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Post by owenk on Dec 14, 2009 10:28:23 GMT -5
In the movies Flame Throwers tend to go up in a ball of fire when shot I was wondering if this is movie garbage or realistic, and if so why Flame Throwers in AE don't?
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Post by skorzeny on Dec 14, 2009 11:46:34 GMT -5
It's mostly movie garbage, just like how 90% of cars explode when they crash in movies. Flamethrowers are tricky weapons to use, and certainly hazardous to the men who handle them (in particular because anybody you are fighting HATES you and will take great pleasure shooting you to pieces - the level of loathing soldiers felt for flamethrowers was probably even worse than that they felt for snipers). Making them explode when hit, however, isn't something it was felt would contribute to the rules overmuch. Just like initiating rules to reflect how little fuel they could carry (enough for only a handful of extremely short two-second spurts) or having the British flamethrowers require a second operator to flip the fuel nozzle on the back of the tank before it could be used.
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Post by evernevermore(john) on Dec 14, 2009 20:52:16 GMT -5
It's mostly movie garbage, just like how 90% of cars explode when they crash in movies. Flamethrowers are tricky weapons to use, and certainly hazardous to the men who handle them (in particular because anybody you are fighting HATES you and will take great pleasure shooting you to pieces - the level of loathing soldiers felt for flamethrowers was probably even worse than that they felt for snipers). Making them explode when hit, however, isn't something it was felt would contribute to the rules overmuch. Just like initiating rules to reflect how little fuel they could carry (enough for only a handful of extremely short two-second spurts) or having the British flamethrowers require a second operator to flip the fuel nozzle on the back of the tank before it could be used. I dont know about being loathed more than snipers - fewer artillery barrages are called in on flamethrowers, usually a sniper is tasked to shoot thier tank. And there is the famous british response to a middle eastern sniper, where when the regiments snipers couldnt deal with him an antitank rocket was used to blow out that floor of the building he was in (admittedly its post WW2 but its a good example of the willingness to blast a sniper to little bits of hamburger) |
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Post by skorzeny on Dec 14, 2009 21:17:18 GMT -5
Yes, but I don't think snipers were ever questioned as being a legitimate weapon of war. Distasteful, yes, but flamethrowers were outright decried as barbaric and inhuman. I know the Japanese especially despised any Marine with a flamethrower (for good reason, of course).
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Post by owenk on Dec 14, 2009 22:59:10 GMT -5
I thought it was all movie crap! Cool.
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