- Yes
- No
TLDR; This suggestion is for the addition of 2-4 hand-thrown smoke grenades for open-topped vehicles that otherwise lack any smoke deployment system.
Outline
The Nebelhandgranate 39 B was used by the Wehrmacht for the deployment of screening smoke.
The deployment of screening smoke is an important tactic in warfare for defence, offense, and deception through visual and thermal obscuration. In armoured warfare and in War Thunder in particular, vehicles are capable of deploying smoke through a number of means;
- Smoke grenade dispensers (eg. Nebelkerzenabwurfvorrichtung)
- Single-shot smoke grenade dischargers / smoke mortars (eg. Nahverteidigungswaffe)
- Multi-barrel smoke grenade dischargers (eg. Nebelwurfgerät)
- Smoke generators
- Exhaust Smoke Screen (ESS)
Left; a modern multi-barrel smoke grenade discharger system.
Right; a WW2-ara single-shot smoke grenade discharger.
Currently, most open-topped vehicles (in particular Tank Destroyers and SPAA of the WW2 and postwar period) have a disadvantage in that they have no smoke deployment capability. Vehicles such as the M10 GMC, Nashorn, SU-76M, Archer, Ho-Ni 1, Phòng không T-34, M36B1, AMX 13 DCA 40, Ikv 72, and ZSU-57-2 would benefit from a hand-held smoke grenade capability (to name a single vehicle from each TT).
Grenades are shown as part of the ammunition complement for the Achilles SP (Royal Armoured Corps Training, Vol III - Armament, SP 17-pr M10, July 1952).
Historical Basis
Grenades (fragmentation and smoke) were and still are included in the standard equipment carried by armoured vehicle crews, and the use of grenades was part of the basic military syllabus. There are many recorded instances of tank crews using hand grenades during World War Two, though of course the use of smoke grenades is rarely recorded in medal citations.
Description of mounted grenade training excerpt from Tank Crews’ Fire Training, Soviet Military Review 1/1982.
Every nation in game has suitable options for a hand-held smoke grenade;
- AN-M8 smoke grenade [USA]
- Nebelhandgranate 39 [Germany]
- RDG-2 smoke grenade [USSR]
- No. 77 smoke grenade [UK]
- Type 94 smoke candle [Japan]
- foreign types, until Type 63 smoke grenade [China]
- SRCM Mod. 35 smoke grenade [Italy]
- Mle 1916 smoke grenade [France]
- m/1937 smoke grenade [Sweden]
- foreign and domestic smoke grenades [Israel]
Implementation
An SU-76M retreats from a fire position after deploying smoke to cover its retreat. The slow 5 km/h reverse speed of the vehicle is mitigated by the use of smoke, allowing more time to perform the manoeuvre.
Suggestion; add a small number of hand-held smoke grenades (2-4 grenades) to open-topped vehicles which otherwise lack a smoke modification. A smoke modification should be added to vehicles receiving hand-held smoke grenades.
An SU-76M with smoke grenades unlocked.
Players are familiar with the existing mechanic for deployment of smoke grenades (default: G), and the same controls can be used. The smoke grenade should be thrown 5-15 metres in front of the vehicle, and detonate using a slow-burn smoke generation animation.
There is no need for smoke grenades to be modelled internally on the vehicle, either as ammunition or as detonable smoke grenades.