Optional Participation CAMPAIGN – Bolt Action Boot Camp

[noyjatat 16155xp 1]

General @oriskany would it be at all possible to sign up my German force to the Campaign please if not no worries?

[oriskany 60793xp 0]

Awesome, @noyjatat!  Okay, here’s an updated list (to my knowledge, if I missed anyone please let me know).

@buggeroff
@brucelea
@bobcockayne
@commodorerob
@maxkee
@damon
@limburger
@irishsteve
@trewets
@jackie
also Glen
@noyjatat

So that gives us 12 participants, 13 if you include me – putting us at a full one half of the Boot Camp’s total roster.  😀

 

[oriskany 60793xp 3]

Wow, thanks very much, @brucelea!

[limburger 22551xp 0]

damn … I so wanted that all-female tank crew.

What about an article about the role of women in armies and how this can be represented in (historical) games ?

/off-topic

[avernos 35414xp 1]

if you want to play female tank crews run a soviet list, generally smaller than men, so easier to squeeze them into the crew compartment of a tank.

[phaidknott 7261xp 1]

“what was there” is probably the best way to build an army (otherwise half the units would never see the table). Some of our best games were trying to use class D militia against each other during a few games (brings it’s own challenges). For this campaign it’s probably the last time you see AT rifles on the western front (well N Africa)….still good for knocking out half tracks 🙂

[oriskany 60793xp 1]

Soviet female tank crews –

While I’m not usually a fan of “anecdotal history” – I do enjoy the Soviet husband and wife team who formed part of the crew of an SU/ISU-152 assault gun. Good grief, the “couples’ arguments” in that household must have been epic!

[phaidknott 7261xp 1]

Well I heard there were quite a few female tank drivers in the Russian army which is interesting. As the “Driver” was actually the second in command of the tank crew (unlike their western counterparts) usually calling the shot (or warning the Gunner when about to break for a snap shot) and picking the route (as the Tank Commander was usually overloaded doing other things other than actually being able to command the tank before they got a 3 man turret installed..Think the first was the T34/85 in widespread use…so quite late on in the war)

[oriskany 60793xp 0]

@phaidknott – Indeed, the T-34/85 is the first Soviet tank to my knowledge to adopt a more “western” style three-man turret (commander, loader, gunner) – as well as most tanks having their own radios – first showing up in real battalion strength at the VERY end of 1943, early 1944.

The T-34/A-Ds (76.2mm) had two-man turrets, with the commander also having to fire the main gun.

There were also two men in the hull, so there was at least SUPPOSED to be a radio operator down there … but post-purge Soviet training and doctrine never really caught back up to this idea before 1941, so that second hull crewman was relegated to hull machine gunner, with the space for the missing radio usually just left empty or filled with extra MG ammo.  This seems to be another issue fixed with the advent of the 85, although A FEW Soviet tank brigades / corps seem to be lucky enough to start acquiring a few additional radios before that / training some of their sharper crewmen in their use.  It was never a widespread thing, though, at least not until 1944.

The metamorphosis of the Red Army, especially its mechanized elements, from 1941-45 is really remarkable.  A true phoenix from the ashes.

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