Re: REALITY CHECK TIME!

At 5:54 PM -0500 7/16/02, DAWGFACE47@webtv.net wrote:
>
>BY  a glancing hit, i assume you mean a non penetrating armor hit, or a
>hit that does not mean the vehicle is immobilized or its fighting
>ability impaired?
>
>by my definition, a glancing  hit, one that just does exterior armor
>damage, blows open tool boxes,  crew gear, blowns off radio  antennae,
>ruins the paint,  ruins the  paint, and generally makes for brown pants
>all around but nothing else is not a serious hit.

There have been plenty of glancing hits that don't penetrate but 
carry away parts of the exterior including (part of) the crewman that 
had his head and torso outside the vehicle when it was struck. Jungle 
Dragoon gives a good account of this I think. As do a number of 
accounts of Tank actions in WWII Western Europe.

>now granted the other crew members MIGHT  continue to figiht the
vehicle
>with  what is left of the TC laying on the floor and sprayed about the
>compartment, but there is also a chance the crew MIGHT panic and
>abandon the  vehicle.

Yep. Good old Confidence check.

>the troops riding in the troop compartment, well, they too would  be
>aware of the mess that used to be the TC   if the crew and troop
>compartments are not divided by a bulkhead.

I don't think there are many APCs that do this. None that I know of at
least.

>  in this  instance the squaddies would be able to determine  WTFO wih
>their own eyes and know the vehicle was HIT  but still able to move and
>fight too . . . .
>
>but if the crew paniced and left, the	squaddies would be right behind
>them!

No kidding. No argument there at all.

>now if the troop compartment is separated from the crew compartment,
and
>the squaddies cannot see or talk with the crew, they would feel the
>impact and etc.  if the vehicle does not move or fire almost
immediately
>after the hit, the  squaddies just might decide it was time to leave
>without being	told to do so. especially at the first sign of smoke or
>fire in the troop compartment!

Hopefully the track doesn't start backing up just as they've started 
to debuss. That or neutral steer. Tracks that move when infantry are 
close are bad for those infantry. I can see yellows and greens doing 
this, but blues and up should know better. Its my biggest worry with 
re-enacting. Some german or some allied re-enactor thinking getting 
up close to an AFV is a good idea, the driver not knowing he's there 
an *squish*. When a wheeled vehicle can reverse as fast as it goes 
forwards it can be unpredictable. Oh and with three road wheels, a 
Bren carrier can really rock back and forth when the driver stabs the 
brakes, turns the wheel then guns the gas to turn fast.

>unless  mis read a message, i got the	impression that folks thought
the
>squadies were just  meat being hauled around in the back and did not
>worry about obvious vehicle hits that	could be bad news . . .

Until the get out they may as well be meat. If they debuss at the 
wrong time they can also be meat.

>this i know is not true- squaddies are very aware of the  things that
>kill MBTs, IFVs. APCs, and etc.

Likely they'll want to get out, but there should be some moderation 
of why they want to leave.
-- 
--
Ryan Gill			  rmgill@mindspring.com
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