Churchill Crocodile

[Cross698]

I added another video

Very interesting.

[Big Insect]

You cannot dump the trailor .... come on chaps ... this is getting down to a "how much ammo can an infantry man carry" level 

[fsn]

You cannot dump the trailor ....

"Once the trailer ha expended its contents, or if it became damaged or caught on an obstacle, it could be disengaged by means of a quick release, activated by a Bowden cable. In theory it was then possible for the tank to continue in action as a conventional gun tank ..."

David Fletcher. Churchill Crocodile Flamethrower, Osprey, 2007

Sorry. 

[pierre the shy]

Bovington is a great museum.

Understatement of the year 

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

You cannot dump the trailor .... come on chaps ... this is getting down to a "how much ammo can an infantry man carry" level 

6 20 round magazines, 1 50 round belt (4 BIT), 2 grenades an a 66 rocket, from the 70's. For WWII - 110 rounds, 2 Bren Mags and 2 grenades, appropriate info for "Black Op's", Force on Force or Chain of Command - not I suspect for BKC.

On Crocs - a very low percentage of hits were on the trailer, something like 10% - so the argument is rather academic. Removing the tough characteristic looks good to me.

IanS

[fsn]

I really don't have a dog in this fight, except the one of historicity.

Crocodile - not tough. OK. Whatever. However, the Crocodile should, IMHO be able to ditch the trailer and then serve as a "tough" tank - without a bow MG. The trailer was designed to be jettisoned.

[Dr Dave]

I'd have thought is was just like any "deploy" action in the rules. I think the "too much granularity" argument is a bit thin when there are dozens of special rules now and the bttn/brigade commander gets to orientate the template of his strafing Typhoon support.

An sdkfz7 gets to drop off its 88! 

[Cross698]

I added another video

Excellent.

[Big Insect]

Dr Dave - the Crocodile is a distinct 'unit' it is very different from an sdkfz7 that gets to drop off its 88.
I do not disagree that the trailer could be ditched - but that was when it had run out of 'juice'.

But it's your call - however the core rule is that the Crocodile is a distinct unit for our purposes and cannot drop its trailer, because it doesn't run out of fuel from the trailer - so why would you want to drop the trailer?
Just to make it Tough by dropping its ability to use it's Flamethrower capability seems a bit like cutting your nose off to spite your face IMHO

Mark

[Dr Dave]

...I do not disagree that the trailer could be ditched - but that was when it had run out of 'juice'.

...so why would you want to drop the trailer?
Just to make it Tough by dropping its ability to use it's Flamethrower capability seems a bit like cutting your nose off to spite your face IMHO

Well, they'd drop the trailer if they got it snagged crossing rough ground - not simply because they'd run out of juice. But in game terms if you've got a Croc in a tank fight and are being flanked dropping the trailer to regain tough sounds like a good reason to me. I've modelled mine so that I can drop them off.

[Big Insect]

Interesting approach - as you are going for a defensive approach, rather than on offensive one.

But if that's a house rule you want to play then by all means   

[Dr Dave]

Mark, against jerries with faster tanks and higher cv you can't out manoeuvre them everywhere. Churchills are a terrific asset for the Brits if they refuse one flank and stomp on the other.

[Cross698]

I have a separate trailer for mine, not for dropping off, but to add the trailer from 20cm, so initially it could be just another VII. 

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Except that almost all VII's were Crocodiles...

[fsn]

I suspect that most German soldiers were not bothered about the mark of tank bearing down on them.