camo and tanks

Camo is designed to break up a visual outline (the human eye picks up
smooth curves like helmets much easier than broken ones like a boonie
hat or a helmet with scrimmage attached). OTOH, I have heard it reported
that scrim attached to modern IR-dispersive BDUs messes makes you stand
out under TI or IR viewing. I dunno, never had a $5K TI scope to test
the theory (or fancy IR dispersive jams either). Anyone know if this is
"urban military myth" or factual? (I think the argument went something
like dead plants will have a different IR sig than your suit so they'll
stand out against it....)

But, for all that, the visual daytime non-sensor advantages are great
enough that I won't abandon facepaint, scrim, or other visual camouflage
regimens until 1) everyone starts using IR/TI all the time (assuming the
above is true) or 2) they deploy an effective IR and visual camo suit. 

Anyone seen the new Canadian Cammie Jammies? The new BDU is computer
generated and works like the dickens. Stare at it.... your EYES hurt. It
is really disturbing to look at as your eyes just don't want to lock in
on it. Looks like a pain in the arse to paint on minis (the pixelated
look... how to get that?). It looks like a bad old C-64 sprite image,
but boy does it work. Course, I don't know about its abilities in the
thermal bands....

As for tanks, the Sherman wasn't a bad tank, it just wasn't the equal of
the German tanks. But they cost a bundle to make, were a logistical
nightmare (complex and sometimes unreliable), and if you could afford to
make 3x as many Shermans and use them in line like artillery, you didn't
care. And if you were backed up by Typhoons and Lightnings and Mustangs,
those Panthers and Tigers didn't stand much of a chance. And a Tiger or
Panther out of ball-bearings, grease, spares, or gas isn't much use....
which is another way that the Allies beat the Axis. 

One of the best tanks of the war, though rarely the best commanded, was
probably the T-34 (later models, the early ones had some interesting
flaws such as gunner seat not attached to turret....). Simple, robust,
and fairly tough. 

And as for Whitmann taking out a column of Brits, he did exactly what he
should do in an ambush. But in order to hit them, he had to be able to
bear with his main armament, so they should probably have been able to
shoot back. His tank had to be capable of surviving the return fire,
which it apparently did. 

Of course, so much of a WW2 tank battle is spotting and target
acquisition. In older tanks (or even in modern ones), buttoned up is a
sure way to have command and control issues, but having your commander
up is a lovely recipe for a dead track commander. Not like some sort of
2190 vehicle with full immersive three-d imagining (virtual synthetic
environment) for track crews that makes being unbuttoned needless and
stupid (at least till they start peeling off chunks of hull sensors and
you have to!). 

My usual 0.02... Cdn. :) 

Tomb