[TML] Molding Ships

[shadow at shadowgard.com]

On 2 Oct 2007 at 8:59, Charles Prevatte wrote:

> Doubtfull.
> 
> I was assuming a helecopter closer to the Vetnam era Huey's armed with
> gatlin guns on the skid and in the doors.

That's "Gatling" (it's the name of the inventor).

And the motorized versions aren't usually referred to as "gatlings".

Thing is, the main reason the Army used helicopters in combat was 
that they needed air support that *they* controlled. /In a more 
rational setup, they'd have been using A-10 Warthogs for a lot of 
that. 

> The tracking speed of a flank panzer was not all that great even for it's
> time and against pop up attacks with 6000 RPM cyclic rate 7.62 MM rounds
> that open turret would quickly become a coffin.  The Flack panzer was not
> very effective even against contemporary aircraft and tactic.  Also, such a
> helecopter could carry combat teams with snipers, bazzookas, and demolition
> teams to ruin an enemies day from behind the lines.  Helecopters unlike WW2
> gliders and paratroopers can move after they land, and provide their troops
> a lot of close support firepower even inside towns.  It would also not have
> taken much to adapt the recoilless rifles of that day for use on these
> Helecopters for anti tank work.

Warthogs are much better for anti-tank work 20mm (or is it 30?) 
autocannon tend to do that.

And unlike a helicopter, they can fight off the fighters that would 
be sent against them.

If the VC had had an air force we'd not have used helicopters 
*nearly* as much.

> As for the nepalm idea, bomb sites would not have been all that necessary in
> WW1.  A low pass with a single large bomb, that spread on impact like modern
> naplam dropped weapons would open a large whole in the lines.

Actually, that's not as likely as you think. Not more than once or 
twice. WWI trenches after the first few gas attacks were set up with 
a lot of shelters that would have saved a lot of the troops for at 
least a bit.

And getting the side *using* the napalm to exploit the hole is going 
to be a problem. Note the trouble that both sides had exploiting 
holes like that after poison gas came into use.
 
speaking of which, it'd likely be easier to use one of the skin 
contact nerve gases. Even if the existing masks will work against it, 
you need a full coverage suit to be safe.

If it's low persistence, you can move in your troops without 
protective gear.

> You would only need a few such surprises to gain a tactical advantage that
> you could turn into a strategic victory.  And remember that the "space men"
> would have all of history including what we would consider the furture to
> use for reference.

But exploiting them requires that the *locals* be flexible enough to 
exploit the advantages. History shows that this is *not* easy.

 
> Think about operation Market Garden.  What would a dozen Huey's gunships
> with gatlin guns have done to hold the "bridge to far"?  Each helecopter
> could have brought in 12 new soilders and equipment per trip and provided
> close air support on the way out.  Add to this that they could have deployed
> combat engineers behind the enemy to take out bridges that allowed
> reinforcement to reach the bridge and overwhelm the partroopers trying to
> hold it.

Except the Luftwaffe would have shot the hell out of them.
 
Hueys are *not* terribly survivable against even WWII fighters.

--
Leonard Erickson (aka shadow)
shadow at shadowgard dot com