[RERomine]

The overall objective was to get a clear idea on how effective we can expect AAA to be in the game. It was brought up that some guns don't fire at all when there are viable targets within effective range. In my tests, I tried to control certain factors to give the guns optimum firing conditions, i.e. clear ground and high visibility. My tests confirmed that there are situations where guns won't engage targets in range. The significant impact of gun crew experience on their willingness to engage has at least convinced me that in campaigns, AAA units should be in the core.

Chuck, as far as the AA model, all I can say is it is what it is. My objective was not to validate the model, but to understand what we can expect out of it. Guns frequently not firing at targets was a surprise. Now I know what to expect. Was it realistic? I don't know One would like to think every gun would shoot at the appropriate target if one presented itself, but I'm sure there were instances were guns failed, for whatever reason.

Bob, in looking around for information on AAA gun effectiveness, I came across references to rounds self destructing at a certain point. Apparently, some AAA rounds were designed to explode when the tracer burned out, thus creating an artificial maximum range. If I understand the purpose of this correctly, it was to keep HE rounds from dropping back into friendly positions. Larger rounds burst at high altitude using a barometric fuse, so there is a different intent than with the rounds self destructing at tracer burn out.