Light AA Rules for ASL

Gun Size | MG (3 or 4 IFP) | MG (6 or 7 IFP) 20L (4 IFE) | .50cal MG 20L (6 IFE) 20L (4 IFE)+MG | 20L (6 IFE)+MG 25LL-40L (8 IFE) 12.7 (12 IFE) | 37L (12 IFE) 25LL (12 IFE) | 25LL (16 IFE) 12.7 (24 IFE) | 20L (20 IFE)
TK#: | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

All weapons greater than 15mm have a normal IFE range of 24 against Aircraft. All weapons greater than 25mm have a normal IFE range of 32 against Aircraft.

DESIGNER NOTES

The official AA fire rules coupled with the * vehicle IFT destruction table always disappointed me, for two main reasons:

1. In reality, 20mm and 37-40mm cannons had a bigger killing envelope than MGs, including the .50 caliber. Historical accounts report that useful range for a .50 quad was about 1000 meters, for a 20mm quad 2000 meters and for a 37mm 3000 meters. This gives an idea of the degree of abstraction in giving a HMG the same effective range against an aircraft as a 40mm Bofors. The note on the American AA halftrack M15 provides some insight.

2. The most realistic measure of the killing power of an AA gun is the raw amount of lead it can put on his target in a unit of time, given that the projectile is potentially able to damage the aircraft. British fighters, for example, found it increasingly hard to damage armored opponents with their eight .303 caliber MGs; they later adopted the deadly 20mm Hispano Suiza. This measure could be calculated as kg delivered on the target per second, given a normal burst of 3-4 seconds. The FP of the various weapons in ASL, with this assumption, are not correct.

I made this calculation, although I fudged some numbers. The results have been polished in this Optional AA Fire Table, to be substituted for the * vehicle IFT destruction table when resolving light AA fire. All other rules remains the same. The results are more realistic. They explain why Germans continued to invest in their bulky and expensive flak quad instead of using their 15mm MGs in a Maxton mount arrangement. They also explain why they insisted in putting a pin mounted AA mg in air defense. They explain why the Bofors had to be feared much more than a .50 caliber ...and so on. Please enjoy and give me your feedback

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