I am working on the OOB extensions for Army at Dawn and Campagne de Tunisie. When I came to the
75mm Auto-Cannon and wondered if it should be able to to dig in. It is basically a truck mounted porteě, and trucks are not not allowed to dig in. What would this mean for other porteěs with truck and prime movers, or even the
taczanka? So I going the consensus route.
Now let's complicate it a little more... What about MG armed trucks and jeeps? Kübelwagens cannot.
No dig-in would seem to make the most sense since these weapons were created for mobility as well as FP. The history of this is unfamiliar to me, and I don't recall ever seeing a photo of one of these "hull-down". However, APC's can dig in (16.23), so on that basis, I'd say let them do it. It makes just as much sense to let these weapons do it as it does for a personnel carrier.
Yes, I would let them digging in, as well. Let’s say they have found a wall or a terrain movement to hide behind.
I played some African scenarios and dug in my armed Brens(think they were brens) without a second thought.
Said I could do it...absolutely I would...start protected, move if you need to...I was defending hills.
APCs, like Brens, are allowed to dig in because they are also also AFVs. Unarmed transport, like trucks, are not allowed to dig in. I don't think Kubelwagons can either. I can can see how portees could, because now they have a crew. MG jeeps and trucks, how many extra guys do they get? MG trucks are still transports, it seems the jeeps are to.
My first thought is to suggest that mechanized/tracked vehicles could dig in, but motorized/wheeled units could not. However; that rule would prevent armored cars from digging in, and I'm not sure that reflects reality.
New to PG but to me a truck stops being an infantry transport as soon as it becomes a Portee or Gun Motor Carriage and with that change comes all the benefits of being a mobile gun platform, an unarmored one at that.
The purpose of digging-in a Portee is to reduce its silhouette, protect the unarmored portions of the vehicle from shell fragments and small arms fire. It could be debated how much protection to the crew a dug-in Portee could offer since they are exposed just like a normal gun crew would be.
In game terms the Portee should only be allowed to start the game dug-in, never to be allowed to dig in during the game, there is too much vehicle and too little time to dig in with a shovel. If it starts dug in there should be a chance for it to mire, it is a truck after all, if it tries to move out of its dug in position especially in bad weather or muddy scenarios.
Exact pictures of Portee's dug in are hard to find, attached are a few examples of like vehicles that are in an improved position.
Thanks for the pictures. I think those dug in units are probably more than what could be expected in turns of activity. They are interesting, none the less.
For the OOB extensions, I have made the 75AC and portees able to be dug in. MG trucks and jeeps cannot. That was because, in AAAD, MG trucks and jeeps still function as transports. In my mind, they don't really have a gun crew. Jeeps would be especially be subject to that problem.