Boys Anti-Tank Rifle
From Battleground Europe Wiki
| |
| Boys Anti-Tank Rifle | |
|---|---|
| Specifications | |
| Type | Bolt-Action Anti-Tank Rifle |
| Caliber | .55 cal |
| Feed system | 5-round box |
| Length | |
| Weight | |
| Muzzle velocity | 990 m/s |
| Maximum effective range | 300 m |
The .55-caliber Boys Anti-Tank Rifle was an early war effort to increase the ability of infantry anti-tank teams to disable tanks, or at least render tanks vulnerable on the battlefield. While the thinly walled tanks of 1939 and even 1940 were somewhat vulnerable to an ATR team that had crept extremely close to its target, only tiny, specific areas of German tanks' external armored shell would be thin or weak enough to award the ATR team a kill. The guns just were not very effective against most tanks they faced.
The French Army received a large shipment of the Boys ATR in exchange for a shipment of 25mm guns offered to Britain at the start of the war. Many would say that Britain got the better end of the deal as the Boys ATR was not as successful as some would have hoped it would be against the majority of the armor it would face in battle.
The Boys was not a complete failure, however, for it could penetrate and knock out the thinner skinned vehicles that supported German tank movements - the SdKfz 232 and the SdKfz 251 for example.
Gameplay
- The Boys ATR is very useful in the early stages of a campaign, it can disable a vast majority of the Axis Tier 0 armored vehicles and you can most probably always find one in the spawnlists.
- A critical disavantage of the Boys is that when you fire you are forced to wait a second or two then you reload. The entire process takes about 3 seconds, not much but when a 232 is heading towards you every second counts.
See Also
- "Stop That Tank!" (Part 1), (Part 2), (Part 3), a 1942 training film from Walt Disney Productions, the National Film Board of Canada, and the Canadian Department of National Defence on the use of the Boys Anti-Tank Rifle.
| Infantry Weapons of Battleground Europe. | ||
| British Weapons | Boys Anti-Tank Rifle · Bren Mk I LMG · Lee-Enfield No.4 Mk I · M1928 Thompson · No.36 Mills Bomb · No.77 Smoke Grenade · Webley Pistol | |
| French Weapons | Boys Anti-Tank Rifle · FM 1924/29 LMG · MAS. 36 · Lebel · Grenade fumigène · Grenade à main offensive mle 1915 · MAS. 38 · Pistolet mle 1935S | |
| German Weapons | Karabiner 98k · Luger P08 · MG-34 · MP-40· Nebelhandgranate 39· PzB 39 ·Stielhandgranate 24 | |
| Universal Weapons | Ammo Resupply Pack · Combat Knife . Satchel Charge | |
