25-Pounder

First off, the 25 pounder was a field gun, not any sort of howitzer.  It had a longer by proportion barrel and a muzzle velocity higher than any howitzer.  It was intended to engage targets with direct as well as indirect fire.  It was also designed for a high rate of fire, so the 25 pounder could throw 6 shells in a minute, where the 105 threw 3.  Six times 25 pounds of shell is 150 pounds of steel on target.  Three times 40 pounds of shell gives 120 pounds of steel on target.  It was bad to be down-range of a 105.  It was worse to be down range of a 25 pounder.  (The 25 pounder had reached the end of its design capability.  The 105 was considerably improved, even by Korea.  In 1941, or even 1947, the 25-pounder was at least as fierce as a 105.)

Along with the higher muzzle velocity came its ability to engage targets with direct fire.  Iron sights were built into the gun, making it a more effective AT gun than the 6 pounder.  Bigger shell, more muzzle energy.  The six pounder was much more nimble and easier to hide/deploy. The 6 pounder was also cheaper to make. The 6 pounder as a dedicated AT gun was the better option.

My agenda is simple.  I need a gun that has some chance of engaging German Tigers and Soviet KV-Stalin class tanks.  In real life, a 25 pounder did this.  In Bolt action, it will not.

BUT

The 25 pounder hit as hard as a 105 with indirect fire and a tad harder than a 6 pounder in a direct fire role.  As a “light howitzer,” its statistics do not come close to representing its effect in combat.

As a gamer, I’m not willing to shell out medium-to-big bucks for another piece of allied equipment that’s just a high value target for tigger.  I wanted to build my army around a pair or even trio of 25 pounders, but as the stats look now, I’ll be getting 105s (and Tesla’s.)

I’m going to use 25 pounder models and “proxy” them as 105mm guns.  I will pay the points for a 105, play it like a 105, and use the model of a 25 pounder.  No quibble on custom rules.  This will give me an excuse to get a Centurion when it comes out.

Total Disagreement, as:
A:  The British used hundreds of lend-lease 105mm howitzers and
B:  In my educated and informed opinion, the 25 pounder was a weapon just as effective for its purpose as the 105; i.e. a weapon with good direct fire and indirect fire abilities.  The 25 pounder was a new weapon at the beginning of WWII. During the fall of France, the most common variant was the 25/18 pounder, a 25 pounder on an 18 pounder box carriage.

I have always been perplexed as to why gamers continue the completely foolish belief that Nazi equipment was wonderful; they had wunderwaffe, but allied equipment was junk.  Allied weapons were awesome.  Allied tech was just as good as Nazi tech, and better as the war went on.  One big reason was that many, most in fact, of the top scientists in Germany were Jewish, and they fled to the US and Britain, with their research.

The fantasy thet German science was better than Allied science is just that.  A fantasy.

So far as I am concerned, the 25 pounder should have an ROF of 2.  for 10 added points it can have AP ammunition that makes it a medium AT gun (it is an 88mm weapon, not a 40mm weapon, so a minimum of a medium ATn gun, like the 57mm 6 pounder) and for 25 points, it may carry the (middle-to-late war) APDS Anti-tank round making it a heavy AT gun.  but this is unofficial, and I won’t use it.

The British did use the Priest with 105 as well as the Sexton with 25 pounders.  By the time the Allies reached Germany, 105 ammunition was in short supply and the British had to rely more on their 25 pounders.  From the Nazi’s point of view, it mattered little.  25 pounder had a ROF of 6 per minute.  105 had an rof of 3.  In terms of weight thrown per minute, 6×25 pound shells, 150 pounds of steel on target from the 25 pounder; 3×40 pounds from the 105, 120 pounds.  25 pounder is a faster gun. It is worse to be downrange of a 25 pounder than a 105mm.

The 25 pounder was 28 calibers long, the 105 was 22 calibers long.  The 25 pounder had a 25% longer barrel, and a proportionally higher muzzle velocity and muzzle energy.  The 25 pounder had a Muzzle velocity of 532 m/s.  6011 kg/m muzzle energy.  The 6 pounder had 853 m/s muzzle velocity and a 2.8 kg shell, 2218 kg/m muzzle energy.  In terms of performance, the 25 pounder is a medium howitzer and better than a medium anti-tank gun.

25 pounder had a crew of 6.  105 had a crew of 7.

The US 105mm howitzer was designed in the 1920’s and was a mature design by WWII.  The 25 pounder first saw service in the “fall of France,” it began service in 1940.  The US phased out the WWII model 105 in the 50’s, a few ceremonial weapons are still in service, they were replaced by newer models of the 105.  The 25 pounder is still in service with smaller countries and “combat” ammunition for it is still being produced.  Older models of the 105 use “blank” rounds only.

Nato adopted the 105 as a standard caliber.  For this reason, it was phased out of the British inventory.

ALSO:  The 25 pounder had an HESH shell (High Explosive, Squash head) which was developed for demolition work, but was much better at demolishing kitties than a shaped charge of the same size.  HEsh rounds used by the Israelis have destroyed Soviet T-10s and Stalin IIs.

As such, the 25 pounder was, in reality, as good or better than the allied 105mm.   It was better as the medium ATG than a 6 pounder.  In game terms, the 25 pounder is much better being represented by the statistics of a 105.  So, I will pay the price of a 105mm gun, and use the model of a 25 pounder.  This is totally legal and not disruptive to the game.

The Japanese  did not face British equipped as well as those in Europe.   They never fought Finnish troops, or German troops.  These matchups are purely part of the fantasy of the Game.