Blocking a shaped charge with your body

[exalted]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

WW2-era spaced armor "schürzen," like used on late marks of the German Panzer IV, were actually designed to defeat anti-tank rifle shots aimed at bogies, return rollers, and other parts of the tracks. They also had a slight benefit against conventional AP rounds since they could cause the round to slightly deflect or tumble before it hit the main armor.

They were not designed to defeat HEAT rounds.

How sure are you about it since the Germans went with what basically looks like wire-mesh (probably useless against anti-tank rifles) to reduce the weight of schürzen during the last years of the war. Pretty sure it was explicitly to take care of low velocity HEAT round like those from a bazooka.

[mushroom911]

Originally Posted by exalted

How sure are you about it since the Germans went with what basically looks like wire-mesh (probably useless against anti-tank rifles) to reduce the weight of schürzen during the last years of the war. Pretty sure it was explicitly to take care of low velocity HEAT round like those from a bazooka.

The wire mesh was to protect against magnetic charges, like the HHLD

ED: I misread the comment, the wiremesh was yes, there to stop low velocity shaped charges. What I was thinking of was the coating they applied to the armor.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Phoenix_Dragon

In High-Tech, armor like side skirts or cage armor is called Spaced Armor and multiplies DR by 1.5 against shaped charges. If you wanted to do it as an Armor Divisor mod, it might work to just have it drop AD by a step.

That's over a very short distance. Less than a yard, often less than a foot. Drop-off of penetration, from what I have found, is close enough to linear to use that as a guide. Exact distances will depend on the warhead diameter, but a reasonable approximation might be dropping AD by one level per yard from the point of detonation.

This sounds really good. Though based on your description, I'd rather drop an AD level per foot rather than per yard. Kromm's equation for distance may end up being used for the charge's "tail end", unless someone knows of a good maximum distance for a shaped charge. mentally, I think its lower than hundreds of yards, but I could be wrong.



The player on the other side of the robot has about 30 DR: enough to block some heavy attacks, but 90 will still go right through.



I've also realized that the weapon system I was envisioning this coming from probably doesn't work in the first place, or if it does doesn't get the same performance as a classic shaped charge (its a 10lb robot that aims itself and then self destructs).

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by ericthered

I've also realized that the weapon system I was envisioning this coming from probably doesn't work in the first place, or if it does doesn't get the same performance as a classic shaped charge (its a 10lb robot that aims itself and then self destructs).

That could easily be a high tech EFP (Explosively Formed Penetrator).


Which is what I thought it was when you called a shaped charge in game. It might not as damaging (your packing less explosive into a small space) but it should still blow through the wallscrubber bot and have some punch on the other side (but yeah, that one might not penetrate 30 DR).

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

That could easily be a high tech EFP (Explosively Formed Penetrator).


Which is what I thought it was when you called a shaped charge in game. It might not as damaging (your packing less explosive into a small space) but it should still blow through the wallscrubber bot and have some punch on the other side (but yeah, that one might not penetrate 30 DR).

You're correct about that: it will have 1/5th of the penetrating power, but 6d*5 (2) is enough to deal with most threats in the environment the bots were created for. And HT 170 has instructions on how to make a shell an EFP, right next to the instructions on HEAT.



Of course, the main conversation is still very instructive: that game has seen a lot of shaped charges, and promises to use a lot more.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by exalted

How sure are you about it since the Germans went with what basically looks like wire-mesh (probably useless against anti-tank rifles) to reduce the weight of schürzen during the last years of the war. Pretty sure it was explicitly to take care of low velocity HEAT round like those from a bazooka.

Correction: Not specifically designed to deal with HEAT rounds.

I'm not sure why the last marks of the Panzer IV eliminated the skirts in favor of wire mesh panels. It could have been lack of materials, or the recognition that the thin layer of armor didn't do much good against the larger HEAT rounds which were available by 1944-45.

The skirts also tended to trap mud and made it harder to service the tracks, both of which were huge considerations, especially on the Eastern Front.

The Zimmerit anti-magnetic paste was applied to German tanks in 1943-44 after the Germans invented the Hafthohlladung magnetic "limpet mine". They were so impressed with this weapon's effectiveness that they pre-emptively designed a countermeasure to defeat any Allied knock-offs. When the Allies didn't produce magnetic mines of their own, the Germans eliminated the zimmerit paste.