Aircraft weapons
From Battleground Europe Wiki
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Aircraft Weapons
Know your guns!
Just like having the right tool for the job is the difference between failure and success, so is having the right weapon for the job is difference between victory and defeat!
Rifle Caliber Machinegun (RCM, 7mm to 9mm)
At the beginning of WW2, still thinking of wooden WW1 aircraft, the standard airborne weapon was the 7mm to 9mm round used in Rifle Caliber Machinegun, or "RCM". While 20mm cannons do exist at this time, they are rare in aircraft because all the nations felt the RCM was adequate, but surprisingly little tested. It did not take long to realize that RCM where ineffective, and aircraft routinely made it back to safe territory despite being hit with over a hundred impact hits. The RAF tried a 12 gun Hurricane, but that did not help much, so they tested RCM and discovered that nearly half of RCM bullets simply bounce off the metal skinned aircraft, and they rapidly upgraded to 20mm cannons. Incendiary versions of the munition was developed on all sides that proved lethal, as few aircraft early in the war had fire reducing self-sealing fuel tanks!
Strengths:
You have a LOT of rounds, they fly far, fast, and straight, and best of all they fire rapidly (up to twice as fast as a cannon)! You can pepper you target, reduce its speed, and scare the pilot into evasive maneuvers, slowing them down. And do not forget the lucky "Golden BB (shot)" kill hit.
Weaknesses:
Weak, weak, weak! You could expend your ENTIRE load to take down a bomber even with a high hit percentage!
Game experience:
It can be the ultimate frustration because nothing seems to happen, but it really does (slows target down)! "Dead 6" (straight from rear) attacks do little, side attacks are much more effective, and cockpit hits are the best. They are by far the best in dog fight because of the near straight line trajectory and instant hit, but again they do little damage. Oh, yes, the games effectiveness match real life combat results very closely!
In the game they are often called "BB's"
Heavy Machinegun (HMG, 10mm to 13mm)
Surprisingly not used that much in the beginning of WW2 except by Japanese and Russians. Most forces either focused on RCM or "bomber busting" cannons. The Americans where the first and only side that completely standardized on this size once early combat reports from Europe came in.
Strengths:
The loss in performance compared to RCM are made up with substantial hitting power! You do not have the load quantity, but a few well aimed hits will reduce your targets speed, and scare the pilot into evasive maneuvers, slowing them down. If you get a good but short sustained burst, you will shred your target to bits!
Weaknesses:
While much better then RCM, they are far from instant kill. You have less on board, so you have to be careful on the trigger, and expect some time to take down big aircraft.
Game experience:
Point blank is where this gun excels at, but can hit hard at range, if you are an expert shot. You want to land a tight group on target, random hits do little. You have a much better chance at a pilot kill from 6 because pilot armor is almost worthless. They also have a very good chance to penetrating the rear and top of tanks.
In the game they are often called "Lazors". The 109G is only LW aircraft with 13mm HMG, RAF have none, but French FaF have 4 models!
20mm Cannons
The term is generally applied to any munition that is 20mm (or even 15mm) and larger. Much like cannons on old wooden ships, they were considered the gun needed in big sky battles between the bombers in aerial broadsides! It did not take long to realize that cannons would be barely effective against fighters! Rarely would a single cannon hit take down a fighter, needing often 2, 3, or even 4 to do the job. A bomber would need at least 3 hits to cause critical damage, except for the lucky hit.
Strengths:
Even 1 hit causes powerful, crippling damage.
Weaknesses:
Getting a hit! Completely opposite of an RCM, you have few rounds, slow firing, slow speed, curved trajectory, heavy recoil that will upset your aim. You can no longer "spray and pray" for a hit, good aiming is very important. And do not expect 1 hit to be a kill (but it puts target in a world of hurt).
Game experience:
Most of the time you will miss, and then when you hit do not expect to see the target go down in flames. Realize this, that 20mm just knocked 30kph off his top speed and lost maneuverability. You have the upper hand to do a second pass, but do not think he is a sitting duck!
30mm Cannon
The German Mk 108 30mm cannon is the best 30mm cannon ever built in "GUN EFFICIENCY" (power-to-weight ratio and ammunition combination), and could exceed 40mm cannons for its destructive power. Rarely will a target survive with just one hit. Of course the 109G is the only one with a 30mm cannon.
Strengths:
1 hit, target down, in many little pieces (66% of time, bigger aircraft usually need 2).
Weaknesses:
Getting a hit! The rounds very slow velocity means you need to get point blank, that means the 'halo' is more like a dash!
Game experience:
It is a thing of joy! This is the only air weapon in game that can deliver a "One-shot-kill", that is if you are accurate. Ranged shots? Forget it! Fortunately the 109G also has 2 HMG's.
Required Reading
I am not kidding when I say you have to read this! These sites will answer ALL your questions on why you are such a n000b shooting down enemy aircraft! Written by the leading experts in the field!
WORLD WAR 2 FIGHTER ARMAMENT EFFECTIVENESS © Anthony G. Williams & Emmanuel Gustin
Gun Tables of all the aircraft guns of WW2 © 1998-1999 Emmanuel Gustin (mirror site)
Hoof's Performance describes IN DETAIL how the weapons are modeled in this game and its performance figures. Basically this is the FAQ file for the game!
Luftwaffe Cannons & Machineguns, forum with little known facts and comments by experts in field.
Each sides weapons
All the machine gun and cannon weapons found in game, which side uses them, with wikipedia links
French
7.5 mm FN-Browning mle 38: RoF 1,100-1,500 RPM, 500 or 600-round belts, DB-7, H-75 frontal guns
7.5 mm MAC 34T: RoF 1,200-1,450 RPM, 100-round clips, DB-7 defensive guns
7.5 mm MAC 34M39: RoF 1,200-1,450 RPM, 675-round belts (30 seconds of ammo!), D.520 wing guns
7.5 mm MAC mle 31 (aka "Reibel"): French tanks RoF 500-750(?) RPM, 150-round clips
.50 caliber (12.7mm) M2 Browning machine gun RoF 750~850 RPM, Belt fed, H81, H87, P-38/L-322
.30/.303 caliber (7.62/7.7mm)Browning Model 1919 machine gun RoF 400~600 RPM
20mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon RoF 700 RPM (slower then UK variant)
German
7.92mm MG-15 movable defensive gun. RoF 1000~1050 RPM, 75-round drum.
7.92mm MG-17 fixed mounting aircraft gun. RoF 1200 RPM (950 RPM firing though propeller), Belt fed (in game belting: AP/AP/AP/AP/Tracer).
13mm MG-131 fixed or flexible mounting machine gun RoF 900 RPM, belt fed
20mm MG-FF/M fixed (or flexible mounting) cannon. RoF 540 RPM, 60-round drum.
20mm MG-151/20 cannon RoF 750 RPM, belt fed
30mm MK-108 cannon RoF 650 RPM, belt fed
British
.303 caliber (7.7mm) Vickers K Machine gun RoF 950 RPM
.30/.303 caliber (7.62/7.7mm)Browning Model 1919 machine gun RoF 400~600 RPM
20mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon RoF 750 RPM 60 round Drum
Aircraft Bombs
Bombing aircraft
Table of bomb carrying aircraft, how many, and what size (in weight). NOTE: Some aircraft have bombs as the alternate weapon, and need to press the Backspace key to select, thus the -B on the second column.
This chart is roughly organized by which aircraft has the largest bombload to least (NOTE: EXPLOSIVE POWER DEPENDS ON TYPE, NOT MASS).
| Aircraft | Qty | Size(kg) | Size(lb) | Qty-B | Size-B(kg) | Size-B(lb) |
| Heinkel He-111H-2 | 8 | 250 | 551 | |||
| Douglas DB-7 | 8 | 117* | 257 | |||
| Douglas Havoc Mk.I | 8 | 113 | 250 | |||
| Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV | 2 | 227 | 500 | 8 | 18 | 40 |
| Messerschmitt Bf.110-C4/B | 2 | 250 | 550 | |||
| Junkers Ju-87B Stuka | 1 | 250 | 551 | 4 | 50 | 110 |
| Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIC | 2 | 227 | 500 | |||
| Bell Model 14a / P-39D-1 Airacobra | 1 | 225* | 495 | |||
| Bristol Blenheim Mk.IF | 8 | 18 | 40 |
*This is the actual bomb weight, but is typically rounded to the nearest 100kg, thus they could be known as 100kg and 200kg respectively
Explosive power
Bomb damage strength average in Mega Joules (Energy), values used in game. You can also read about bombing targets to see their respective value.
| Size(kg) | Size(lb) | Explosive | Strength (Mj) | User | Platform |
| 250 | 551 | 125kg Amatol/TNT - 60/40 | 564Mj | Germany | He-111, Bf-110C-4/B, Ju-87 |
| 225* | 495 | 105kg MDN or DD | 453Mj | France | Bell Model 14a (P-39D-1) |
| 227 | 500 | UK | Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV, Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIB | ||
| 117* | 257 | 50kg MDN or DD | 225Mj | France | Douglas DB-7 |
| 113 | 250 | 34kg TNT | 146Mj | UK | Douglas Havoc Mk.I |
| 50 | 110 | 23kg Amatol/TNT - 60/40 | 143Mj | Germany | Junkers Ju-87B Stuka |
| 18 | 40 | UK | Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV & Mk. IF |
*This is the actual bomb weight, but is typically rounded to the nearest 100kg, thus they could be known as 200kg and 100kg respectively
Terminology used to describe types:
GP - General Purpose CWR 30-35%
MC - Medium-Capacity CWR 40-50%
HC - High-Capacity CWR 75-80%
DP - Deep Penetration
AP - Armour Piercing
SAP - Semi-Armour Piercing
HE - High Explosive
I - Incendiary
SBC - Small Bomb Containers
TI - Target Indicator (airborne pyrotechnic stores)
PFF - Path Finder Force
RP - Rocket Projectile
A/S - Anti-Submarine
CWR - Charge-to-Weight Ratio
Nickels - Propaganda leafets dropped by air.
White Bomb - attack with propoganda leafets.
Gardening - Code-name for missions laying mines (known as cucumbers)
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