite at the moment, from a book about WW1, in a chapter titled "Natural Miseries":

The world wasn't made in a day,
And Eve didn't ride in a bus,
But most of the world's in a sandbag,
And the rest of it's plastered on us.


(it is literally a quotation of some Tommies' doggeral, so counts for the purposes of this thread! )
   
 
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