Post by Major Pain on Sept 30, 2015 11:41:18 GMT 1
Thank you gentlemen for your kind words.
The last two days have been unproductive on my projects. I returned to work the last two days for 4 hours each to see if I was about ready. Not quite, perhaps another week or two.
There is something still really bugging me about getting up for "Reveille" at 05:30. But one of my Captains was here to pick me up at 06:00 each day.
Yesterday (Monday) one of my Bosses walked through and was stunned to see me sitting at my desk... with my overstuffed pillow. He ask me "Should you be here?" I said I think I still work here, do I not? and he laughed his ass off for 5 minutes and invited me to lunch. I declined a told him Lunch time is my nap time, a rather late habit I seem to have acquired from inactivity.
Today, all five of my bosses came by after their weekly meeting. They brought their own chairs in since I only have couple. Before any of them said a clever word, I was acting like I had been pushing paper all morning and looked up and said, "I guess you all are wondering why I called this meeting."
So that was good for a laugh when I told them they were absolutely letting the Fire Chief slouch off so they were all fired. They reconvened their meeting so they could hear my Fire Chief's Report which I had not prepared. I did not see my name on the agenda so I figured they were waiting for one of the regular meetings that one of my subordinates had been covering. So I gave my Off-the-Record Unofficial Report which was mostly faked all the way. I think their gesture was more out of respect than really getting a report.
So while the days were tough on me, they had their great moments.
I just wanted to alert everyone that my time will once more become an issue once I start punching the clock again.
So enough of that dribble.
Ok... right now there are 20 STUGs Completed. The majority are focused on the final Production models:
StuG-III Ausf F with 75mm StuK 40 L43 Gun
StuG-III Ausf F8 with 75mm StuK40 L48 Gun
StuG-III Ausf G with 75mm StuK40 L48 Gun
Early Models A-E were prototypes or test models, even though many were converted to the F or the F8 Standard, or rebuilt for these next two models which have not been completed yet.
StuH-42 Ausf G with 10.5 cm leFH 18 L28 howitzer:
These were almost exclusively the StuG-III Ausf G Models, although the first 24 were actually rebuilt StuGs of various Models brought up to the F8 Standard, The "StuH-42 Ausf G-8" designation means it was not on a G Superstructure. These are easy to distinguish from the actual G Models due to the difference in the Crew Compatment and the Roof Lines and the addition of the PzIV Cupola on the left top roof area. However, they are easily mistaken for the StuG-III Ausf F "75mm model" since the gun barrel was very close in length to the StuK 40 L43, which is slightly shorter than the StuK 40 L48.
Operationally, the StuH-42 was nothing more than a StuG with a 105 mm Howitzer. Everything else was the same as the F8 or the G Model. Around 11,300 StuGs were built, with 1299 (1300) being built as the StuH-42.
Just a quick note about 100 StuG-III Ausf Gs sent to Romania in 1944. These were referred to as TAs, T3 Specifically. Another topic has been discussing the T4s.... here is your T3 guys. If you are knowledgeable about the Romanian AXIS contribution, then you know the T3 was far more influential than anything else they had.
Just saying.... stimulates discussion and education I hope.
sIG-33B with 15 cm sIG 33 heavy infantry gun:
150MM GUN = BIG BIG BIG on wheels... Superior to any Allied 150mm including the M12 and M40. Set up was about 1 minutes, breakdown was instantly, so shoot and scoot applies here. The M12 required 6 minutes to setup and 4 minutes to break down. The M40 only saved about 30 seconds on each function. These could move as soon as the rear blade/stabilizer was off the ground, but the gun had to be stabilized before movement could take place. It was a hydraulic issue.
sIG-33B: These were the ultimate big-ass gun on a StuG. These were built on older StuG-III Chassis', meaning most certainly A-F Models only. Only 24 were built so there were not enough of these to be a game changer. 12 were lost at Stalingrad. The remaining 12 were given to the 23rd Panzer Division.
I might add that if you do not know what the significance of the 23rd Panzer Division was... you should if you create any Eastern Front maps between 1943 and 1945. The 23rd was famous for only using captured tanks and guns. The 12 sIGs were the only NEW Medium Armor models they were assigned that were built by Germany.... although, recent information indicates that they had a pretty active repair facility and rescued abandoned/damaged German Armor and retrofitted to their needs. This included some PzIII, PzIVs and PzVs.
The Historian citing his resources tells us that because the 23rd Commanders did not want to rebuild armor only to have it removed from their livery, re-classified each unit to make it appear as a captured model on their Inventory (OOB Reports). While a PzIV might be coded to reflect a T34-75, they added some other identifiers that only they used to make it clear what it was inside the Division. But there are documented sightings of this Division using PzIVs in pretty good numbers during 1944 and 1845. No physical numbers data is known or backtracked within their actual OOB Reports. It is some of these Inventories that have been recently uncovered within a British Museum of all places. This find along with others reveals a lot of the last two years of the war for Germany, along with their Crucial Industry. Some data indicates conditions were much more dire earlier than thought previously.
If this theory, claim, evidence is proven true, it might reflect what would have been the most diversified Armor Division in the world, ever... That title at the moment belongs to Syria from the 1960s.
Ok, where is all of this leading?
Number 1, most of you know that I study history, a lot, as much as possible, and specifically the 2nd World War. As part of my mission to build models, I think that appetites are created when I tell some of the historical backstory or perhaps historical function of each unit. We have a shortage of map builders.... so in this way, I hope to get some of you into map building. So many historical events have not been covered because of the lack of the correct models.
My goal has been to fill those holes in and offer more than has ever been released over the years. I am certain that every BK Chapter or Campaign released by NIVAL or one of their Licensed Partners determined the models needed... but some obviously were missing, and many of you know this as fact.
If I have not already discussed something or overlooked something, then you should let me know. I have around 500 Models to complete this year! I'm going to work as quickly and steadily as I can to get them all out... most of these have been discussed or appeared on a list from earlier in the year.
So if you are looking for the final version of the Combat-Ready T34s.... they are coming soon. You need more Battle-Ready Shermans, they are on the way. So what is the difference? These models will appear more closely related to what would be seen on the actual battlefields during the war. Stacks of Stowage, Crates, ammo, tarp or covered supplies, no brand new factory Shermans, T34s, or PzIVs, I did all of those.
So if you are waiting for Newly Built Shiny Models straight from the factory floor, your waiting a while unless it is something which is part of a Series in the works. I'm working on the dirty, gritty, battle-worn, pieces of crap that fought for survival. [ If you saw the Movie about LuLu Belle, then you are well plugged in. ]
Ok, I said pieces of crap... but the crews, mostly loved their armor and did whatever they had to do to get one more shell fired or one more mile covered. It might have been worn out, and literally a piece of crap, but as you guys understand, this would be the stage where we would tell everyone we just got the damn thing broken in the way we like it. We will defend our stuff.
So why am I doing this? Because it has not been done before and I trying to add some unique code which changes how your models take damage. If I can get this code to a working patch, some of the GEN II products might actually work on BK 1.2. My testing over this last weekend failed to get this to work in a usable patch, but a direct code transfer did work. So tanks, trucks, etc... support crews and the code separates the crew from riders.... who I actually refer to as cling-ons... (not from Star Trek fame), but more like a turd. And enough said on that.
BK Riders are not exactly working the way I want. But they are working exactly how they were designed back in 2000-2001. The problem is they are favored by enemy over the unit carrying them... thus making them the worst kind of cannon fodder. I'm trying to give the riders some of the armor protection values they should get from Hanomag or M3 Armored Halftrack (for example) and defense from the oft-side of the host vehicle. It is weird, but the enemy shoots to the opposite side of the vehicle to kill a rider... rather than the one closest to it. While I have not found the specific line of code that forces that, it is without a doubt a code issue. So why they did this really does not matter, I don't care... I just care to change it.
NOTE: The GEN II Discussion originally posted here has been moved to the GEN Topic
The last two days have been unproductive on my projects. I returned to work the last two days for 4 hours each to see if I was about ready. Not quite, perhaps another week or two.
There is something still really bugging me about getting up for "Reveille" at 05:30. But one of my Captains was here to pick me up at 06:00 each day.
Yesterday (Monday) one of my Bosses walked through and was stunned to see me sitting at my desk... with my overstuffed pillow. He ask me "Should you be here?" I said I think I still work here, do I not? and he laughed his ass off for 5 minutes and invited me to lunch. I declined a told him Lunch time is my nap time, a rather late habit I seem to have acquired from inactivity.
Today, all five of my bosses came by after their weekly meeting. They brought their own chairs in since I only have couple. Before any of them said a clever word, I was acting like I had been pushing paper all morning and looked up and said, "I guess you all are wondering why I called this meeting."
So that was good for a laugh when I told them they were absolutely letting the Fire Chief slouch off so they were all fired. They reconvened their meeting so they could hear my Fire Chief's Report which I had not prepared. I did not see my name on the agenda so I figured they were waiting for one of the regular meetings that one of my subordinates had been covering. So I gave my Off-the-Record Unofficial Report which was mostly faked all the way. I think their gesture was more out of respect than really getting a report.
So while the days were tough on me, they had their great moments.
I just wanted to alert everyone that my time will once more become an issue once I start punching the clock again.
So enough of that dribble.
Ok... right now there are 20 STUGs Completed. The majority are focused on the final Production models:
StuG-III Ausf F with 75mm StuK 40 L43 Gun
StuG-III Ausf F8 with 75mm StuK40 L48 Gun
StuG-III Ausf G with 75mm StuK40 L48 Gun
Early Models A-E were prototypes or test models, even though many were converted to the F or the F8 Standard, or rebuilt for these next two models which have not been completed yet.
StuH-42 Ausf G with 10.5 cm leFH 18 L28 howitzer:
These were almost exclusively the StuG-III Ausf G Models, although the first 24 were actually rebuilt StuGs of various Models brought up to the F8 Standard, The "StuH-42 Ausf G-8" designation means it was not on a G Superstructure. These are easy to distinguish from the actual G Models due to the difference in the Crew Compatment and the Roof Lines and the addition of the PzIV Cupola on the left top roof area. However, they are easily mistaken for the StuG-III Ausf F "75mm model" since the gun barrel was very close in length to the StuK 40 L43, which is slightly shorter than the StuK 40 L48.
Operationally, the StuH-42 was nothing more than a StuG with a 105 mm Howitzer. Everything else was the same as the F8 or the G Model. Around 11,300 StuGs were built, with 1299 (1300) being built as the StuH-42.
Just a quick note about 100 StuG-III Ausf Gs sent to Romania in 1944. These were referred to as TAs, T3 Specifically. Another topic has been discussing the T4s.... here is your T3 guys. If you are knowledgeable about the Romanian AXIS contribution, then you know the T3 was far more influential than anything else they had.
Just saying.... stimulates discussion and education I hope.
sIG-33B with 15 cm sIG 33 heavy infantry gun:
150MM GUN = BIG BIG BIG on wheels... Superior to any Allied 150mm including the M12 and M40. Set up was about 1 minutes, breakdown was instantly, so shoot and scoot applies here. The M12 required 6 minutes to setup and 4 minutes to break down. The M40 only saved about 30 seconds on each function. These could move as soon as the rear blade/stabilizer was off the ground, but the gun had to be stabilized before movement could take place. It was a hydraulic issue.
sIG-33B: These were the ultimate big-ass gun on a StuG. These were built on older StuG-III Chassis', meaning most certainly A-F Models only. Only 24 were built so there were not enough of these to be a game changer. 12 were lost at Stalingrad. The remaining 12 were given to the 23rd Panzer Division.
I might add that if you do not know what the significance of the 23rd Panzer Division was... you should if you create any Eastern Front maps between 1943 and 1945. The 23rd was famous for only using captured tanks and guns. The 12 sIGs were the only NEW Medium Armor models they were assigned that were built by Germany.... although, recent information indicates that they had a pretty active repair facility and rescued abandoned/damaged German Armor and retrofitted to their needs. This included some PzIII, PzIVs and PzVs.
The Historian citing his resources tells us that because the 23rd Commanders did not want to rebuild armor only to have it removed from their livery, re-classified each unit to make it appear as a captured model on their Inventory (OOB Reports). While a PzIV might be coded to reflect a T34-75, they added some other identifiers that only they used to make it clear what it was inside the Division. But there are documented sightings of this Division using PzIVs in pretty good numbers during 1944 and 1845. No physical numbers data is known or backtracked within their actual OOB Reports. It is some of these Inventories that have been recently uncovered within a British Museum of all places. This find along with others reveals a lot of the last two years of the war for Germany, along with their Crucial Industry. Some data indicates conditions were much more dire earlier than thought previously.
If this theory, claim, evidence is proven true, it might reflect what would have been the most diversified Armor Division in the world, ever... That title at the moment belongs to Syria from the 1960s.
Ok, where is all of this leading?
Number 1, most of you know that I study history, a lot, as much as possible, and specifically the 2nd World War. As part of my mission to build models, I think that appetites are created when I tell some of the historical backstory or perhaps historical function of each unit. We have a shortage of map builders.... so in this way, I hope to get some of you into map building. So many historical events have not been covered because of the lack of the correct models.
My goal has been to fill those holes in and offer more than has ever been released over the years. I am certain that every BK Chapter or Campaign released by NIVAL or one of their Licensed Partners determined the models needed... but some obviously were missing, and many of you know this as fact.
If I have not already discussed something or overlooked something, then you should let me know. I have around 500 Models to complete this year! I'm going to work as quickly and steadily as I can to get them all out... most of these have been discussed or appeared on a list from earlier in the year.
So if you are looking for the final version of the Combat-Ready T34s.... they are coming soon. You need more Battle-Ready Shermans, they are on the way. So what is the difference? These models will appear more closely related to what would be seen on the actual battlefields during the war. Stacks of Stowage, Crates, ammo, tarp or covered supplies, no brand new factory Shermans, T34s, or PzIVs, I did all of those.
So if you are waiting for Newly Built Shiny Models straight from the factory floor, your waiting a while unless it is something which is part of a Series in the works. I'm working on the dirty, gritty, battle-worn, pieces of crap that fought for survival. [ If you saw the Movie about LuLu Belle, then you are well plugged in. ]
Ok, I said pieces of crap... but the crews, mostly loved their armor and did whatever they had to do to get one more shell fired or one more mile covered. It might have been worn out, and literally a piece of crap, but as you guys understand, this would be the stage where we would tell everyone we just got the damn thing broken in the way we like it. We will defend our stuff.
So why am I doing this? Because it has not been done before and I trying to add some unique code which changes how your models take damage. If I can get this code to a working patch, some of the GEN II products might actually work on BK 1.2. My testing over this last weekend failed to get this to work in a usable patch, but a direct code transfer did work. So tanks, trucks, etc... support crews and the code separates the crew from riders.... who I actually refer to as cling-ons... (not from Star Trek fame), but more like a turd. And enough said on that.
BK Riders are not exactly working the way I want. But they are working exactly how they were designed back in 2000-2001. The problem is they are favored by enemy over the unit carrying them... thus making them the worst kind of cannon fodder. I'm trying to give the riders some of the armor protection values they should get from Hanomag or M3 Armored Halftrack (for example) and defense from the oft-side of the host vehicle. It is weird, but the enemy shoots to the opposite side of the vehicle to kill a rider... rather than the one closest to it. While I have not found the specific line of code that forces that, it is without a doubt a code issue. So why they did this really does not matter, I don't care... I just care to change it.
NOTE: The GEN II Discussion originally posted here has been moved to the GEN Topic