BG42: Ground Vehicle Manual

Battlegroup42 Ground Vehicle Manual

Introduction:

This little manual is adrssed to all BG42-Fans and those, who maybe become fans of this fine mod in the future. This manual will introduce all the vehicles and other stuff which can be used by the player, especially to those who are no tank experts or military historians. It will help to estimate the combat capabilitys of the vehicles, because it is vital to have some knowledge about that if you engage the enemy in BG42. The intention of the manual is also to avoid these players from frustration for example after suffering a sudden death in a tank after beeing hit by a single shot.

Content:

1. Damage System

2. Ballistics

3. Advantages, weaknesses and tactical worth of vehicles ingame

4. Ranking System

5. Vehicle Overview:

USA
Sovjet Union
Germany & Hungary
Great Britain & Commonwealth
Japan

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Damage System

To understand the behavior of tanks and other ground vehicles in Battlegroup42 it is necessary to know some basic facts. The first and most important thing is the damage system. It determines the characteristics of every type of projectile and material, according to the armor penetration capability of the real guns on one hand and the armor thickness of the vehicles on the other.

In generel, the damage system in Battlegroup42 is similar to that which is used in the original game, but it is much more scaled. Therefore it offers a lot of different projectile types for the guns and material types for the vehicle armor. Each projectile type got a specific armor penetration and splash damage value, which corresponds to the effectiveness of the real gun. Also each material type got a specific resistance value, which corresponds to the armor thickness of the real vehicle. These values are referring to a real combat distance of 500 meters and an impact angle between 90 and 60 degrees.

If a projectile hits an armor plate, the system will compare both values and calculate the resulting damage. To balance realism and gameplay, the Battlegroup42 develpers have reduced the armor penetration value of a projectile to 1/3 of the real value. For example, if a projectile has a penetration value of 150mm in reality, this is reduced to 50mm in the game. So it will take three hits on a surface with 120mm armor value to take out this particular vehicle.

The formula which calculates the damage value is very simple: take 1/3 of the penetration value and divide it with the armor value. Multiply the result by 100, and you get the damage value in percent.

There are two exceptions from that rule:
If the real penetration value of a gun is less than the thickness of the armor plate it hits, the formula is modified. Now you have to take 1/6 of the penetration value, which means that the damage value of each shot will be halfed.
If the real penetration value of a gun is 1/3 or less of the thickness of the armor plate it hits, it will cause no damage.

Ballistics

All tank guns except of those in infantry support tanks, assault guns and mobile Artillery normally have a very high muzzle veloctiy of 700-1300 meters per second. If you imagine, that the common combat distance between tanks in WW2 was about 500-2000 meters, it was quite clear that ballistic effects have been of minor importance. Since all measures had been scaled down in Battlefield 1942 to meet the limited space on the maps, this had to be done to the muzzle velocties too. According to their 1/3 rule the Battlegroup42 developers have reduced the real muzzle velocity values of each gun. This resulted in very realistic ballistics for the guns in the game, especially compared against those in the original game, where the effective range of the tank guns is quite short.
This fact is very important for tank tactics: If you have to engage an enemy tank as close as possible in the original game to increase your chance for a well placed hit, it is quite the other way in Battlegroup42: tanks are long range weapons, and here you have to use them exactly in this way. Try to hit your enemy from farest distance that is possible. Hide your tank and surprise the enemy - so you have a good chance to kill even a stronger tank until he finally realizes where your shots come from.

Advantages, weaknesses and tactical worth of vehicles ingame

To estimate, which effect a specific tank has against an enemy, it is not necessary for the player to be a tank expert. But you should know which vehicle you use, its behavior and power. The same is with the vehicle of the enemy you engage. A good help are the star-signs at the vehicle icons: one for a light tank, two for a medium tank and three for a heavy tank. Also never forget, that most tanks are more vulnarable if you hit them in the sides or in the rear. For example never attack a three star tank with a one star tank - that ends up in a smoking wreck very fast.

Take care of APCs!

APCs in Battlegroup42 are of much greater tactical worth than their counterparts in the original game, where they were used as taxis or for AA defense at best, but normally were regarded as deathtraps. In Battlegroup42 the APCs have some special capabilities: They are able to repair own nearby vehicles and resupply them with ammunition. Notice the word "own" please: A Hanomag or Ho-Ki will never repair a Sherman, and a M3A1 will never repair a Tiger. Apart from other vehicles in Battlegroup42 they got more than 100 hitpoints to make them more resistant (which should encourage the players to use them) Self destroy time (if moved away from spawnpoint) of APCs was also elongated. So choose a good position for your APC or follow and support a tank column with it. This can be the key to a successful assault. On the other hand: Watch out for enemy APCs and destroy them first if possible.

Ranking System

To make estimation of combat capabilitys easier, I have developed a six level ranking system for the main tactical values of the ground vehicles. These values are

armor

firepower

mobilty

To illustrate these characteristics, they get values from one to six:

very good = 1
good = 2
satisfactory = 3
sufficient = 4
bad = 5
very bad = 6

If there are special capabilitys, they will mentioned in an annotation. Every vehicle is illustrated by a ingame screenshot which allows the player to identify them properly. Vehicles, which where taken from the original game or only have been slighty changed, are marked with the word "Dice".

General explanations:

All tanks with rotating gun turrets are fitted with a coaxial machine gun, except there is a special annotation that they have none. Many tanks in BG42 are also fitted with additional machine guns on the turret roof or fighting compartment (located on position 2), in the bow (located on position 3) and sometimes in the rear turret (located on position 2). These machine guns can be used be a team mate, so stick together and build tank crews if possible.

The value for firepower always reports the efficiency against armored vehicles. Effectivnesss against other targets like infantry and aircrafts is mentioned in the annotations. For example assault guns and mobile artillery will have less effect against heavy armor, but will work very well against infantry and light armored vehicles (Splash Damage).

A firepower value of 5 does not indicate, that the weapon will be useless. It only sets a relation to the other vehicles and their armor strenght. A Stuart or a Panzer II can easily destroy light armored vehicles like APCs or other light tanks. They also can take out heavier tanks, if they have a chance to hit them in the rear or at the upper sides. But you should not engage enemy tanks with an armor value of 2, if your vehicle has a firepower value of 4 or less. Main rule: Your firepower value should be equal or better compared to the armor value of the enemy if you want to have a good chance to take him out.

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Battlegroup42 - Ground Vehicles

Part 1:

- United States of America -

Williys Jeep (Dice)
General Purpose Vehicle;
Armor: 6
Firepower: -
Mobility: 1
Annotation: Four seats instead of two in the original game

M3A1 APC
Armored Personnel Carrier, Engineer Vehicle;
Armor: 5
Firepower: 6
Mobility: 3
Annotation: Repairs own nearby vehicles, resupplies ammo to other armored vehicles

M16 AA
Self Propelled AA Gun; based on the M3 Halftrack
Armor: 5
Firepower: 6, against aircarft 1
Mobility: 3

M21 Mortar Carrier
Mortar Carrier; based on the M3 Halftrack
Armor: 5
Firepower: 3
Mobility: 3
Annotation: 81mm Mortar, 0.50 Browning AA-MG (no ring mount like M3A1!), extended splash damage against infantry

M3A1 Stuart
Light tank;
Armor: 5
Firepower: 4-5
Mobility: 1-2
Annotation: can direct artillery fire, 0.30 Browning AA-MG with limited traverse, MG in the bow

M4 Sherman
Medium Tank; early Version
Armor: 4
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 3
Annotation: 0.30 Browning AA-MG on the turret roof, MG in the bow

M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo
Medium Tank; heavy armored special version of the M4 Sherman with stronger gun
Armor: 2
Firepower: 2-3
Mobility: 4
Annotation: 0.50 Browning AA-MG on the turret roof, MG in the bow

M10 Wolverine (Dice)
Tank Hunter; uses M4 Sherman chassis,
Armor: 4
Firepower: 2-3
Mobility: 3
Annotation: 0.50 Browning AA-MG on the turret rear with limited traverse, no coaxial MG

M36 Jackson
Tank Hunter; successor of the M10 with stronger gun
Armor: 4
Firepower: 1-2
Mobility: 3
Annotation: 0.50 Browning AA-MG on the turret roof, no coaxial MG

M7B2 HMC (Dice)
Self Propelled Howitzer, uses M4 Sherman chassis
Armor: 5
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 3
Annotation: 0.50 Browning AA-MG on ring mount, extended splash damage against infantry, directed fire

Battlegroup42 - Ground Vehicles

Part 2:

- Sovjet Union -

Willys Jeep (Dice)
General Purpose Vehicle; Staff Car
Armor: 6
Firepower: -
Mobility: 1
Annotation: Four seats instead of two in the original game

M5A1/M3A1 APC (Dice)
Armored Personnel Carrier, Engineer Vehicle; M5A1 is a lend-lease version of the M3A1 halftrack
Armor: 5
Firepower: 6
Mobility: 3
Annotation: 12,7mm DsHK-MG instead of 0.50 Browning, repairs own nearby vehicles, resupplies ammo to other armored vehicles

M17 AA
Anti Aircraft Gun; based on M5A1 halftrack
Armor: 5
Firepower: 6, against aircraft 1
Mobility: 3

BM-13N Katyusha (Dice)
Mobile Multiple Rocket Launcher
Armor: 6
Firepower: 2
Mobility: 2
Annotation: 12 instead of 6 Rockets as in the original game, extended splash damage against infantry, directed fire

SU-122
Assault Gun; based on a T-34 chassis
Armor: 4
Firepower: 3
Mobility: 2
Annotation: extended splash damage against infantry, directed fire, no self defense capability against infantry

SU-85
Tank Hunter; based on a T-34 chassis
Armor: 4
Firepower: 2
Mobility: 2
Annotation: no self defense capability against infantry

T-34/76 (Dice)
Medium Tank; Dice-Model with new turret
Armor: 4
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 2

T-34/85 (Dice)
Medium Tank; improved T-34 with new turret and stronger main gun
Armor: 3-4
Firepower: 2
Mobility: 2
Annotation: 12,7mm DsHK AA-MG on the turret roof

KV-1
Heavy Tank;
Armor: 2-3
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 4
Annotation: MG in the bow and rear turret

KV-1S
Heavy Tank; "Light"-Version of KV-1
Armor: 3
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 2-3

KV-85
Heavy Tank; improved KV-1 with new turret und stronger main gun
Armor: 2-3
Firepower: 2
Mobility: 2-3

KV-2
Heavy Assault Gun; the Titan among the KV-tanks
Armor: 2-3
Firepower: 2
Mobility: 4
Annotation: MG in the bow and rear turret, slow reloading, extended splash damage against infantry

Iosif Stalin IS-2
Heavy Tank; successor of the KV-tanks
Armor: 2
Firepower: 1
Mobility: 2
Annotation: 12,7mm DsHK Fla-MG AA-MG on the turret roof, slow reloading, low ammunition storage

Battlegroup42 - Ground Vehicles

Part 3:

- Germany and Hungary -

Kübelwagen (Dice)
General Purpose Vehicle; Staff Car
Armor: -
Firepower: -/6
Mobility: 1
Annotation: Four seats instead of two in the original game

Kettenkrad (Dice)
Light Tractor;
Armor: -
Firepower: -
Mobility: 2

Opel Blitz
General Purpose Truck;
Armor: -
Firepower: -
Mobility: 3
Annotation: four passenger seats

Sdkfz. 251/1 APC (Dice)
Armored Personnel Carrier, Engineer Vehicle;
Armor: 5
Firepower: 6
Mobility: 3
Annotation: Repairs own nearby vehicles, resupplies ammo to other armored vehicles

Sdkfz. 251/17 AA
Self Propelled AA Gun;
Armor: 5
Firepower: 5, against aircraft 2
Mobility: 3
Annotation: eight rounds per cartridge

Nimrod AA
Self Propelled AA Gun; hungarian development
Armor: 5
Firepower: 4-5, against aircraft 1-2
Mobility: 3

Panzer II F
Light tank;
Armor: 5
Firepower: 5
Mobility: 2
Annotation: can direct artillery fire; ten rounds per cartridge
for the main gun

Sturmgeschuetz II Bison
Assault Gun; uses Panzer II Chassis
Armor: 5
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 3
Annotation: extended splash damage against infantry, AA-MG42, directed fire

Sdkfz. 124 Wespe (Dice)
Self Propelled Howitzer; uses Panzer II Chassis
Armor: 5
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 2-3
Annotation: extended splash damage against infantry, AA-MG42, directed fire

Panzer III J
Medium Tank; improved Panzer III with stronger gun
Armor: 4-5
Firepower: 4-5
Mobility: 2
Annotation: MG in the bow

Panzer III J Spezial
Medium Tank; improved Panzer III J with longer gun
Armor: 4-5
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 2
Annotation: MG in the bow

Panzer III M
Medium Tank; improved Panzer III J with sideskirts
Armor: 4-5
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 2
Annotation: MG in the bow, AA-MG on the turret roof

Panzer III N
Infantry Support Tank; last version of the Panzer III with Panzer IV D gun
Armor: 4
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 2
Annotation: MG in the bow, Fla-MG42 AA-MG on the turret roof

Sturmgeschuetz III D
Assault Gun; early version, uses Panzer III chassis
Armor: 3-4
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 3
Annotation: extended splash damage against infantry, no self defense capability against infantry

Sturmgeschuetz III G
Assault Gun and Tank Hunter; improved version of STuG III D with sideskirts and stronger gun
Armor: 3
Firepower: 3
Mobility: 3
Annotation: AA-MG42 on the roof of the fighting compartment

Panzer IV D
Medium Tank; early version
Armor: 4
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 3
Annotation: MG in the bow

Panzer IV F2
Medium Tank; improved Panzer IV D with stronger gun
Armor: 3-4
Firepower: 3
Mobility: 3
Annotation: MG in the bow, AA-MG on the turret roof

Panzer IV H
Medium Tank; improved Panzer IV with sideskirts
Armor: 3-4
Firepower: 3
Mobility: 3
Annotation: MG in the bow, AA-MG on the turret roof

Jagdpanzer IV
Tank Hunter; uses Panzer IV chassis
Armor: 3-4
Firepower: 2-3
Mobility: 3
Annotation: AA-MG42 on the roof of the fighting compartment

Sturmpanzer IV Brummbaer
Assault Gun; uses Panzer IV chassis
Armor: 3-4
Firepower: 3
Mobility: 3
Annotation: extended splash damage against infantry, AA-MG42 on the roof of the fighting compartment, directed fire

Flakpanzer IV Ostwind
Self Propelled AA Gun; uses Panzer IV chassis
Armor : 3-4
Firepower: 6, against aircraft 1
Mobility: 3
Annotation: Eight rounds per magazin, AA-MG42 with limited traverse at the rear turret

Turan 41M
Medium Tank; hungarian development, uses Panzer IV chassis
Armor: 4
Firepower: 3-4
Mobility: 3

Panther D
Medium Tank; first main production model
Armor: 2-3
Firepower: 2
Mobility: 2-3
Annotation: MG in the bow

Panther A
Medium Tank; successor of the Panther D with some improvements
Armor: 2-3
Firepower: 2
Mobility: 2-3
Annotation: MG in the bow, AA-MG on the turret roof

Jagdpanther
Tank Hunter; uses Panther chassis
Armor: 2-3
Firepower: 1
Mobility: 2-3
Annotation: no self defense capability against infantry,

Tiger E
Heavy Tank;
Armor: 2
Firepower: 1-2
Mobility: 3
Annotation: MG in the bow, AA-MG on the turret roof

Koenigstiger
Heavy Tank; strongest tank in the mod
Armor: 1-2
Firepower: 1
Mobility: 3
Annotation: MG in the bow, AA-MG on the turret roof, smoke grenades

Zrinyi
Assault Gun; hungarian development
Armor: 3
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 3
Annotation: extended splash damage against infantry, no self defense capability against infantry, directed fire

Sdkfz. 234/2 "Puma"
Heavy Armored Car;
Armor: 4-5
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 2
Annotation: can direct artillery fire

Battlegroup42 - Ground Vehicles

Part 4:

- Great Britain and Commonwealth -

Williys Jeep (Dice)
General Purpose Vehicle;
Armor: 6
Firepower: -
Mobility: 1
Annotation: four seats instead of two in the original game

SAS Jeep
General Purpose Vehicle; assault vehicle of the Special Air Service
Armor: 6
Firepower: 6, against aircraft and infantry 2
Mobility: 1
Annotation: two Lewis Dual MG

Home Guard Jeep
General Purpose Vehicle; similar to SAS Jeep,
Armor: 6
Firepower: 6, against aircraft and infantry 2
Mobility: 1
Annotation: two Lewis Dual MG

Daimler Dingo 4x4 (Dice)
Armored Car;
Armor: 5
Firepower: 6
Mobility: 2
Annotation: Bren-MG on passenger seat, can direct artillery fire, horn

Ford Lynx 4x4 (Dice)
Armored Car; Canadian version of the Daimler Dingo
Armor: 5
Firepower: 6
Mobility: 2
Annotation: Bren-MG on passenger seat, can direct artillery fire, horn

M3A1 APC (Dice)
Armored Personnel Carrier, Enginieer Vehicle;
Armor: 5
Firepower: 6
Mobility: 3
Annotation: Repairs own nearby vehicles, resupplies ammo to other armored vehicles

Staghound MK.III 4x4
Armored Car; uses Crusader MK.III turret
Armor: 4-5
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 2
Annotation: can direct artillery fire

Staghound AA
Armored Car; AA version of the Staghound MK.III
Armor: 4-5
Firepower: 6, against aircraft and infantry 2
Mobility: 2

Stuart I "Honey"
Light Tank; british version of the US M3 Stuart
Armor: 5
Firepower: 4-5
Mobility: 2
Annotation: can direct artillery fire, 0.30 Browning AA-MG with limited traverse, MG in the bow

Crusader MK.I
Medium Tank; also known as "Cruiser-Tank"
Armor: 5
Firepower: 4-5
Mobility: 2
Annotation: MG-turret on the bow

Crusader MK.III
Medium Tank; successor of the Crusader MK.I with stronger gun and armor
Armor: 4-5
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 2
Annotation: Dual AA-MG on the turret roof

Sherman III
Medium Tank; british version of the US M4 Sherman
Armor: 4
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 3
Annotation: 0.30 Browning AA-MG on the turret roof, MG in the bow

Sherman VC Firefly
Medium Tank; british conversion of the Sherman with much stronger gun
Armor: 4
Firepower: 1
Mobility: 3
Annotation: no MG in the bow

Matilda MK.II
Heavy Tank; also known as "Infantry-Tank"
Armor: 2
Firepower: 4-5
Mobility: 5
Annotation: Dual AA-MG on the turret roof

Achilles MK. IIc
Tank Hunter; british conversion of the US M10 Wolverine with much stronger gun
Armor: 4
Firepower: 1
Mobility: 3
Annotation: 0.50 Browning AA-MG with limited traverse, no coaxial MG

Bishop MK.I
Self Propelled Howitzer;
Armor: 5
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 4
Annotation: Dual AA-MG with limited traverse at the top of the fighting compartment, extended splash damage against infantry, directed fire

M7 105mm SP Priest (Dice)
Self Propelled Howitzer; identical to US M7B2 HMC
Armor: 5
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 3
Annotation: 0.50 Browning AA-MG on ring mount, extended splash damage against infantry, directed fire

Sexton 25pdr. SP (Dice)
Self Propelled Howitzer; produced in Canada for Commonwealth-Armies
Armor: 5
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 2-3
Annotation: Bren-AA-MG, extended splash damage against infantry, directed fire

Battlegroup42 - Ground Vehicles

Part 5:

- Japan -

Kurogane "Daruma" (Dice)
General Purpose Vehicle; also known as "Black Medal"
Armor: 6
Firepower: -
Mobility: 1
Annotation: four seats instead of two in the original game

Type 1 Ho-Ki APC
Armored Personnel Carrier, Engineer Vehicle;
Armor: 5
Firepower: 6
Mobility: 3
Annotation: Repairs own nearby vehicles, resupplies ammo to other armored vehicles

Type 1 Ho-Ha APC (Dice)
Armored Personnel Carrier, Engineer Vehicle;
Armor: 5
Firepower: 6
Mobility: 3
Annotation: Repairs own nearby vehicles, resupplies ammo to other armored vehicles

Sdkfz. 124 Wespe (Dice)
Self Propelled Howitzer; uses Panzer II Chassis
Armor: 5
Firepower: 4
Mobility: 2-3
Annotation: extended splash damage against infantry, AA-MG42, directed fire

Type 97 Chi-Ha
Medium Tank; early version, Dice-Model with new turret
Armor: 5
Firepower: 5
Mobility: 3
Annotation: AA-MG on the turret roof

Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha (Dice)
Medium Tank; improved version of the Chi-Ha with new turret and stronger gun
Armor: 5
Firepower: 4-5
Mobility: 3
Annotation: AA-MG on the turret roof

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