Frequently Overlooked Rules Department - G17.4, Napalm

GeorgeBates

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So you're a US player in a scenario Aug '44 or later (or British/Commonwealth Apr '45 onwards) and you have a bomb-laden (not HE-only) FB. Maybe you want to improve your Sighting TC, maybe you'd like to start a fire in your opponent's backfield, maybe you'd like some billowing smoke there. too. Or maybe you'd just like to make sure that very special stack takes a 24FP FT attack. If so, no matter the theatre, on a Secret dr <=1 your planes are armed with napalm.
 

witchbottles

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IIRC Napalm was also used in the ETO...

G17.4 "...(or is vs Germans and set in/after 8/44) ..."
 

Rock SgtDan

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The book "D-day Through German Eyes" describes fighters dropping napalm. So Aug44 is a wrong start date. In fact, that book has a LOT of different descriptions of burning munitions. Sparkly stuff that sticks to clothing & gets inhaled; they saw the smoke coming out of the victim's lungs before a Sgt gave him a mercy shot... makes me wonder if the details on the prevelence flame weapons has been suppressed by the official histories.
 

Gordon

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The book "D-day Through German Eyes" describes fighters dropping napalm. So Aug44 is a wrong start date. In fact, that book has a LOT of different descriptions of burning munitions. Sparkly stuff that sticks to clothing & gets inhaled; they saw the smoke coming out of the victim's lungs before a Sgt gave him a mercy shot... makes me wonder if the details on the prevelence flame weapons has been suppressed by the official histories.
Wouldn't the "Sparkly stuff that sticks to clothing" more likely be WP?
 

Spencer Armstrong

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First, I commend you to my play aid in Journal 10. I discovered this rule when making it. I think it's the most obscure thing on there.

Second, literally every scenario I've come across with eligible planes since has this SSR'd out.
 

Rock SgtDan

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Wouldn't the "Sparkly stuff that sticks to clothing" more likely be WP?
Maybe, but I think it mentioned powdered magnesium as well. Book is on loan at the moment. I know one recollection mentioned a powdery substance.
 

daniel zucker

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The book "D-day Through German Eyes" describes fighters dropping napalm. So Aug44 is a wrong start date. In fact, that book has a LOT of different descriptions of burning munitions. Sparkly stuff that sticks to clothing & gets inhaled; they saw the smoke coming out of the victim's lungs before a Sgt gave him a mercy shot... makes me wonder if the details on the prevelence flame weapons has been suppressed by the official histories.
I have these books, their are two of them and they describe flame throwers and WP, not napalm. It seems that to the Germans on the receiving end, the allies used WP very aggressively almost to our post WWII eyes as if it were napalm.
 

Rock SgtDan

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I have these books, their are two of them and they describe flame throwers and WP, not napalm. It seems that to the Germans on the receiving end, the allies used WP very aggressively almost to our post WWII eyes as if it were napalm.
I have the "both vols in one binding" edition. I recall one description of a Jabo dropping into a trench and I recall the desciption as matching napalm.

If there an authoritative "description" of what WP looks like -- and did it come in various varieties (other additives) to make say smoke grenades vs incindiary bombs?.

There is also the description by an officer who worked on it, of the fuel-air munition. The stuff in wiki etc describes earler types than what he says they ended up with. He was within 60 seconds of launching, at the tanks massed for Cobra, when his launch vehicles got hit with an artillery barrage. Huge effective kill radius (a mile ?). Was also planned to target Calais (?) harbor.
 
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