The Flugabwehrkanone, or Flack 36 is the main AT gun used by Axis, commonly refered to by the name '88' beacuse it uses an 88 mm shell. It must be towed to move. The Pak 36 is a 37 mm AT gun that is rarely used, but it can be moved short distances and set up without being towed.
Our 88s are having a hard time killing tanks at long range. Several reasons for that have been given, bad recoil, lack of fine adjustment, poor optics, etc. and they are all probably reasonable. Regardless of the reasons, we need to develop procedures to make effective use of our 88s since they are theoretically capable of killing ANY Allied tank at ranges well beyond the effective range of the Allied tanks' main guns. If we can do that then an 88 vs an Allied tank is like having a .45 when the other guy is 30 feet away with a knife. We WIN!
All players who work 88s need to find the kgm file mod that provides
fine adjustment of your sights using the arrow keys. Here it is:
fine tuning on the big guns!!!!!
Add these two lines at the end of your tanks and AT guns kgm file, which you can
open with WordPad/Notepad...
asxturretelevate=(a)dummystring,dummystring,dummystring,i(1000^0),k(-1000^0),up(220^0),down(-220^0);
asxturrettraverse=(a)dummystring,dummystring,dummystring,j(-1000^0),l(1000^0),left(-110^0),right(110^0);
Now you will be able to use your j,k,l and i for fast turret movement, Joystick for medium/normal speed turret movement, and your arrow keys for Very fine tuning, good luck ;).
If you HAVE fine adjustment then it just becomes a matter of adjusting the shot fall ONTO the target. Since the 88 gun sight is not up to the task then we need to take advantage of the vastly superior optics available to tank commanders.... his binoculars.
HOW TO ADJUST FIRE:
The ideal situation is when the tank is directly behind or beside the
88 and acts as both Spotter and Observer. If spotting for the 88 he can call
targets and the 88 gunner can make an initial best guess shot using his own optics.
The Observer then observes the fall of the shot through his binoculars and makes corrections. Unless the shot is WAY off, he should provide corrections based on the small adjustment scale that can be keymapped for fine sight movement using the arrow keys.
For instance: UP 2 RIGHT 3. Which means raise the elevation 2 clicks and move it right 3 clicks. At different ranges each click will result in a different relative movement and only practice will tell you how much is appropriate. But by making a one (1) click adjustment after the initial shot, you will be able to tell how far each click move the shot fall at that range and can adjust your calls accordingly.
With practice a good observer should be able to walk the shots onto the target in just a few rounds and kill it even at extreme range.
Basic Procedures. 1. Observer calls the target. 2. 88 Gunner makes best initial shot possible using gun sights. 3. Observer adjusts aiming UP/DOWN LEFT/RIGHT to place round on target. 4. Target is destroyed. 5. Everyone takes a Schitzel break and paints another kill ring on the barrel.
Keep in mind that if the observer is significantly off to one side or the other, problems can arise when calling in corrections. At 45 degrees from the line between the 88 and the target, what is a RIGHT correction to the observer is an UP AND RIGHT or a DOWN AND LEFT correction to the gunner. At a 90 degree angle a RIGHT correction to the observer is an UP or a DOWN correction for the gunner depending on which side the observer is on.
Since we don't have tactical maps on which we can plot fire lines and observer locations, we are never going to be able to accurately compensate for Observer Offsets from the line of fire and the observer will have to wing it as best he can.
Perhaps a team of an 88 and a PII, when they become available, would make a good Gunner/FO (Forward Observer) combo. The PII commander can adjust fire and his 20mm gun can provide protection for the 88 from anything except tanks (which the 88 can kill before they get close.)
The "Observed Fire" procedure could also be used effectively for interdicting ABs and FBs at long ranges from hilltops and ridges. No need to get tanks in close to camp the spawn. An 88 with an Observer could place accurate and effective fire onto anything coming out a garage at ranges well beyond their ability to shoot back. All you have to do is kill a gunner or a driver and the tank is effectively dead. Result? Chaos in the enemy AB with no effective counter.