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- 9/5/2003 3:37:00 AM

Procrustes

Posts: 633
Joined: 3/30/2003
From: Upstate
Status: offline

[QUOTE=Frank W.]why do flamethrowers clear mines ?[/QUOTE]

I think it's a glitch in the game system (flamethrowers have an HE equivalence for combat resolution). It's always seemed too gamey for me to use, but I tend to play against the computer.

I believe your chances of setting off a mine are directly correlated with your speed. I've found you can get through most mine fields without damage if you move at one hex per turn.

(in reply to Frank W.)

Post #: 1

- 11/4/2003 6:54:40 AM

arethusa

Posts: 145
Joined: 5/12/2003
From: GTA, Canada
Status: offline

[QUOTE=Frank W.]why do flamethrowers clear mines ?[/QUOTE]
Think of the mines as being tin cans full of explosives (forgetting about the trigger assembly). Would [B]you[/B] want to hold a torch to such a thing?

While there were many different kinds of explosives used, TNT can be given as an example. TNT is actually fairly hard to ignite by heat alone, it takes a lot of it to set it off but once it gets hot enough, it will explode. The usual way to set TNT off is with a detonator that causes compression as well as heat, sort of like a diesel engine.

When I was in the artillery, at the end of an exercise we always had to dispose of the unused cordite. We did this by setting the bags of cordite out in a long line down the middle of a dirt road, each bag touching the next one. Then we went up and lit it. The first time, going up and touching a match to cordite seems like suicide but in fact, it wouldn't explode and was [B]very[/B] hard to get started. Once it did start though, it burned with an intense heat for a long time. We actually used small amounts of cordite sometimes for BBQ lighter to start our campfires.

A man-carried flamethrower just doesn't last long enough to get hot enough to set the TNT off but a vehicle mounted flamer carries a lot more fuel and so can do the job. Onc ethe heat reaches a certain point :D

The disadvantage of flamethrowers is that it creates a hex that will cause you suppression if you end up stopping in it. This will happen with a flametank if the next hex also has mines in it.

An advantage/disadvantage is that the fire also create impenetrable smoke. ;)

_____________________________

"Good military intelligence is worth at least as much as an extra regiment."

(in reply to Frank W.)

Post #: 2

- 11/5/2003 11:11:26 PM

john g

Posts: 984
Joined: 10/6/2000
From: college station, tx usa
Status: offline

[QUOTE=Frank W.]why do flamethrowers clear mines ?[/QUOTE]

If you want to test it, I posted about a year ago, that any weapon 20mm or larger will clear mines, it is just a matter of how many rounds you want to fire.

Around 81mm you get about one mine killed per round fired into the hex. Larger rounds will kill more and more often, smaller rounds may take 5-6 shots to kill one mine.

You can look at it that the engineers that are firing the FT into the hex are really using a bangalore torp and the FT firing is just an abstraction.
thanks, John.

(in reply to Frank W.)

Post #: 3