Ubertrains, Or the Little Engine that Could Do Too Much

[MRPLUTO]

I'd rather take on an Ostwind than a train anytime.  For example, no Ostwind could ever do this:

I was stalking a train on the Mindanao map in a Ju-88 to practice my dive-bombing skills, when the train came to a very steep hill.  Hills don't slow trains, so he began climbing up at me.  Suddenly tracers were flying infront of my plane, and only by some wild twisty manuvers was I able to escape without damage.  I waited until the train "leveled out" before dropping a large bomb directly on its locomotive.

******

Attacking a factory in an Il-2, I saw a train coming at me and knew from painful experience to stay clear.  I turned hard away from him, and don't think I ever got within 1,000 yds of him. Nevertheless, a shell smacks into my Sturmovik, but there's no damage.  I shove the nose forward and get hit by two more shells and I'm dead.  Now maybe it was bad luck and I dove into some poorly aimed shots, but every train in every country seems to be engineered by Casey Jones and gunned by John Wayne.

******

I can live with trains zooming up hills...but what country could afford to put its best AA teams on every train in the country!  Train AA should only be manned...never AI.  This would be realistic, because most trains simply cannot be armed.  It would be way too expensive and wasteful of manpower.  

People with nothing better to do could "ride the trains" in sectors with enemy activity.  You'd have to able to .join and .unjoin at anytime during the trip.

MRPLUTO  VMF-323  ~Death Rattlers~  MAG-33

[Innominate]

I find it silly that trains are second only to CV fleets in terms of AAA effectivness.  Park a couple of trains next to an airfield, and it will never be captured. :D:D

Lets put ultra-dense AAA on our trains, then two or three guns at the factory it runs to and from!

[whgates3]

the AA on kraut trains were nortoriously tough:
"Every German supply train, troop train, medical evacuation train, etc., also received security units. In most cases, a flat-bed wagon (Niederbordwagen) mounted a 4 x 20mm FLAK gun. A small compliment of security force riflemen accompanied each train. The security units assigned to protect German trains were normally placed under the command of the army group’s railway transportation officer."
...and there were also armoured trains


and armoured cars on regular trains


so effective train AA may not be so unrealistic...but it probably is on the phillipenes

[Innominate]

An airfield's ack is effective.

Trains pack a lot more than 4x20mm.

Either way, I find it hard to believe that a trains air defense is better than an airfield.

[whgates3]

but train is a much smaller target.  attacking a field at low alt, the guns at the far end are more than half a mile away. in hitting a train you're always diving almost directly at the ack-ack.  hundreds of WWII fighters and jabos lost their arnoldes atacking trains.  it wasn't even a safe job at night. in AH i feel a lot safer attacking a train than attacking any field.  field guns almost always get me on the 1st pass.  i read a book by a WWII P-47 jabo in which he said his squad would attack a train from both sides concurrently (on plane hitting the front of the train, one hitting the back so as to aviod collisions) to split up the AAA.  the 4 x 20mm gun was the most feared low alt AA gun, possibly because of it's high rate of fire & good hitting power, or maybe it was just more ubiquitous.  whatever the reason, no matter what bird you're in, if you get hit w/ 4 x 20mm, your clock is cleaned damn quick

[KG45]

i've heard train were tuff targets, but the only one i've seen was chugging along across some open water....

[AKWeav]

Speaking of trains, I was fighting an enemy near one of OUR factorys when a supply train pulled in. The train defensive ack shot at me!:confused:

[whgates3]

AA gunners were notoriously trigger happy & poor at A/C recognition

[tofri]

That reminds me of one bug.

Destroyed trains respawn immediately.
There is no 10 minute delay as with truck conyoys.

If you do not attack the train, the next is scheduled in ten minutes.
If you destroy one wagon, the next train starts when the other arrive at the factory:(

The other problem with the train ack is the fact, that you have to destroy the wagon to destroy the ack.