Battlegroup42 1.6 - Mixed New Models news

Let´s start this news with a fantastic model of the American Willys MB Jeep which completely replaces the original DICE model in BG42. It was created by our modeller SimLac and coded by Sarge31FR. There´s not much left to tell about the Jeep - several hundred thousands of this sturdy all terrain vehicle served in the allied forces during WWII, on all fronts in a variety of roles like staff vehicle, scout, ambulance and even as weapon carrier. In Battlegroup42 it comes in four flavours: As unarmed, closed version for all autumn/winter maps in Europe, as open version armed with a .30cal Browning MG for the Americans and Australians and as SAS version for the British, armed with two dual Vickers MGs.

Our second new model was created with the intention to revive an old, unfinished model from Plutonius and make it an unique feature of Battlegroup42. While browsing some old folders on our server we´ve discovered his British Ordnance QF 17 pdr. This extraordinary powerful gun was used by the British starting in February 1943, mostly in Italy and the Western Front after the invasion in Normandy. It even exceeded the armor penetration power of the feared German "8,8" gun and was able to destroy every German tank. But the 17 pdr proved to be too heavy and unwieldy to be towed by a truck or Universal Carrier. While making the gun mobile by integrating it into the 17pdr SP Achilles (a modified M10 Wolverine) and the Sherman Firefly (a modified Sherman variant) a suitable towing vehicle was searched.

Finally several hundred Crusader tanks which weren´t used anymore after the end of the war in Africa were converted to gun tractors. A simple, boxy superstructure was fitted onto the hull which provided space for the tank and gun crew along with ammunition for the gun. An air brake was added too. Those gun tractors were first used during the invasion of Normandy in June 1944 and then participated in every British operation in Western Europe. Our modeller Nimrod6 not only took up the task of finishing the 17 pdr which lacked an unwrap and skin but also created the Crusader gun tractor. The result is an unique, high quality model which was coded by Sarge31FR.

Like all towed guns in BG42 the 17 pdr can be separated from the towing vehicle by entering it and pressing your assigned "move forward" key. To stabilize the gun the legs have to be deployed by pressing your assigned key to open the ramp of landing crafts. Then the gun can be used as a stationary at gun and moved around the map by using the movement keys. The 17 pdr will also be available as a fixed stationary gun without the towing vehicle. The gun tractor also functions as APC replacement for the M3A1 on some maps.

Our last news for today doesn´t cover a special model but some optical improvements. You might remember the brilliant new cockpit for the Bloch MB.152 that we showed you in one of the previous news. RuppDee did his magic again and created more new, realistic cockpits for some planes. Those cockpits are so nice that you´ll never really consider flying again with nose-cam. But let the pictures talk for themselves!

That´s all for this news about the new version 1.6 of BG42. Like in the last news we want to remind you about the second day of our Lt. Moeder Theresa memorial event on May 31st. Infos about that event and of course BG42 can be found on our website www.battlegroup42.de.. If you want to sign up as devs for BG42 you can do this on our site too.