Dug-in Infantry, Artillery Bombardment, Kills and Casaulty Reports

[IronDuke99]

As someone who is interested in things Naval. In WWII British destroyers more than once engaged German Tanks over open sites, and a 4.5 or 4.7inch armour piecing shell was sure to ruin a Panzer crews whole day.

Also German sources make it clear that Allied Battleship gunfire in Normandy could easily wreck even a Tiger tank, actually tossing them on their backs. A 14-16inch HE shell (used for shore bombardment, rather than the armour piercing shells used to take on other Battleships) was a really fearsome thing.

Also High Explosive shells were actually okay at taking out barbed wire. The problem in WWI was that field artillery (British 18pder, German 77mm and French 75mm) used shrapnel shells, with a relatively small bursting charge that sent a lot of steel balls towards the target when the shell burst. Great against infantry in the open, less so against dug in infantry and not good at all against barbed wire. HE shells -much more common in WWII- can actually gap barbed wire pretty well.

Final thoughts, I do think that the game slightly under estimates how good WWII artillery was against infantry. I do think the game slightly under estimates how good modern artillery can be against armour.

Final last thoughts: World War II aircraft, even the best of them like the rocket armed RAF Hawker Typhoon of 1944-45, were not as effective against armour as the game makes them. Mostly the unguided rockets missed... In the modern game CBU's from aircraft really should totally ruin infantry in the open.

[DRG]

Originally Posted by IronDuke99

As someone who is interested in things Naval. In WWII British destroyers more than once engaged German Tanks over open sites, and a 4.5 or 4.7inch armour piecing shell was sure to ruin a Panzer crews whole day.

Also German sources make it clear that Allied Battleship gunfire in Normandy could easily wreck even a Tiger tank, actually tossing them on their backs. A 14-16inch HE shell (used for shore bombardment, rather than the armour piercing shells used to take on other Battleships) was a really fearsome thing.

[jivemi]

Thanks everyone for your prompt, informative and helpful responses. It was especially gratifying to receive confirmation concerning limited casualty reports with fast arty ON. That helps to explain why some dug-in infantry were eliminated after only a couple of direct-fire casualties. (BTW this was an AI-generated campaign battle so there were no "customized" preferences or unit capabilities--I always play with stock values at 100%.)

Nobody took a stab at question #3 though. No doubt it's an arcane issue which is both complicated in theory and risky in practice. The bottom line is, heavies definitely cause casualties and given enough saturation can drive infantry from their holes. A most useful thing to know. Thanks again everybody!