Originally posted by Lye-El
The turrent on an Ost isn't made out of beer cans. It is meant to be some protection for the gunner. If you are at a low angle and make a strafeing pass on it during your vulch you are making a low probability shot.
The turrent is destroyed pretty easy, The chassis is harder, but then it IS a tank chassis. Kinda makes you wonder why they needed a tank chassis to carry a turrent that is so easy to destroy. You would think it was made out of thick steel or something.
Truck vs. airplane. No convergence on the truck. Guns can still fire with flat tires on the truck. Plane can't fly without wings. If you can hit the guy manning the guns of the truck from a platform moving a few hundred miles per hour. He can hit you from his stable gun platform, and he has a tight circle of fire due to no convergence problems.
You make several assumptions.
First, if attacking an open top GV, I dive from at least 45 degrees quite often, sometimes steeper.
Second, I often fly a P-38, with even LESS convergence than the M-16, and a 20MM cannon as well. Actually, the circle of fire of the P-38 is around 30 inches or less, and no convergence at all. Further, a P-47 for example, while being a large target head on, also happens to be extremely tough. To assume that an M-16 can instantly shoot a P-47 to pieces, or easily incapacitate its pilot defies logic. Oh, and I set the convergence to 650 yards in most everything I fly.
Third, and very important, you assume that the attack is always made against the front of the turret. Not at all necessarily so. An Osti or M-16 may in fact be firing at another plane or vehicle. The back of the gunner is then fairly well exposed, especially to a high angle attack. Further, any high velocity bullets that pass through any openings in the armor will ricochet around everywhere, shredding the inside.
Fourth, the M-16 will burn readily when struck by API rounds. At least according to anyone I talked to who ever worked with any halftrack.
Fifth, turret is a broad term here. The top is open, and hence vulnerable to attack from above and at high angles. We're not talking about an enclosed turret. In the case of the M-16, were talking about a standard quad 50 mount with a front shield sitting on top of a lightly armored half track. There's no armored roof over the gunner's head. He doesn't have his back against an armored wall either.
I'm not advocating having planes able to shred GV's of any type with impunity, but I am saying that open top GV's seem to be excessively invulnerable to high volume heavy machine gun and cannon fire, regardless of the angle. I do expect to see at least some considerable damage from a 5 second burst of high volume heavy machinegun and cannon fire, when I see the GV that is the target completely covered by hit sprites.
