Cranking out the T-34s

[HortenFlyingWing]

at times it is fun to dream what kind of army the nazis could of had with their night vision, helicoptors, guided missiles, assault rifles… they could of had a navy seals team 55 years ago!

[TG Moses VI]

Oh my lord, these tanks are huge! The FCM F1 lots like a frigging battleship on wheels! They should match that bad boy against a Tiger. Imagine the power-to-weight ratio in order to drive such a thing.

PS: I think that the JSIII would win too. It’s mobility, firepower, turrent, and armor made it unmatched. However, the JSIII took time to reload. In a forest fight I think that a Jadgtiger would win.

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Never before have we had so little time in which to do so much

[ This Message was edited by: TG Moses VI on 2002-03-25 18:56 ]

[HortenFlyingWing]

Jagd tiger has a very low silohuette (excuse my spelling), correct? the jagdtiger faced technical problems and it was underpowered.
that french tank wasn’t (FCM F1) wasn’t that slow either. And they were planning to make them too! Luckily (for the germans) the french would of used them for infantry support.

[TG Moses VI]

That’s the problem with the French. They spread their forces and tanks too thin on battlelines. With Blitz, you just need to spearhead your way through, shouldering resistance aside. I don’t think the F1’s would’ve made that big of a difference since the tanks would been encircled or more so avoided.

[Mr Ghoul]

Very true TC ……ummm TG

[ This Message was edited by: Mr Ghoul on 2002-03-26 17:44 ]

[bossk]

Indeed, the french had a problem with their tactics. They tended to use their tanks as highly mobile artillery rather than to exploit weaknesses in enemy lines by charging through (Blitzkrieg).

[Mr Ghoul]

The Germans had a “Blitzkrieg” style of warfare planned in the frist World War. The plan was rehashed in the second with the aid of armor and mechanized infantry.

[ This Message was edited by: Mr Ghoul on 2002-03-26 18:54 ]

[HortenFlyingWing]

ahh, german production. they didn’t go into a true wartime production until 43, and they didn’t get their act together until 44! by then, they can make all the tanks they wanted, but they just could not fuel or grease them. in fact, my friends and I call anything that squeaks a “panzer.”

What if the germans went into full wartime production in 1940, anticipating a long war with france? What if they decided to mass produce their other bigger helicopter (the two engined one, “Kite.”)?

[Mr Ghoul]

I think that the Germans had originally plan for war to start in 1945, but Hitler had other ideas……

[TG Moses VI]

If Germany had increased its production to 1944 levels in 1939, it would have made a difference, but I don’t think as much. Like Soon U Die said, the Germans could make all the tanks they wanted. It was just that they didn’t have any fuel to power them. I read that 50 % of all King Tigers were destroyed by their own drivers since they ran out of fuel. A similar case with ftr production. Germany had all the ftrs. they ever needed (I think that by 1944, Herman was pumping out over 2,000 ftrs. a month). The problem was finding the pilots with the experience to fly them. And since the Germans had to conserve fuel, new German pilots went into battle with less then half the training flight time of regular American pilots.

[HortenFlyingWing]

the war was supposed to start in 42, from what I heard, but if you look at how the kreigsmarine was supposed to be built up, the number looks like 45, 46.

if germany was into full wartime production in 39, it would of made a huge difference IMO…at least against Russia. though Ploesti couldn’t fuel the German army nearly enough, in the begginning of the war, more tanks and aircraft couldn’t hurt. does anyone know when germany started to make artificial fuel? and who was behind it?

[Mr Ghoul]

their was probably only 50 king tigers all together.

[Guest]

I know this is a little off topic, but have you ever heard about the american tank crews referring to their shermans as “ronsons” due to their habit of bursting into flames? Ronson, by the way, was a popular brand of cigarette lighter at the time.

[HortenFlyingWing]

My grandfather never told my dad that…though he did tell my dad stories of leaving an escape door on the bottom open all the time, because his tank would be blown away by german guns.

[bossk]

Yeah, crazy Americans; making a gasoline powered tank instead of diesel. Heh heh

[TG Moses VI]

Well I remember that near the beginning and middle end of the war, tank crews often referred to their Shermans as “Purple Heart Boxes.” The gasoline powever engine, weak gun against German AT 88s, and poor armor were major weakness of the Sherman. However as the war progressed and even after the war, the Shermans continued to get better where they were actually considered better then Russian T-34s and JS-IIs.

[Mr Ghoul]

Hardcore

[HortenFlyingWing]

ISII had a 128 mm gun, but how much pounds of explosives were in its ammo? the tiger II was always considered better tank to tankl, but aside from armor, did the tiger II’s 88 shoot more powerful shells than the russian 128?

[TG Moses VI]

I think those stats are wrong since the JSII had a 122mm Main Gun instead of a 128. With that being said the 122 should be more powerful then the 88 since the JSIII was also equipped with a 122mm gun and it was considered the most powerfully armed tank at the time of the Russian Victory Parade in Berlin.

With that being siad, the JSII was an great tank. It had thick sloped armour, didn’t weigh any more than the German Panther, and had much better mobility then any German heavy tank.

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Never before have we had so little time in which to do so much

[ This Message was edited by: TG Moses VI on 2002-03-29 21:28 ]

[TG Moses VI]

Oh an I forgot to mention that like all tanks, the JSII had weak side armor meaning a shot from Panzer IVJ or panzerfausts and panzerschrecks could knock out the tank. A well hidden AT 88 shouldn’t have much of a problem then.