The following are military questions asked by members of the
Gearbox Software forums
and answered by Col. John Antal (US Army, Ret).

Special Note: Ubisoft is about to record an interview for Col. Antal and you have a chance to submit questions! Click here to find out more.

Q1: Asked by HippyGoth

It appears the Colonel knows his history, one thing I've always wanted to
know, is how well did the Allies perform as a "single unit" during the war?

When I say unit, I'm referring to co-ordination between the various allies
forces. We see outstanding co-ordination in modern warfare, it seems closest
between the US and UK forces (for those who wonder, this is just my personal
observation, I'm sure NATO works with all allies equally), but the military
has nice modern gizmos to keep things tight. How was all this performed in
the 2nd World War without the modern gizmos today's military takes for
granted?

Answer:

Good question HippyGoth! You are right; the Allies did not have the
high-tech situation awareness gear that our Soldiers have today. For instance,
the American forces in WWII had radios from different manufacturers that often
couldn't talk from ground to air, ground to sea or even between allied forces!
They had to do it the old fashioned way, through planning, training and
leadership. At the squad level, however, not that much has changed. Although
squads can be equipped with individual soldier radios for short distance
communications, most rifle squads still rely on voice commands, hand and arm
signals and "FOLLOW ME" leadership.

Q2: Asked by Clay

At squad or platoon level, the fire and movement tactic is used, but what
about when you are working along side another company and your own? When
you have around 100 people firing along side you. How is this used then?
It would seem like a little hard to control having every platoon or squad
doing their own thing by flanking and suppressing. And if your were to have
your company fire, and the rest maneuver that would get a little crowded.
So basically, is there a different tactic used when you are attacking with
your company or division? Or do companies not bunch up and spread so as you
basically fight down at platoon level instead of Company level? But then, you
would possibly be running into other unit's line of fire if you flanked with
your platoon to the left or right in the middle of the line. Hope this is
good now. I'm talking about real life tactics here and not the game.

Answer:

Clay, I know just what you're talking about! I've had the honor
to lead formations of soldiers and tanks from fire team to a regiment and,
yes, it is much harder to control larger formations. Luckily, the basic
principle is still the same. Find the enemy, fix him with fire, flank him,
and then assault and finish him. If you lead a platoon, you can have two
squads fix the enemy with fire while one squad maneuvers to attack the enemy
with fire form the flank or assault. If you command a company, you can use
two platoons to fix the enemy with fire, and maneuver a platoon in assault.
In almost all cases, you want your fixing element to be larger and have
greater firepower than your flanking and assaulting force. Colonel John
Antal, U.S. Army (Ret.) Gearbox Software

Q3: Asked by Catch22

Can you tell us anything about the hand signals that we might see our
teams using to communicate with us? Are their different hand signals
for different types and numbers of enemies?

Answer:

Glad you asked that question Catch 22. Yes, different armies,
and sometimes different units, use various hand and arm signals to
direct soldiers in squad and platoons. In the U.S. Army in WWII the
hand and arm signals were very much like the ones used by our infantry
today (See example above). German hand and arm signals were similar,
but every army (and often units within an army), has a tendency to do
things in its own way.

Q4: Asked by Dunnigan

I noticed in the samples videos that bodies are lifted when near an
exploding grenade. Do grenades generate enough explosive force to
lift a human body? The MkII "Pineapple" grenade weighed 1.3 lbs and
its explosive element was used to distribute shrapnel to kill or
wound rather than by explosion.

Answer:

Great question Dunnigan! The short answer is that grenades
are deadly! You really don't want to be on the receiving end of a
grenade. On the other hand, they are not the "mini atomic bombs"
you see on some movies. In general, however, fragmentation grenades
kill their targets by shrapnel, not explosive force. A grenade
does have enough power to lift a body and in some circumstances --
depending on how the person is standing and his conditions -- can move
a body. I saw a grenade explosion throw a man out of a trench.
Luckily, he lived. Grenades used inside closed areas - buildings,
caves, trenches, armored vehicles etc. - have more pushing/body throwing
force. In addition, WWII German grenades usually had more explosive
force than the U.S. Mark II "pineapple" grenade. We have come as close
as you can to balancing how real grenades act in real combat with game
play.

Check back tomorrow for the second half!
- Colonel John Antal, U.S. Army (Ret.), Gearbox Software