WW2 German Mod

[Marcello]

Originally Posted by Warhero

Please, don't be so serious. In fact idea is fun (at least my opinion). It would be nice to see whole timeline 1946-200? battles with modern equipment vs. (nazi?) Germany. Result: one sided slaugter? Ok, it could be surely in "real world" but what if german scientists/developers had possibilities to develop German arsenal (not only nukes) better than they were in reality until May 1945...

Figuring out what would actually have been produced under which circumstances would be an headache of massive proportions. In real life IIRC by 1940 or so the germans were hoping to end the war by 1942 with 50mm gun Pz III as the mainstay of the panzer divisions and some short 75mm gun Pz IV and Stug III for support.
A 45 tons Tiger lite like tank was being developed as a future replacement. That was pretty much it. Nobody was dreaming about Jagdapanthers, King Tigers etc.

[troopie]

And where are the Germans going to get more chrome? They already bought all Turkey was producing, and it wasn't enough. So with jet engines you have a choice. You chrome the insides of the engines and short your ground forces. Your gun barrels wear out faster. Then the Sovs eat you alive on the ground. Or you build all your shiny new ground toys, and short your jets. Without chrome, the life span of a Jumo Junkers OO4 engine is 45 hours, not long enough to be useful.

And this is speculation, but I wonder how many of the paper only projects were just something to keep designers busy.

troopie

[Marcello]

Originally Posted by troopie

You chrome the insides of the engines and short your ground forces. Your gun barrels wear out faster. Then the Sovs eat you alive on the ground.

Dunno about that. Chromium is used to extend barrel life, which is obviously a bonus in peacetime when weapons have to last as long as possible to cope with training needs without needing frequent expensive replacements. But wartime attrition make that less of an issue: how long was the average life of a PAK gun or a Hetzer at the front before being destroyed anyway ?
I am not saying that it weasn't a factor but no worse than Tungsten shortage (which basically made high end AP rounds such as APCR or APCNR impossible to produce during late war) or Molybdenum shortage (which made armor plates in tanks more prone to spalling). Petrol shortage was really critial.

[troopie]

Chromed metal is more heat resistant. You don't have to chrome your gun barrels, and they will still function, until they burn out. And according to Murphy's laws of combat, they will burn out when you most need them. That is, when you are facing two Front armies, and you need everything that can shoot. That is no time to have barrels burn out.

Chromium is essential for jet engines. Jets operate at a much higher temperature than piston engines. And again Murphy's laws apply. Your unchromed jet engine will burn out when you most need it to function.

And then there are the other shortages, petroleum, molybdenum, tungsten. And power. You have the British busting your dams, the Americans blasting your power plants, and the Russians burning everything else.

troopie