Quote:
Originally Posted by James Langham2
WW2 tended to have extra large national markings applied (there are some very nice shots of a British Panther with VERY large white stars in circles).
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That reminds me of the disguised Panthers used by Kampfgruppe Peiper during the Ardennes offensive. The Germans used sheet metal, olive drab paint, and big white stars in circles to make their spearhead tanks look like American M10 tank destroyers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by James Langham2
The vehicle guides imply this was followed in WW3 - although the use of thermal sights might make this less effective.
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Yeah, large national symbols work OK but only if the symbol doesn't look like the other guys'. In WWII, where German and its European Axis cronies used crosses and the Allies used stars, it worked OK. The T2K vehicle guides have opposing sides both using stars, albeit of different colors, but in low light, they'd look enough alike to cause issues.
If you look at NATO and WP tanks during the late Cold War, you'll notice a number of recognition symbols, usually in white or black paint, that aren't national symbols- things like sideways chevrons, wide vertical stripes (sometimes mutliple parallel stripes), etc. They're usually fairly large. IIRC, the idea for such symbols came from the Israelis, who often used captured enemy equipment and wanted a way to easily identify friend and foe on the battlefield. They wanted big bold markings that didn't compromise camoflage too much but that could not be easily misidentified.