arethusa
Posts: 145
Joined: 5/12/2003
From: GTA, Canada
Status: offline
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[QUOTE=Capt. Pixel]
I think, at least on the infantry issue, that the RL conditions would make anybody in the wrong-shaped helmet a target. [/QUOTE]
The wrong shaped helmet means an enemy yes but will not necessarily let you know what kind of enemy.
From any distance farther than pistol shot, a Ranger would look the same as any other American GI. For that matter, the Canucks and the Brits wore almost identical uniforms and any Poles, Free French or other nationalities I've seen used the same uniforms as the Brits after their own countries fell to the Reich and they escaped to England. My guess is that they were issued British uniforms on arrival since their own uniforms weren't available any longer. The only difference would be in the shoulder flashes.
The German army seemed to be different in that the collar insignia for SS and Wermacht was more discernable but even then, I doubt if you could tell at more than say 50 metres, particularly if the unit had been in deployment for a period of time and the uniform was dirty.
Some elite units had distinctive uniforms, like the FJ mottled cammo pattern but in a many cases, even with the Germans, after a unit had been in the field for a while the men tended to wear a variety of different bits and pieces of whatever they could pick up that didn't look like the enemy but would keep them warm and perhaps hidden.
[QUOTE=Capt. Pixel]Once you've driven your enemy into the mud, behind logs, etc. your ability to ID their insignia is reduced. And, at the point that you're exchanging fire, what rank or service branch your shooting at becomes of lesser concern. This kind of specific information would more likely come to light during mop-up. "Wow, Jeb! We greased an SS squad" [/QUOTE]
Quite true. During the firefight, I think the muzzle flashes would hold my attention far more than the shoulder insignia. And the mop-up not only occurs once you occupy the exact same ground where you got at least one of the enemy, but if the battle is still raging, are you going to take the time to inspect the bodies, their insignia and perhaps their dogtags or paybooks to find out who they actually are? :rolleyes:
(That being said, after the battle is over and there is time, it's a wonder what they could come up with. My father told me that after his capture, he only gave them the standard 'name, rank and SN'. They seemed to be satisfied with that for about a week when he was called into the Gestapo leader's office for his daily interrogation. He started to repeat the same answers when the officer told him to "quit playing games" and proceeded to tell my father what his parent's names were, where they lived and what my grandfather did for a living. :eek: Where my father was born and where he went to school, even though he was born in a different country on a different continent from where he went to school. They even knew his class standing. He was amazed at what they knew but apparently when that didn't work to make him talk, he was handed over to the Luftwaffe and sent off to POW camp for the duration. :( They certainly could dig up information once they had the time.)
[QUOTE=Capt. Pixel] As for equipment, there are definitely distinctive profiles presented by different vehicles. But, as stated earlier, many features are not readily discernable just by looking. The T34 maintains it's external profile until up-gunning to the 85mm. Yet there are a number of non-visible improvements in the series. {eg. Fire Control, Armor} The same is true for the US, GE and UK vehicles. (In the case of the UK, there were so many different styles, the Germans probably couldn't keep up anyway. "WTF is that tank??" :D ) [/QUOTE]
Quite true again. I've seen all kinds of different Shermans and even when you do see one clearly, they were hidden by all kinds of sandbags and extra pieces of tread hanging off the sides in an attempt to give them a little bit more protection. Even though the sand was intended to augment the thin armour (sorry Jess :D ), it must have made it harder to recognize. The different [B]types[/B] of tanks would be noticable but less likely the different [B]marks[/B] of that type.
German tanks often had a variety of different bits of armoured skirts, ziggurat (sp) antimagnetic coating and so on that would also serve to hide the true identity. Just like the assorted bits of uniform that a unit in the field tends to collect, my guess is that the tankers of all armies tended to grab any bits and pieces of equipment that could prove useful.
Then again, it also seems to be common practice to add bits of the local flora to the tank to help hide it among the foliage. Once the AFV was spotted, even though you knew where it was, you still might not have been able to figure out [B]what[/B] it was.
[QUOTE=Capt. Pixel] It [I]is[/I] nice that this game has so much flexibility so as to allow one to modify features, such as these, to suit individual perspectives. :cool: [/QUOTE]
For sure. One thing that I've seen in some of the pre-made scenarios is individual names for the tanks. Like "Holy Roller" or "Thunderer" on actual Shermans that I've seen in parks or "Greif" that was apparently the name on the side of Rommel's personal HT in N. Africa.
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"Good military intelligence is worth at least as much as an extra regiment."
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