SdKfz 251 "Support Unit"

[SmokinLoon]

I think the 251 is getting a wee bit jealous of the M3.  The M3 is faster and has a .50cal HMG that allows for a decent defense vs aircraft and soft gv's.  Oh, and the M3 can carry more gv supplies too.  The only thing the SdKfz 251 has over the M3 is the ability to hurl massive rockets in to a town but at the price of being difficult to aim and being very vulnerable as well.  Here is my attempt to get the SdKfz 251 in to the game a bit more.

I'd like to see the 251 have a usable capability that the M3 does not.  As I already mentioned the 28cm rockets are powerful but not easy to use, and it is very vulnerable to enemy fire of any sort.  I propose to allow the 251 the ability to split its cargo between troops and gv supplies.  Currently, it can carry 10 troops, 4 gv supplies, or a single field supply. I'd like to see the 251 be able to bring maybe 2-3 gv supplies and 4 troops.  This way, they offer the ability to move along with the armor and keep them supplied and repaired, and then when the time comes they can be a part of a capture force.

This would add an element not currently in AH, and it is something I feel that would be used and unable to be abused. 

         

[Lusche]

I have an odd question: Troops are selected and dropped like ords. Does a M3 or SdKfz get back his human 'ammo' when he is being resupplied by GV supps?

[MK-84]

I have an odd question: Troops are selected and dropped like ords. Does a M3 or SdKfz get back his human 'ammo' when he is being resupplied by GV supps?

It does not, I just tested it in the MA.

[Lusche]

It does not, I just tested it in the MA.

Thank you. So no opportunity to abuse this wish in this way 

[Chalenge]

I wish the 28cm rockets would be vulnerable to machinegun fire from opposing tanks.

Here, have fun!

[ToeTag]

And I wish that M3's died when you shoot 100 ish rounds into the drivers compartment

[Chalenge]

Did someone mention M3's? Here, knock yourself out!

[MK-84]

And I wish that M3's died when you shoot 100 ish rounds into the drivers compartment

They do.  You are not hitting with 100 rounds into the drivers compartment.  Firing 100 rounds and hitting with all 100 are very different things.

[ToeTag]

Less than 100 yards and all hit sprites are in the glass where a head should be....no boom

[MK-84]

Less than 100 yards and all hit sprites are in the glass where a head should be....no boom

You could have been leisurely diving in at 250mph.  That is 366.7fps which is 122.23 yards per second which means you had far less than a second to know you hit with 100rounds.
So that did not happen.
What you likely saw was diving on a target and seeing hit sprites as you shot, and assumed that they all hit.  With a parked aircraft and a parked target your bullets will not hit in the same spot.  Add a maneuvering target and attacking airplane closing at a high rate of speed it would be impossible to land all of your fire in one directed area.  Bullets will be hitting all around, glancing off of armor (which is modeled) and doing everything but landing in the same spot that you had almost no time to determine.

[Chalenge]

I think he is talking about hosing an M3 down with pintle gun fire to no avail.

[MK-84]

I think he is talking about hosing an M3 down with pintle gun fire to no avail.

Oh 

M3 Main body Armor = 6.4mm
Windshield Cover     = 12.7mm
.50cal pulpit cover   = 7.9mm

     You're shooting with rifle caliber armament with a few (.50cal) exceptions.  Adding distance and deflection makes penetration worse as well.  The M3 is armoured, lightly, but still armored.  You'll notice that the windshield cover has almost double the armor as the rest of the vehicle.
     In this scenario it still stands that bullets will absoutley not hit in all the same place even in the most perfect of conditions, and with a single gun, 100rnds...is actually not alot, from a panzerIV's pintle I estimate that to about 3-3.5 seconds firing time for that.
     The problem is that they are so many variables that saying "I fired 100 rounds" can not possibly translate into "I should have killed it"
In AH it really, really, REALLY matters where you hit your target, what angle, what distance, and with what type of round.
     In short if you're "shooting hundreds of rounds" at a target and it isn't dying. it probably isn't the game, it is how you perceive the game.  You're mostly missing, or your hits are not effective.
     It could be a game bug of course, but for some odd and unexplained reason the "I did X and it should have died" films seem to not be recorded.

[Eric19]

+1 and give us the PaK 40 75mm for it as well 

[R 105]

+1 and give us the PaK 40 75mm for it as well 

Yes I would like to see the paK 40 on the sdkfz 251s. That would be a nice addition to it. Off subject but how about the sd.Kfz 222 Katrin armored car. I think it only had a single 20mm and a MG but I always liked the looks of it and the Germans seemed to have had a lot of them. Maybe have the sd.Kfz 222 carry two GV supplies like a jeep. It has speed and armor protection greater than an M-3 with a gun that can track most tanks in the game. I always want to see more GVs here. (Panzer MK III with 50mm)

[USRanger]

I wish they had visual drivers like all planes have a pilot.