Re: [DS] Towed Artillery

On Sun, 11 Feb 2001 12:37:58 +1300 "Andrew Martin" <Al.Bri@xtra.co.nz>
writes:
>> First, have any of you that play Dirtside used towed artillery? Any
>lessons learned?
>
>Watch out for Counter-Battery fire. It's very, very effective against 
>towed
>artillery. Either MAK or HEF will kill the unit, either by destroying 
>the
>gun or killing the crew. The Towing vehicle should be very cheap, like 
>a
>softskin truck. Ideally, your resupply trucks and your towing trucks 
>should
>be the same size and so be multipurpose.
>
>Andrew Martin
>ICQ: 26227169 http://members.nbci.com/AndrewMartin/
>-><-
>
>

Good idea, Andrew!  

Then would you go further and make them interchangeable - both capable
of
hauling Ammo markers?  Since there is an intrinsic supply in SPArty I
assume there would be a need to have the towing vehicle (soft skin)
loaded with ordinance?	Or would you have assigned 'ammo haulers'
intrinsic to the unit?

I'm drawing a blank - all I can remember is Napoleonic Artillery where
there was 'some' shot/etc. in the arty limber most of the ammunition was
in the arty supply wagons - did WW2 and later towed artillery have
shells
in the haulers also or did they depend on attached ammo haulers for
initial fire supply?  I mean when on the mobile attack, I know they
stockpiled shells nearby when in fixed positions - there is several
pictures in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Edition Pictorial
History of World War Two, Volume Two, The War in The Pacific, showing
'towed' Artillery in position.	About half the pictures only show the
gun
and crew but on 43 there is an 80mm Mortar in action and there is what
appears to have been a case of shells (the four sides are folded out)
and
there is a several neat layers of shells awaiting use.	One is being
dropped down the tube in the picture.  The pile appears to be about 2-3
feet from the leg/foot	of the person dropping the shell in the tube.

Also, on Page 47 a mortar crew is 'setting up shop' and there appears to
be a pile of rounds piled about two strides away from a mortar pit.  On
page 276 there is a night action shot of the 90th Field Artillery, 25th
Division gun and as they shoot (flames are in the picture around the gun
barrel opening) two men hold a shell between them, two more appear to be
holding a rammer to assist the process (?), and another is crouched down
by a stack of at least 16 shells plus the one in his two hands (butt of
the shell resting on the stack) for him to lift and pass to the other
members of the team.  The shell stack appears to be a few steps from the
position the men holding the next (ready?) round are positioned at.  
(Maybe on the line joining the two ends of the 'Y' the trails (is that
the term for the parts that come together and connect the gun to the
prime mover?)) which appears to be less ten feet.

For those interested in soft skin RL's there is a picture of U.S. Marine
mobile rocketeers in action on Iwo Jima on page 304.

Oh, copyright is 1951.	Wish I had a scanner... This, along with the
Korean War book, has a ton of great pictures.  Great, unless it's you in
them, I suppose...

Oh, I would put a sign on my prime movers (soft skin) also hauling
shells
around - 'Fireworks optional.'

Gracias, Glenn/Triphibious (American Mongrel)
You don't have to be French to be a 'frog', or even human!
Nektons - Real Marines! (Die, Ralnai, Die!)
Starguard, Dirtside 2,	Ratner's Space Marines, Stellar Conflicts
and Uprisings, and Full Thrust/2nd.  Resistance is everything!

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