"Comet tank for use in FoW " Topic

Hi Guys, having attended Alumwell show last Sunday my friend and I were impressed by the QRF British Comet tank. We would like to field this in FoW. What stats would you recommend we use for this tank?

Many thanks.

Cheers, Ade Stevenson.

You are not allowed to use a Comet tank, Battlefront don't make it.

Only joking, I think.

LOL!

We will play it in secret with the curtains drawn.

Probably the easiest solution would be to use Cromwells but the gunnery stats of a 17pder. For points, use the difference between a standard Sherman and the 17pder Sherman, and add that onto the points for a Cromwell.

Damon.

It mounts a 77mm gun, which is a modified 17pdr which reduced it's AT capabilities slightly but enabled it to fire HE rounds. On the plus side it was equipped to fire APDS. It had 4" of armour on the front (slightly more than a Tiger I) and a top speed of 32mph, which put it above a Sherman but below a Cromwell.

In FoW terms that would work out as

Mobility: Standard Tank
Armour (Front): 9
Armour (Side): 6
Armour (Top): 1
Range: 32"
ROF: 2
AT: 13
Firepower: 3+
Notes: Co-Ax MG, Hull MG, Protected Ammo, Semi-indirect fire.

I hope that's OK.

I wouldn't give it the semi-indirect rule, but otherwise that looks pretty good to me.

is there an offical, or even non offical, list of ww2 vehicles with stats for FOW on line somewhere?

I've looked, but not found any.

The old V1 stats for the Comet were:
Comet: Fully Tracked, Front 8, Side 4, Top 1, Hull MG, Coax MG, Fast tank
77mm gun: Range 32"/80cm, ROF 2, AT 14, FP3+

Given that the Cromwell and even Challenger in V3 are Light Tanks etc this would make the V3 version:
Comet: Light Tank, Front 8, Side 4, Top 1, Hull MG, Co-ax MG, Protected Ammo.
77mm gun: Range 32"/80cm, ROF 2, AT 14, FP3+, Semi-Indirect Fire.

The cartridge charge was reduced in order to make it more effective in HE work for infantry support and the crews were certainly trained in semi-indirect methods by the RA, so I see no reason why they shouldn't use semi-indirect fire in the manner of Sherman and Cromwell regiments.

Thanks guys, this is very useful.

Cheers, Ade.

I stand corrected – I knew the gun was "detuned" to improve HE performance, but thought it was for direct engagament only – I didn't realise they were trained to use it in the same way as the 75mm, ta.

The Comet shouldn't be classed as a light tank as it had a larger gun and more armour than a Cromwell and Challenger. Those tanks had a top speed of 40mph whereas the Comet's was 32mph.

Also, the front armour on the Comet was slightly thicker than a Tiger 1, so giving it a front armour of 9 isn't too much. The side armour was better than the Cromwell and Sherman as well.

While that may be true for the turret, the hull was more lightly armored.

link

Dom,

Yeah, as armoured regiments came out of the line for rest and training during lulls post Market-Garden, they actually received training from RA personnel in barrage methods. It's mentioned in a few memoirs from various brigades, including one from 3 RTR. That said, they did still feel the need to add two Cromwell CS tanks to each Comet squadron.

UC & WH,

Yes, the hull armour was roughly similar to the Cromwell Mk IV to VI and was thinner than that on the Cromwell Mk VII & VIII. However, the turret armour was considerably thicker and better-shaped.

When the armor thicknesses for the turret and hull are really different like this, BF usually averages them together. That's why 8/4/1 makes sense for a game that does not use hit locations.

Entirely agreed.

Great question Adrian, and thanks for the answers everyone. I also have some comets (2) which I wanted to use once I've gotten them built and painted up.

Wyatt