"I need the help of a Cold War tank driver or engineer!" Topic

I need the help of a cold warrior! I am building a terrain board for gaming west of Fulda. Basically a 21x18 km area between Herbstein and Blakenau in the north and Hartmannshain and Hauswurz in the south. I am trying to figure out how hard it would be for armor and vehicles to cross creeks/small rivers like the Schwarza, Altfeld, and Moosback. How wide and deep or bank height required engineers? Thanks in advance.

Wish I could help, I was Mech … But I was only there briefly in '88 …

As I recall, the banks were almost always nearly vertical, so that while you could easily get in and get across, getting out again would be problematic. The bridge laying tanks were essential. Mind you, to limit damage to the countryside we were usually required to cross only at bridges, so this is just an informed estimate.

The thing is, a single tank can go almost anywhere, but every tank that follows does more damage: deeper ruts, broken road edges, collapsed banks, and so on. The going gets increasingly difficult for those further back in the column.

I had a quick look at a photo of the River Schwarza. That is a proper river, not something you'd drive a tank into (and it seems to have vertical banks too).

Try Google Earth, to look at images of the area.

Dozers might be able to smooth out both banks, if you can't find a natural area to cross at.

If a river, as mentioned, instead of a creek, and it's deep, your vehicles may need to erect snorkels, or swim.

Speaking as a combat engineer, I doubt we'd bridge the Schwarza with anything other than a Bailey or M4T6. Even the floating ribbon bridges wouldn't be any help if you couldn't get past the bluffs on the far side.

On the subject of creeks and bridges, we regularly practiced seeding likely ford sites with waterproof M19 or M21 AT mines. Something to keep in mind before sending all your armor assets charging across a creek!

Very helpful and informative. Thank you very much. Battle Captain, that's great stuff about the later vehicles in the column. Mako agree with Google earth, excellent idea. Javelin, love mining the ford idea. Thanks to all.

Oh, you have no idea the wicked ways we came up with to use land mines!

Conducting a linear ambush along a road? Seed the ditches on either side with M14 "toe popper" antipersonnel mines. "Toe popper" becomes "chest popper" when a grunt goes prone on it.

Need to slow down a column of tanks or trucks? Lodge M18 Claymores in trees overhead facing downward to spray tank commanders standing up out of their hatches or troops riding in the back of trucks with shrapnel.

Need to discourage infantry from their door-to-door search? Booby trap a door with an M16 bounding mine placed at an angle, so that when the door is opened, the mine launches into the street and takes out the whole squad.

There are the days when I miss the Army.

Essayons!

Javelin, I'll be sure never to show up at your house unannounced….