SPHACK - Steel Panthers Editor Utility v1.6 by Nicholas Bell ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WHAT'S NEW IN V 1.6 The name has changed! Since SPEDIT is copyrighted by VisionComm, the marketing division of Software Projects Inc (software for MVS, VM and VSE IBM operating systems (mainframes). SPEDIT is their flagship product and is marketed in the United States, Canada and Europe. So save me a lot of trouble and do not refer to my editor as SPEDIT anymore nor distribute my old SPEDIT. ANd if your wondering why SPHACK, well it seems that a whole bunch of other folks are already using all the "good" names (now that I know to look!) and I couldn't bring myself to using my own name in a program. Anti-Heat Armor editing added V 1.5: Formation Editor Added Unavailable Date bug fixed Units colored coded in view Minor bug fixes Armor Penetration Comparision Table V 1.2: Unit availability dates added ***********************PLEASE READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS!************************** Contains important unit, formation and weapon editing information. You'll save yourself a lot of frustration! And while I don't mind further explaining how the editor works, it does get rather old when the answers are right here. ****************************************************************************** DISCLAIMER - AGREEMENT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Users of this program must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "This software is supplied on an AS IS basis. The author specifically disclaims ANY warranty, expressed or implied, as to the fitness for any particular purpose of the software. Under no circumstances will the author be liable for any direct, consequential, special, indirect, or other damages including, but not limited to, loss of data, profit, or the use of the software arising from the distribution, use, misuse, or inability to use the software. YOU USE THIS SOFTWARE AT YOUR OWN RISK. BY USING THE SOFTWARE, YOU AGREE TO THE TERMS OF USAGE SET FORTH IN THIS DISCLAIMER." NOTICE ~~~~~~ This program is not in any way connected with or endorsed or supported by Strategic Simulations, Inc. TRADEMARKS ~~~~~~~~~~ Steel Panthers is a trademark of Strategic Simulations, Inc. DISTRIBUTION NOTICE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This program is being released by the author as freeware. It is NOT public domain! You may copy and use the program freely. You may distribute it to whomever you like but: 1. Do NOT distribute modified versions. 2. Do NOT bundlle with other programs. 3. ALWAYS distribute with the documentation. 4. Do NOT charge a fee for distribution. No other limitations are placed on the usage of the software. No monetary fee is charged for the use of the software. However.... *** WARNING *** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This program makes permanent modifications to the following files in the STEEL PANTHERS program: OBBR, OBMA, OBPZ, OBJA, OBUS. If you have any problems please copy ALL these files back into your STEEL PANTHERS directory from your STEEL PANTHERS CD. Note that Steel Panthers V 1.12x also contained OB?? files so if you want to use them (they include a few additional weapons and some modifications to existing weapons) unzip that patch. If future versions of Steel Panthers include OB?? files, use them instead of those on the CD. Unless of course you purchase the product new and it contains the official version 1.2 or whatever. Bottom line? Use the most current OB?? files if you don't like the results of your editing. INSTALLATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copy the SPHACK.EXE file into your STEEL PANTHERS main directory and type "SPHACK" to start the editor. EDITOR LIMITATIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Changes made to weapons will be in effect in all campaigns, canned scenarios, and user-generated scenarios. Weapon OB is read every time SP is started, and is not written to the scenario *.dat file. So if you edit a weapon and make a scenario with it and want to pass it on to someone else, you must also give them your OB?? file. Changes made to units, however, will only be in effect in "new" scenarios where the program has to access the database to create the scenario. Unit information in canned scenarios and canned campaign battles for the computer player is stored in the respective scenario and campaign files, not the OB?? files. You'll have to use the unit editor provided in Steel Panthers to change these. Units altered will show up if player controlled in canned "historical" campaigns, in long campaigns, and in player or computer generated scenarios. Let me repeat that editing _units_ will have NO effect on any scenarios you already have. Regarding campaigns, the following example should clarify what works: You edit the Panther into a Panther II with an 88/L71. You edit the T-34/85 into a T-34/100, giving it a 100/L53. If you choose to play a "historical" campaign like "Warsaw," your T-34/85s will be T-34/100's. However, since the German units are "hardcoded" to the campaign, they will still be just plain old Panthers, not those Panther II's you edited. This occurs because the program has to access the database to create whatever units you choose to start the campaign, but does not access the German unit database. Long campaigns should be fine since the battles are generic and the program accesses the database for both the player's and the computer controlled units. If you want to see what's in OBMBT, copy it to OBPZ. Back up your OBPZ if you plan on using it again. Using a different OB?? will really mess up things. EDITING UNITS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unit information is stored by country in the OB?? files. The editor lists the file and the countries units associated with it. If you cannot find the Allied unit you want to edit, be sure to check the OBMA file. It seems to be collecting file for odds and ends. Since editing units is country specific, if you want to edit a weapon used by more than one country (some model of the Sherman, for example) you will have to edit that weapon in each country's file. UNIT EDITING DEFINITIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NAME: 15 character maximum. ARMAMENT: Weapon - Use (v) View to determine weapon number to enter. It's probable that weapon slots (1-4) may have limitations on employment of weapons. (eg, note AAMG positions) One thing I cannot understand is why squads always have their LMG as the second weapon. Since weapons are fired in the order of their position, one would want the most lethal weapon to fire first, not the rifles (which studies have shown were hardly used by anyone). This is especially true for the Germans. The whole squad existed to support the LMG with ammunition and flank security. Ammunition - This is maximum load for each type. HE and AP loads do not seem to vary too much. HVAP and HEAT vary a great deal, almost a random choice between 0 and the maximum load entered. Note that there is no "total" ammunition function - you have to make sure you do not exceed the unit's ammunition carrying capacity by adding the HE, AP, HVAP, and HEAT loads yourself. Of course, most AFV's were routinely overloaded when ammunition was available, despite the increased risk of a catastrophic cook-off when hit. Fire Control - Refers to the optical and range finding systems of a unit with DIRECT FIRE CAPABILITY only. A higher value is better. In game terms it probably impacts on the Ph (probability of hit) and the increase in Ph when a unit fires more than once at a target. Value of '10' seems to be the highest - for the FLAK 18/36 88mm gun. It had a huge rangefinder and a simple analog computer. For comparision purposes, the M1A1 (with its laser range finder and computer system) in the OBMBT has a firecontrol value of 40. It might be interesting to give off-map artillery some Fire Control rating to see if it improves their accuracy. (it does, see IDEAS) ARMOR: Each point equals 10mm of armor with the increase due to slope already calculated in. Modified thickness of armor equals the actual thickness divided by the cosine of 90 degrees minus the slope of the armor, or something like that. Never mind the math, use this table: Slope of Armor Modified Thickness Effective Thickness 10-15 degrees X 1.0 X 1.0 20-25 1.1 1.1 30-35 1.2 1.2 40 1.3 1.5 45 1.4 1.9 50 1.6 2.4 55 1.7 3.0 60 2.0 3.7 65 2.4 4.6 70 3.0 6.0 Slope of armor is from vertical. MODIFIED THICKNESS is the thickness used in Steel Panthers. For example, the T-34c had front hull armor of 4.7cm sloped at 60 degrees. 4.7 x 2.0 = 9.4 rounded down to 9, the value you see in Steel Panthers. However, for all you purists, you might want to consider modifying all the AFV's and giving them Effective Thickness instead. This is based on ballistics tests and physics. Not only is the thickness of the armor increased because the projectile has to go farther due to the angle it hits the armor, but the penetration of the projecticle is decreased because a greater surface area of the armor is absorbing the impact. Of course you will need to know the armor slope of all the AFVs to do this. Maybe I'll get around to listing the data. Maybe . If you use effective thickness, combat will really change. You'll have to manuever to get flank shots or get in real close most of the time in order to penetrate the frontal armor of most AFV's (unless you've got 88's of course :). Note that Steel Panthers does not model any aspects of the actual effectiveness of the metal used as armor. German face-hardened armor was much stronger than thickness alone would indicate. Soviet armor was inferior, normally very brittle. (if I remember correctly, this reduced it's effectiveness by 20-40%) If you want this kind of detail included in your simulation of tactical combat, you must try HPS Simulations "Panthers in the Shadows" or "Tigers on the Prowl." It's all there, and more. ********VERY IMPORTANT!******************************************************** The Panther, JadgPanther, King Tiger, JadgTiger, JgPz IV and Hetzer do NOT have the slope calculated in. It is done by the program based on the MODIFIED THICKNESS Table. For example in SPHACK you will see that the Panther has a front hull armor of 8. If you check it in the encyclopedia, it has a front hull armor of 14. This is because the program is multiplying the Panther's 8 cm armor X 1.7 (since the armor is sloped at 55 degrees) = 13.6 rounded up to 14. There may be other tanks. ALWAYS check your edited data in the scenario editor or the encyclopedia to make sure something odd hasn't popped up. Arnaud Bouis explained to me that SSI had planned on doing the calc's for all AFV's in this manner, but for whatever reason decided not to. Guess the late war German tanks had been done so they left that part of the program in. Seems like it would have been easier to eliminate that subroutine and do them all the same! In any case I doubt it makes any difference, since all the other AFV's have the modified armor value plugged in, making it easier for you to edit. ANTI-HEAT ARMOR: The effectiveness of the armor against heat weapons. Take a look at the late model Pz III's and IV's to see what SSI did to represent the turret and hull skirts. Note that if a unit has a ANTI-HEAT value of 0, the program automatically uses the normal AP armor rating. SPEED: There seem to be maximum limitations. These limitations may be controlled by the unit CLASS. For calculating speed, each turn equals 2 minutes, each hex 50 meters. SIZE: Impacts sighting and Ph. MEN: Large squad sizes may cause odd things to happen to the unit's graphic. COST: This *may* (haven't confirmed it yet) be a powerful antidote in Allied campaigns to the ahistorical large numbers of German panzers the computer always gets. If you increase the cost of panzers, maybe the computer won't be able to afford as many. Make those TIGERS a bit more rare...It will certainly make it easier for YOU to purchase units in a campaign if you lower the cost of the units of your country before starting the campaign . NATIONALITY: Self explanatory. CHANCE RADIO: Percent chance that unit will have a radio. CLASS: The weapon class seems to control how a unit behaves and what functions it can perform. For example, if you make a TIGER I a mineclearing tank, it will clear mines (and still kill a lot of enemy tanks). Haven't experimented with helicopters yet - may not be implimented. I can imagine a lot of ingenious uses for changing a unit's class. UNIT GRAPHIC: The graphic seen when playing the game. If you want to change a unit's graphic, first determine what you want it to look like and determine it's number. Sorry, I don't have the programming ability to let you "view" the hundreds of various vehicle and squad graphics. SIDE VIEW: The side view of the unit shown in the encyclodpedia and when purchasing units. These are .LBM files and are found on the CD. AVAILABLE/UNAVAILABLE: Due to SP's odd method of keeping dates, all 1939 dates will default to 9/39. Furthermore, all unavailable dates in 1945 will default to 12/45. EDITING FORMATIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Editing formations is pretty self-explanatory after editing units. There are a few things to keep in mind. If your're going to attempt to make a new formation, it must be in the same OB?? file as the other formations of the same country. The program may not recognise new formations (the type made using empty slots) for campaign games and battles. Let me know if you find out otherwise. It is also important to understand that the program does NOT ONLY use the units you put into a formation. Although I am not sure on the exact details of how SP picks units, it chooses the units by unit CLASS and AVAILABILITY. If you make a new formation available in 1944 for the US and put M4A1 and Rifle Infantry in it, the program may end up any variety of Sherman and infantry available, eg Jumbos and SMGs. Arnaud Bouis explains what Formation Type (formerly Unknown 1) does: "I had a talk with the SP database designer and here is what he told me about the unidentified formation type: The unidentified field is the formation type. Type 5 is for HQs, type 4 is for amphibious units and naval support, types 1, 2 & 3 are distinctions that no longer matter. In the early betas of the game, formations were divided into those found only in mechanized units (type 1), those found only in infantry units (type 2), and those common to both (type 3). These distinctions (types 1, 2 & 3) were eventually abandoned during development. This exactly sticks to the results of my tests." EDITING WEAPONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Weapon characteristics are stored in the OB?? files. Each OB?? file contains duplicate weapon data (and country specific unit formation data used in constructing scenarios). The WPNEDIT program will modify all OB?? files simultaneously without distribing the formation data. The reason all OB files have to be modified even though they all contain identical weapon data is because STEEL PANTHERS loads the weapon data based on the opponents. For example, OBPZ controls the German and Soviet weapon data. OBUS controls the German and US weapon data. Thus if you were to only modify the 88 L56 in OBPZ, then if you fought the Americans, the 88 would be unmodified. In any case, you do not have to worry about it. Note that weapon characteristics are not scenario dependent like unit characteristics. If you change the penetration value of a weapon it will have that new value in all scenarios old and new. Be sure to check the entire list when modifying a specific weapon, since many countries have specific versions of their weapon. Use the (v) View function to check the entire weapon list and you will see how the specific country's weapons are grouped together. Some countries use the same weapon, eg Britain and Germany both use RIFLE weapon number #1, while the Japanese use Rifle weapon number #205. Note that some weapons are duplicated, eg their are 2 entries of the 88mm L71 Pak (#62 and #150). #150 is titled 88 L71 Pak 43 while #62 is merely a 88 L71 Pak. Same weapon, same values, but probably some weird situation involving ownership. Perhaps a situation where Rumanians used it against the Germans? *******************************IMPORTANT*************************************** I just want to make it clear that weapon data is read from your current OB?? file every time you start a scenario or saved game. The data is NOT in the scenario *.DAT file. So if you add or modify a weapon and then create a scenario using it, you must have that same OB?? file for that new or modified weapon. This is on a country by country basis. EXAMPLE: You edit a new experimental German wire-guided anti-tank missile and you also make a 106mm Recoilless Rifle for the Americans. You then make a scenario using both. In order to play that scenario, you must have BOTH the modified OBPZ and OBUS files in your Steel Panthers directory. This means if you upload your scenario, you must include those OB?? files. This is NOT MY FAULT ! It has nothing to do with how SPHACK works - it is how Steel Panthers works. Complain to Gary if you don't like it. This problem does not exist if you create or modify units using the existing weapons because unit data is written into the scenario *.DAT file. DEFINITIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~ The following is from the STEEL PANTHERS V1.1 documentation: "Key: HE= High Explosive value, used to determine HE attacks against soft targets like infantry. AP Pen.= Max unmodified penetration for the AP round. HVAP Pen.= Max unmodified penetration for the HVAP round. HEAT= Max unmodified High Explosive Anti-tank penetration. Range= Max range for the weapon, in hexes. Accuracy= Number of hexes the weapon will have an unmodified 50% chance to hit its target. Example= Accuracy is 8, this means the weapon will have from 1 to 8 hexes, a unmodified base hit chance of 50%. Note this number can go up or down due to various modifiers in the game." HE PENETRATION: This appears to be the armor piercing capability of HE ammo. PROJECTILE SIZE: Size has a major impact on the lethality of HE fire and in determining the damage resulting from successful armor penetration. It also controls the WEAPON'S SOUND EFFECT and CRATER size. HVAP RANGE: Maximum range for that weapon firing HVAP. Note that HVAP (Hyper Velocity Armor Piercing) is really a generic term. The Allies actually used APDS (Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot) and APCR (Armor Piercing Composite Rigid). The Germans only used APCR, and then in very limited quantities because of limited supplies of tungsten. WEAPON CLASS?: Appears to be the classification of the weapon which may effect how/when it is used, or may trigger some routine in the program. It may also have something to do with weight or who is allowed to use it. This needs more testing. Value Classification 1 Small Arms 2 ?? LMGs, small MTRs, ATR, grenades, etc - stuff carried by infantry. 3 ?? MMG, HMG, mortars, Hvy ATR, some light arty 4 Anti-Aircraft 5 ?? Weapons carried on AFVs & other assorted towed guns 6 ?? Various guns and artillery 7 ?? Various guns and artillery. Heavy & larger than #6 8 Flame weapons 9 Flamethrower 10 Naval Support 11 Aircraft WEAPON SIZE?: Arnaud Bouis has informed me that according his sources, this is currently meanlingless data which was not implimented in Steel Panthers. For purposes of modifying range and accuracy, each hex equals 50 meters When modifying penetration values, each point equals 10 centimeters (as does each point of armor on the AFV's) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A very special thanks for the help testing, bug hunting, and comments of these fine individuals. This really became a group project. Ralph Dowsing John Waters James Cox Rick McCammon Pascal Ode Arnaud Bouis Tuomas Seijavuori Of course we have to thank Gary Grisby for Steel Panthers. I've enjoyed all his other excellent wargames since 1984. CONCLUSION ~~~~~~~~~~ If you have problems, bug reports, suggestions, contact Nicholas Bell at: 72162.1667@compuserve.com. Enjoy! Nick 4-21-96 APPENDICES ~~~~~~~~~~ I. Decimal Offset Map II. Ideas for Editing III. Armor Penetration Comparision Table I. DECIMAL OFFSET MAP OF OB?? FILES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WEAPONS 0000 Weapon Names 15 character maximum 3750 Clasification? 4000 Null 4250 Weapon Size? 4500 Projectile Size 4750 HE/AP Penetration* 5250 HE/AP Soft attack factor* 5750 Accuracy 6000 Range 6250 HVAP Range 6500 HVAP Penetrattion 6750 HEAT Penetration 7000- 9250 Nulls *Each weapon is alloted 2 bytes. First byte is HE Penetration/value, second is AP Penetration/value. UNITS 9250 Unit names 15 character maximum 13000 Unit Class 13250 Unit Graphic 13500 Size 13750 Men 14000 Weapon Slots Each unit has 4 slots, one byte per slot. Slots are alloted in order. 15000 Ammunition Each unit has 8 bytes. HE and AP ammo loads for all 4 weapon slots alloted in sequence HE,AP,HE,AP etc 17000 Speed 17250 Armor Each unit has 14 bytes allocated. First 7 are standard AP armor ratings in order front hull, side hull, rear hull, front turret, side turret, rear turret, top. Second 8 bytes are for HEAT armor ratings. In identical order. 24000 Radio 24250 Available Start Month/Year 24500 Available End Month/Year 24750 Cost 25000 Nationality 25250 Side View in Encyclopedia (2 byte integer) 25750 Null 26000 Fire Control 26250 HVAP Ammunition 26500 HEAT Ammunition 26750- 32514 Nulls FORMATIONS 32500 Formation Names 35500 Country 35700 Units in formation, 10 bytes per formation 37700 Available 37900 Unavailable 38300 Formation Usage II. WHAT CAN YOU DO? IDEAS FOR EDITING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From Rick McCammon: My first discovery was that SPHACK enables you to transfer tanks between nationalities, to serve as captured equipment. This feature alone makes the program absolutely great. In one day, I've been able to do the following: Create a cave and "cave defender" units for the Japanese. Create aerosans for the Finns. Liberate the Finnish "sled" from its misidentity as a Heavy Truck so that now the unit is available to be used. Load Napalm onto my late-war U.S. aircraft. Create an M4 mortar carrier and an M3 GMC for the U.S. Create a Crusader AA tank, a 75 GMC and a Wasp mkIIC for the British. Correct some small errors of classification in the SP database that prevented some units from ever showing up as choices... More great ideas from Rick: I've been able to make everything from a booby trap to individual leaders. I've also found several small errors in the database and the formation structure that prevented units (like the British DD Tank Platoon) from appearing. There's one German ART piece with size of 99 and crew number of 0, for instance. Also, by changing the Unknown Variable of the Battalion HQ from 5 to 0-3, you can start off with your own choice of HQ Squad or Individual Leader in Battle Generated Scenarios. I don't know why the Germans and Russians have Destroyers, Cruisers and Battleships, but the NOBA is very detailed. To make them appear as Selections, you can change that Unknown Variable to 3. For some reason, however, NOBA is a different category from regular Artillery, though they both appear to share that category. I'm thinking about doing away with all the NOBA, except possibly leaving a Destroyer for the Germans and Russians and possibly a River GunBoat for the Russians. I could use the room in the database for more ground troop units. SP's own scenario editor is, of course, excellent, but one problem I think the program itself has is with the "canned" squads. For instance, every GE squad from '39-'43 and '43-'45 has to have the same equipment. This, to me, is a constricting limitation. So: I've used SPHACK to create SS squads, GE conscripts, Partisans, Guards Infantry, LMG teams to add extra firepower. I haven't even gotten to the other countries yet!! Oh, I also worked it out so I could combine squads, with a Mixed Infantry formation. So I can have regular Soviet squads and the much tougher Guards Infantry squads in the same platoon. Also changed all the costs and altered all the movement factors. I am going to put in lbm pix for all my new units. I may have everything done by mid-summer (maybe). Then I may try my hand at doing a Modern Version. I would copy the MBT database by hand into the other databases, so as not to lose the graphics. Then I'll be ready for the insane asylum. My wife says I'm halfway there already!! From James Cox: The primary ways I intend to use the formation editor is to create smaller formations for some units (who needs 7 Flammpanzers when you only get 49 units total) and to alter the makeup of the computer forces. For example, a Panzer plt 43 has a default composition of 4 Panzer IVGs. This means that by 6/44 when the IVG is no longer available the Pz plt 43 used by the computer has roughly a 65% chance of using Pz- IVHs and 35% chance of Panthers. By changing the default composition to Pz-IVH the percentages change to about 80% Pz-IV and 20% panthers. This allows the user to make rare units slightly more so in randomly generated battles. From Rainer Verlack: I already changed the He111 to a Ju 88 that was more suited for a ground attack role. From Bob Gerver: A couple new features I've been playing with using SPHACK... Naval battles - the graphics aren't there for warships, but I've been able to have some intense battles at sea. Aircraft caught on the ground. 'Course, they can never take off but it adds a lot of realism. From Thomas V. Olszowy: I managed to solve the my desires for unwimpy bunkers and improved artillery accuracy. I've been offline for a few days so somebody has probably already posted this idea. I increased the fire control rating of off board artillery with the result of much closer shot groups. Instead of the usual three groups of three to four shells landing 2-300 meters away from each other I've decreased it to a lateral spread of perhaps 100-250 meters. With a burst radius on a 155/150mm being about 40 meters this seems about right when 12-16 shells land. I've succeeded in immobilizing tanks on a regular basis with 155mm and easily destroyed unprotected infantry. This still assumes your enemy is dumb enough to park in the open. Too high a fire control rating and all the shells land in the same three hexes. There still is a random chance of one set of three shells falling way off target, but it is better than the fruitlless massive barrages that never hit what they were aimed at. Ran into a glitch of some type. Put together a bunker with a 280mm naval gun. Had to change weapon type from artillery to howitzer to get it to work. But it still will not automatically target and and can only do manual direct fire at hexes. Realistically that probably is not far off, but it is annoying, anyone have any ideas? I was putting together a scenario dealing with some of the more massive Normandy defenses. 280mm landing on a hex with a landing craft is pretty ugly. III. WEAPON PENETRATION COMPARISION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following data has been assembled for use in editing SSI's Steel Panthers using SPHACK. No attempt has been made to make this an exhaustive list - I just wanted to show some of the main weapons. Please forward any new information to me, Nicholas Bell, 72162.1667@compuserve.com Range is pointblank or less than 200M if nothing is noted. Penetration is standard AP (or APC, APCBC since SP doesn't differentiate) unless noted. All penetration measurements have been converted to 0 degree angle of impact. SP uses the max penetration as a base point for penetration calculation. Note that sources cannot even agree on weapon length in calibers, so it's not surprising they cannot agree on penetration. Fortunately, there's alot of data which coincides, too. It's up to you to make the call, every centi- meter counts. And you can see for yourself that SSI doesn't know everything either. They made judgement calls that I don't agree with. Of course, you don't need to agree with me either ! SOURCES ~~~~~~~ The following sources are but a few which I have. They get rather repetitious. The sources are not listed in any order of importance (or any order for that matter!). SP - SSI Steel Panthers HPS - HPS Simulations data from "Panthers in the Shadows" and "Tigers on the Prowl." Both HPS wargames are regarded as the most realistic available on the market today. Scott Hamilton uses ballistics calculations to determine penetration, not test range tables. NB - (Me, Nick Bell :) These figures are based on a compilation of data I have been working on for over 20 years. Unfortunately, when I was a teenager I didn't think I'd have to list sources in the future. I know I based these figures on books I read in college (the physics department was interested in ballistics, I guess), books I don't have anymore (FM Senger und Etterlin for one - it was my brothers book), and wargames like SPI's TANK! and Yaquinto's "Panzer" and others. Other considerations are my general distrust of published manufacturers range tests, but unfortunately there isn't much else to go on. However, I tend to downgrade/upgrade weapons because the HISTORY of their use belies the figures. If some of these weapons worked as qouted, they would not have been discarded as useless by the troops and there would not have been Government investigations into the failure of industry to provide adequate weapons for their soldiers. On other side of the coin, the SU-152 and JSU-152 were major threats to the TIGER I (just read "Tigers in Combat"by Schneider and "Tiger: The History of a Legendary Weapon" by Kleine and Kuehn to understand this). The measly capabilities of the 152L20 in Steel Panthers doesn't match the historical reality. TC - "Tank Charts" Miniature Rules, by Brian Stokes, Forrest Plublications, La Habra, California, 1980. TR - "Tractics" Miniature Rules, by Mike Reese, TSR, Lake Geneva, WI. 1975 EGT - "Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two" by Peter Chamberlain and Hilary Doyle. Arco Publishing, New York. 1978 EIW - "Encyclopedia of Infantry Weapons of World War II" by Ian V. Hogg, Bison Books, London. 1977. FM - FM 9-13 Ammunition Handbook, Department of the Army, 1973. GMF - "Handbook of German Military Forces" Louisiana State Uninversity Press, Baton Rouge, 1990. (reprint of intelligence document published by the War Department in March 1945) WW - "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare" edited by Bernard Fitzsimons, Columbia House, New York, 1978. Note that Ian V Hogg is the Editor for Land Weapons. TIGER - "Tiger: The History of a Legendary Weapon 1942-45" By Egon Kleine and Volkmar Kuehn, JJ Fedorowicz Publishing, Winnepeg, Manitoba, 1989. WEAPON COUNTRY RANGE PENETRATION SOURCE 20mm L50 Soviet 2 NB 4.9 TC @200m 5.5 HPS 20mm L55-60 German 6 SP 3 NB 4.5 TC 4.6 TR 2.4 EGT 5.8 (APCR) EGT @200m 4.6 (APCR) HPS 20mm L65 Italian 4.9 TC 28mm sPzB 41 German 9 SP 10 TC 7.2 EGT @500m 6.2 EIW 6.3 GMF @200m 8.4 HPS 37mm L46 German 7 SP 5 NB 5.9 TC 8.5 (APCR) TC 4 EGT 7.6 (APCR) EGT @500m 4.3 EIW* @500m 4.8 (APCR) EIW* @400yd 5.8 (APCR) GMF @200m 6 HPS @200m 7 (APCR) HPS @500m 4.8 WW* @500m 5 (APCR) WW* *Interesting to note that world-renown weapons expert Ian V. Hogg cannot even agree with himself. 37mm L53 US 9 SP 6 NB 6.3 TC 9.8 (APCR) TC @1000yd 5.2 EIW @200m 6 HPS 2 Pdr British 8 SP 6 NB 6.8 TC @300m 5.5 HPS 45mm L46 Soviet 7 SP 6 NB 5.9 TC @500m 6 EIW @300m 5.5 HPS @500m 5 WW 47mm L40 Italian 7 SP 6.3 TC @300m 6 HPS 47mm L43 Czech/German 8 SP 6.6 TC 4.2 EGT 12 (APCR) EGT @200m 6.5 HPS @200m 10 (APCR) HPS 50mm L42 German 8 SP 9 NB 6.3 TC 12.6 (APCR) TC 6.5 EGT 11.5 (APCR) EGT @300m 6.5 HPS @300m 8 (APCR) HPS 50mm L60 German 9 SP 10 NB 16.5 (APCR) TC 11.7 TR 8 EGT 15.6 (APCR) EGT @250m 8.8 EIW @250m 14.1 (APCR) EIW @1000yd 6.7 GMF @300m 9 HPS @300m 14 (APCR) HPS @500m 7.8 WW @500m 12 (APCR) WW 57mm L52 US 11 SP 10 NB 10.9 TC @1000yd 6.7 EIW @300m 8 HPS @1000yd 8.7 WW 57mm L60-73 Soviet 11 SP 10 NB @500m 10.3 EIW @500m 12 (APCR) EIW @500m 10.4 FM @500m 13.7 (APCR) FM @300m 11 HPS @300m 16 (APCR) HPS @500m 10.3 WW @500 12 (APCR) WW 6 Pdr British 11 (AP) SP 11 (APDS) NB 10.9 (AP) TC 17 (APDS) TC @1000yd 8.8 EIW (unclear if AP or APDS) L45 ATG @300m 7.5 HPS L45 ATG @300m 11.5 (APDS) HPS L52 Tank Gun @300m 8 HPS L52 Tank Gun @300M 12 (APDS) HPS @1000m 8.8 WW @1000m 17.5 (APDS) WW 75mm L24 German 6 SP 6 NB 6.9 TC 6.5 TR 5 EGT 7 (HEAT) EGT 10 (HEAT) EGT (different shell type) @300m 4.5 HPS 7.5 (HEAT) HPS 75mm L31-34 Italian 9 SP 7.8 TC 75mm L38-40 US 10 SP 9 NB 9.4 TC 9.6 TR @300m 6.5 HPS 75mm L43 German 13 SP 13 NB 17.6 (APCR) TC 11.7 EGT 15 (APCR) EGT @300m 11.5 HPS @300m 14 (APCR) HPS 75mm L48 German 14 SP 15 NB 13.7 TC 17.6 (APCR) TC 12.1 TR 12.7 EGT 17.1 (APCR) EGT @500m 12.4 EIW @500m 13.8 (APCR) EIW @1000m 9.7 FM @1000yd 12.2 GMF @300m 13 HPS @300m 15.5 (APCR) HPS @500m 13.2 WW @500m 15.4 (APCR) WW 75mm L70 German 19 SP 18 NB 18.4 TC 21.2 (APCR) TC 17.7 TR 16.5 EGT 23.2 (APCR) EGT @500yd 16.9 GMF @300m 15.5 HPS @300m 19.5 (APCR) HPS 76.2mm L16 Soviet 3 NB @200m 5.5 HPS 76.2mm L26 Soviet 5 SP 7 NB 7 TC 76.2mm L41-42 Soviet 9 SP 12 (APCR) SP 10 NB 8.6 TC 12.1 (APCR) TC 10.5 TR @500m 6.8 FM @500m 9 (APCR) FM 10-12 (HEAT) FM @300m 7.5 HPS @300m 10 (APCR) HPS 76.2mm L52 (r) German 13 NB 13.3 TC 11.7 EGT 16.2 (APCR) EGT @1000yd 9.9 GMF @300m 11 HPS @300m 14 (APCR) HPS @500m 12 WW @500m 15.8 (APCR) WW 76.2mm L54 US 12 SP 18 (APCR) SP 12 NB @300m 9.5 HPS @300m 16.5 (APCR) HPS @1000yd 10 WW 3" Gun US 14 (APDS) NB 14.6 TC 24.6 (APCR) TC @300m 10.5 HPS (M1/MB) @300m 17.5 (APCR) HPS (M1/MB) @300m 11 HPS (M5) @300m 11.5 HPS (M7) @300m 16.5 (APCR) HPS (M7) @1000yd 10 WW 77mm L49 British 14 SP 17 (APDS) SP 16.1 TC 25.1 (APDS) TC @300m 14 HPS @300m 19 (APDS) HPS 17 Pdr L58-60 British 17 SP 22 (APDS) SP 19 (APDS) NB 19 TC 30 (APDS) TC @300m 18 HPS (ATG) @300m 15 HPS (MK4/7 on Firefly) @300m 19.5 (APDS) HPS 85mm L51-53 Soviet 13 SP 17 (APCR) SP 13 NB 14.8 TC 21.8 (APCR) TC @1000m 10 FM @1000m 12.7 (APCR) FM @300m 11 HPS 88mm L56 German 17 SP 16 NB 25.8 (APCR) TC 14.4 EGT 20.5 (APCR) EGT @300m 14 HPS @300m 19 (APCR) HPS @500m 14 TIGER 88mm L71 German 22 SP 22 NB 22.6 TC 30.9 (APCR) TC 24.3 EGT 28.4 (APCR) EGT @1000m 20 EIW @1000m 23 (APCR) EIW @500yd 22 GMF @1000yd 20 GMF @1500yd 15.6 GMF @300m 20 HPS @300m 24 (APCR) HPS @1000m 19 WW @1000m 24.1 (APCR) WW @500m 20.5 TIGER 90mm L50-51 US 16 SP 25 (APCR) SP @1000 12 WW 90mm L52-53 US 15 SP 18 NB 18.6 TC 31.2 (APCR) TC @300m 13.5 HPS @300m 20.5 (APCR) HPS 90mm L73 US 22.8 TC 100mm L55-60 Soviet 21 SP 17 NB 24.5 (APCR) TC @300m 18 HPS 15.3 WW 21.7 (APCR) WW 122mm L18-22 Soviet 6 SP 10 NB 12 (HEAT) HPS (no AP) 122mm L43 Soviet 20 SP 16 NB 20.4 TC @300m 16 HPS 12 (HEAT) HPS 128mm L54-58 German 22 SP 27.5 TC 22.6 EGT @500yd 25.4 GMF @300m 18 HPS @1000m 23 WW 152mm L30-32 Soviet 8 SP 17 NB @300m 7.5 HPS INFANTRY WEAPONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PzB 39 German 3 SP @300 2.5 EIW @100m 3.7 HPS PzFaust German 20 (HEAT) SP 14 (HEAT) EIW PzF 30 K 20 (HEAT) EIW PzF 30, 60, 100, 150 GMF concurs with EIW 20 (HEAT) HPS PIAT British 11 (HEAT) SP 7.5 (HEAT) EIW 10 (HEAT) HPS 2.36 Bazooka US 14 (HEAT) SP 8 (HEAT) EIW 12 (HEAT) HPS PzSchrecke German 15 (HEAT) SP 15 (HEAT) EIW 14 (HEAT) HPS Rifle Grenade all 7 (HEAT) SP 6 (HEAT) EIW US M9 4, 9, and 12.5 (all heat) EIW various German types GMF (as EIW) not listed by SP is the Soviet RPG-43 Hand grenade 7.5 (HEAT) EIW 15 (HEAT) HPS .50 cal - 12.7mm MG 3 SP @200m 1 HPS Boys ATR British 2 SP 2 @500m EIW Wz35 ATR Polish 2 SP 2 @300m EIW PTRD Soviet 3 SP 2.5 @500m EIW @100m 3 HPS end of file