Produktbeschreibung
The Crab (or Flail) was a Sherman tank with a power operated flailing attachment that could clear a 10-foot wide path through a minefield. The flail was a rotating drum powered by a drive from the tank engine and held by two girders extending from the front of the tank. Attached to the drum were 43 chains, each with an iron ball. When the drum was rotated the chains beat the ground, and exploded mines to a depth of 10 inches. Churchill tanks were also used for Flails.
A unique piece of specialist equipment that the 79th Armoured Division fields is the Sherman Crab flail tank. Its rotating flail detonates mines as the vehicle passes through a minefield, clearing a path for following vehicles. While perfect in theory, not every mine was destroyed and numerous flail tanks were lost in the process.
Despite this, they remained the most effective way of clearing minefields under fire.
The Germans use mines prolifically, laying them in front of every defensive position. This makes the Sherman Crab flail tank essential as the other half of every breaching team alongside the AVRE.
Almost every attack had a platoon of flail tanks standing by in case minefields were encountered.
Historically, each flail platoon had five tanks. This allowed them to flail two gaps through a minefield since each gap required two flails operating in echelon to clear a wide enough path to safely cross.
The fifth flail tank was the reserve to replace the inevitable mine casualty amongst the gapping teams.
In Flames Of War -
In Flames Of War we operate each flail platoon with only one gapping team as this is sufficient to gap minefields at the company level.
The rules for Mine Flails are on page 215 of the Flames Of War rulebook. The rules for fielding them in late war are in D-Day.
Flail Platoons are unusual in that you do not pay points for them.
Instead, if you field a British Rifle Company or a Commando Troop and are attacking, you may swap up to one Armoured Platoon or Tank Platoon for a Flail Platoon before deployment. These now count as Support platoons additional to the normal allocation. |
