Dust

[PoorOldSpike]

BELOW - However dust CAN be a friend ;)


PIC 1 - My infantry want to run down the road to the flag, so I order my tanks and gun-armed halftrack to area-fire into the ground.. (incidentally I can't quite get LOS on that enemy halftrack or I'd engage it)





PIC 2 - and bingo, dust is kicked up to protect my boys from prying eyes as they sprint down the road!��
Furthermore by a stroke of luck the wind was blowing straight down the road with them, so the dust moved with the wind like their own personal mobile smokescreen, it must have looked to the terrified enemy like some awesome sci-fi monster had allied itself with my boys and was rolling along with them...
What do you say Spock?

"Fascinating"..

[PoorOldSpike]

DUST DISPERSAL TIME TEST (NO WIND)

PIC 1 - On Turn One I order the 150mm guns to demolish the buildings to their front, they accomplish it within 10 secs (note clock)
Also note the weather panel reads 'Still' air.







PIC 2 - On the 4th turn the dust disappears from the shack and the light bldg







PIC 3 - And on the 5th turn the dust disappears from the small heavy bldg..







PIC 4 - but not until the 14th turn does it disappear from the big heavy bldg








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DUST DISPERSAL TIMES (IN STRONG WIND)

PIC 1 - the 150's blow all the buildings within 10 seconds of Turn 1





PIC 2 - But even before turn 1 has ended the strong wind has dispersed the dust from all but the big building!





PIC 3 - And on Turn 2 the big building dust has also gone..

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[PoorOldSpike]

DUST FROM DEMOLISHED BUILDINGS DOES NOT DRIFT WITH THE WIND
PIC 1 - The 105 Howitzer blows the building and raises a dust cloud





PIC 2 - But the cloud stays put despite a strong wind from the east (right to left)

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HOWEVER, dust kicked up by shellbursts DOES drift with the wind as this test below shows.
PIC 1 - I order the 105mm to fire into the ground to produce an impact dust cloud (also note the cloud just in front of the gun caused by muzzle blast




PIC 2 - And within a few seconds the dust cloud has drifted fast on the wind. (dust kicked up by moving vehicles also drifts)


TACTICAL NOTES- Dust is important because it blocks lines of sight.
The above tests all boil down to the following -
Dust disperses sooner or later and never guarantees permanent cover.
The stronger the wind, the quicker it disperses
Big buildings keep their dust the longest
There's a random factor built into dispersal times, so regard all the above figures as approximate only

[Copper]

Great info thanks POS. Take it the same rules apply for smoke... sort off.. LOL

[PoorOldSpike]

[Copper]

I might also unwind by taking in a few new net videos - "Woman TV presenter savaged by bear","Skaters face v brick wall", "Brides hair goes up in flames", "Basketball players eye gouged out"..

LMAO... why in Gods name would you want to look at them... anyways... look forward to seeing your fantastically wonderful screenshots and your supercalifrajalisticexpialadocious explanations of all points within said topic. :whis:

[bluehand]

important CMAK flaw- scenarios in CMAK for western europe like Blut& Ehre still have dust. I was able to track down and kill a enemy artillery transport and its tank support by simply watching for when it crossed a dirt road. Trees may hide but the dirt will give you away!

[MGK(FGM)]

I think it is becouse of weather conditions - when you have dry - you will get dust

[Mike Abberton]

Yes, I just picked off 3 Wespe's in a game because dust along a road gave me enough warning to get a Sherman in position to intercept them one at a time as they came out of the woods.

[McIvan]

Apparently dust was a real problem in Normandy, so perhaps not unrealistic....