Engineer Satchel Charge Blowback?

[jivemi]

Greetings folks. In Scenario #14, China Punishes Vietnam, a Chinese engineer squad and tank were in the same hex. During the interturn a Vietnamese infantry squad came adjacent and the engineer fired off its stuff (rifle, grenade, flamethrower and satchel charge). The infantry was blown away, but after the satchel charge went off the tank (Type 59-1) exploded :shock:! Meanwhile the engineer was still "Ready" IIRC. Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else. Thanks.

[Imp]

Try reading some AAR for the vagaries of war & having luvk on your side or not. i srartedba cuople of threads on my expoilts but cant remember the name.
One l had moved up infantry & an enginner to behind a tree line in M113s and unloaded as I thought enemy was near kn other side of the woods. closer than I thought they tried breaking through the tree line. Was not going to bably till engineer let go.
From memory wiped out attacking squad but killed more friendly men 2 M113s & disabled a third.
Had 2 like this and another turn where any gun or rpg fire would miss but wreck my nearby vehiclr.

[jivemi]

Many thanks Imp. Misery loves company and all that. So it seems that engineers (and the guys in question were something like 45-50 experience and morale) can indeed cause unintended fratricide. Once again SPMBT mirrors reality to an uncanny degree.

[shahadi]

Greetings folks. In Scenario #14, China Punishes Vietnam, a Chinese engineer squad and tank were in the same hex. During the interturn a Vietnamese infantry squad came adjacent and the engineer fired off its stuff (rifle, grenade, flamethrower and satchel charge). The infantry was blown away, but after the satchel charge went off the tank (Type 59-1) exploded :shock:! Meanwhile the engineer was still "Ready" IIRC. Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else. Thanks.

Yeah,I think this sorta thing happens when the weapon's blast area includes friendlies. The tank was in the blast area.

And, you may have your own guys suffer damage or suppression when firing on bad guys in the same or adjacent hex. I seem to recall events like that.

=====

[Aeraaa]

Had a special forces squad with no casualties get wiped out by another special forces squad that decided that the best way to kill Talibans is with a big bang. One of the worst cases of friendly fire I've ever had.

Oh and the engineer can have a portable nuclear bomb for all its worth. It never has any casualties, not suffers from suppression from its own weapons.

[shahadi]

Had a special forces squad with no casualties get wiped out by another special forces squad that decided that the best way to kill Talibans is with a big bang. One of the worst cases of friendly fire I've ever had.

Oh and the engineer can have a portable nuclear bomb for all its worth. It never has any casualties, not suffers from suppression from its own weapons.

Hmmmm. Interesting engineer squad. I wonder what is the mod and experience rating in its OOB.

Anyway, you could chalk it up to bad luck. Sometimes, I will replicate an event say twelve times while recording the outcomes in an excel spreadsheet, just to see if a pattern emerges.

=====

[zastava128]

I once had an engineer squad who thought blowing up an enemy ammo truck with a satchel charge was a good idea. Results weren't pretty - there were 2 friendly and one enemy squad adjacent to the truck; all took casualties.

[Mobhack]

The firer of an HE weapon wont get hit by it - they know when to duck, presumably!. Otherwise dropping a satchel charge in the next hex, or a 152mm shot at a bunker 3 hexes away might suffer friendly fire making short range use of larger HE weapons a bit of a suicide risk. Everyone else from either side is at risk, however.

Ammo units that explode can generate one or two 1000lb bomb equivalent explosions, therefore shooting them up at close range is hazardous, as is destroying suicide explosive users. Destroying a convoy of explosive-laden units (ammo units, suiciders etc.) can also set neighbouring ones off in a daisy chain.

[RetLT]

I have had aircraft destroyed by ammo dump explosions. Not fun.

[IronDuke99]

Destroying a convoy of explosive-laden units (ammo units, suiciders etc.) can also set neighbouring ones off in a daisy chain.

Yes I always thought that a chain of suicide bombers setting each other off in a row was one of the games cutest effects! Always makes me smile.

[jivemi]

FWIW the hull and turret side armor of the tank which received the blast are 8 and 15cm respectively. The penetration value of the satchel charge is 18cm. So apparently the game at least sometimes assumes close proximity of the target, as if it's in the firing unit's hex, just as it assumes the ability of engineers to clear mines in an adjacent hex. (IIRC a tank got blown up under similar circumstances during an earlier go at this scenario.)

@Aeraaa: Wasn't aware engineers never suffer ill effects of their own ordnance. In that case SPMBT doesn't "mirror reality" with absolute fidelity. But of course perfection is not of this world, n'est-ce pas ;)?

[Aeraaa]

@Aeraaa: Wasn't aware engineers never suffer ill effects of their own ordnance. In that case SPMBT doesn't "mirror reality" with absolute fidelity. But of course perfection is not of this world, n'est-ce pas ;)?

Well most definitely. The breaks from reality are several including God's eye, Borg detection (your scout just found a bunker and the tank 3 kilometers away can instantly open fire at the target if it has LOS), EXTREMELY good unit coordination no matter how competent the army in question is and many others. But it is a game you have to love it or hate it the way it is (I personally love it, still playing it regularly after I first installed it in 2011 which makes it my most popular game to date), it is constantly being improved and if you want to play hardcore you can try to set some rules to yourself that better represent reality.