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[LongBlade]

Anyone played Patton's Best boardgame? One of the most intense tank crew management role playing games I've played. 

Regarding the Pershing gunner, at first I wash shocked to think that he kept on shooting despite the crew obviously escaping. How atrocious! But based on the link above, the gunner did not see the crew abandon the tank so he kept firing and thought they died after the 3rd shot.

Those guys knew how deadly a Panther was. It was almost criminal to send our boys out in Shermans to face Panthers.

Blast that Panther until you know it's dead. It's too dangerous to leave intact.

[Staggerwing]

[

Those guys knew how deadly a Panther was. It was almost criminal to send our boys out in Shermans to face Panthers.

Blast that Panther until you know it's dead. It's too dangerous to leave intact.

That's exactly what the gunner of the Pershing said.

[RooksBailey]

There's a rather famous video and related photos of a showdown between a T26 Pershing and a Panther that had knocked out several Sherms just before. Switch it to 480p before watching.

That is an absolutely amazing video that I have never seen before.  It makes me ask: why, after watching countless WWII documentaries  on the History Channel, History Int, and The Military Channel, I have never seen it before?  Why does every WWII doc either default to the same, tired WWII footage that I have seen over and over again (whether or not it actually is representative of the battle being discussed), or, more recently, resort to rather bland CGI "recreations"?   I understand that there are hundreds of miles worth of unwatched WWII footage sitting in archives around the world, yet none of the WWII doc producers seem willing to send anyone in there to look and find some fresh footage. 

Another thing about that footage: the quiet flicker of a film reel somehow made the whole video much more riveting.  I cannot stand how just about every WWII doc feels the need to dub in canned sound FX.  To me, that is like tampering with historical evidence.  People who watch history docs are usually pretty smart, they don't need "pew pew" sound effects to stay interested.   

I would love to see a doc producer copy the style of this vid.  Just recreate one small battle at a time (I am really tired of every doc dealing with the huge battles of WWII - there are only so many times I can listen to an overview of D-Day, Stalingrad, Kursk, Sicily, etc.), using newly discovered footage, and without any sound effects.  And, like this vid, just have the narrator pause the vid and point out details you might have missed when watching it. 

I would eagerly watch a weekly show like that.

[Staggerwing]

It would be nice, esp. the pause with detail highlights. While we're on it, I wish that the producers of WW2 docs have someone familiar with hardware edit out all the misplaced clips, such as a shot of Churchill tanks advancing when the doc is about M4s (as was the case in one I watched this weekend- Greatest Tank Battles or some such thing), or grainy shots of SBDs diving in a story about the Blitzkrieg.

Actually, small bits of this video have popped up many times in war docs, especially the Sherman tanker pulling himself out of his tank minus his leg.

[Longdan]

I've always wondered if that M4 commander survived.  That could easily be a fatal trauma.  When I was a kid there was a guy who worked with
my Dad who had lost a leg the same way at about the same time.

[ArizonaTank]

There's a rather famous video and related photos of a showdown between a T26 Pershing and a Panther that had knocked out several Sherms just before. Switch it to 480p before watching.

That is an absolutely amazing video that I have never seen before.  It makes me ask: why, after watching countless WWII documentaries  on the History Channel, History Int, and The Military Channel, I have never seen it before?  Why does every WWII doc either default to the same, tired WWII footage that I have seen over and over again (whether or not it actually is representative of the battle being discussed), or, more recently, resort to rather bland CGI "recreations"?   I understand that there are hundreds of miles worth of unwatched WWII footage sitting in archives around the world, yet none of the WWII doc producers seem willing to send anyone in there to look and find some fresh footage. 

Another thing about that footage: the quiet flicker of a film reel somehow made the whole video much more riveting.  I cannot stand how just about every WWII doc feels the need to dub in canned sound FX.  To me, that is like tampering with historical evidence.  People who watch history docs are usually pretty smart, they don't need "pew pew" sound effects to stay interested.   

I would love to see a doc producer copy the style of this vid.  Just recreate one small battle at a time (I am really tired of every doc dealing with the huge battles of WWII - there are only so many times I can listen to an overview of D-Day, Stalingrad, Kursk, Sicily, etc.), using newly discovered footage, and without any sound effects.  And, like this vid, just have the narrator pause the vid and point out details you might have missed when watching it. 

I would eagerly watch a weekly show like that.

The clip brings up a detail that has been a strong part of the CM series since the beginning:  tankers were never really certain when the enemy tank was "dead".  They often poured round after round into the target just to make certain it was dead.  The Jagdtiger in the British War Museum is another example of this...it has a few holes right next to each other, made by the same Brit tank.

This level of surety was a matter of survival.  For example, in the US Army history of the Battle of Schmidt, there is a description of an American Sherman (Easy 8 I believe) hitting a Panther.  The Panther crew bails...they hang around outside the Panther for a bit...realizing damage was minor they get back in the Panter and resume the fight. 

Many games, including board games don't model this.  Even my beloved ASL...that has a rule for everything...only skirts the edges of this point.  So hats off to CM....just another one of a thousand details it gets right. 

[SgtRock]

One wonders how many more videos like this exist?