AXIS SFH-18 Field Howitzer Mod.
by Alan Hutchins
Graphics resolution 512x512

This modification is based on MIKH's excellent SFH-18 modelling as part of his Eastern Front
campaign scenario. I have taken his superb work a stage further in the spirit of achieving
greater historical accuracy.

The SFH-18 (Schwere Feld Haubitzer, or Heavy Field Howitzer) was the principal 15cm (6") medium
field artillery piece of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS throughout WW2 and on all campaign fronts. It
had a maximum range of 13,250 metres (8.2 miles) when used in the high-angle, indirect fire mode and 
fired a 43.5 kg (95.9 lb) projectile. Rarely was this field gun used in the low-angle direct fire mode 
unless it's own gun position was threatened by immediate enemy attack. The SFH-18 was usually served by 
a crew of five or six. My own modifications to MIKH's model are to increase the angle of fire and to 
add a further two gun crew for a total of five.

The only drawback of such hi-res modelling and textures as MIKH's is the potential lowering of frame
rate to such a point where the flow of the game is badly affected. I personally found that, whilst the 
gun objects themselves didn't cause any problems, whenever I destroyed them with bombs or rockets which
activated the damage models, my frame rate fell off to an unacceptably low level. So I have compromised 
and used the ultra hi-res SFH-18 models for close-ups and the original Jane's objects for longer range
visuals and for the damage models. In practice I always site the SFH-18 in sandbagged gun emplacements 
with the result that details of the damaged gun models aren't really visible and therefore a waste of
good frame rate. However, for those who are interested to try, or who wish to site the guns out in the 
open, I have included my hi-res damage models as an optional installation - click on the HiRes Damage
Installation.bat to implement this additional upgrade. 

This modification uses high-resolution (512x512) images and should only be installed on computers 
whose video cards support high-resolution textures. 
 
WARNING: attempting to install high-resolution textures on a system with a video card which 
does not support them may cause the game to crash.

Before installing this or any other custom modification, you are advised to take a backup
your original ww2.sqs archive. 
 
Extract the contents of this archive to the WWII Fighters\Data directory.  Assuming the
default installation, this is: C:\Program Files\Jane's Combat Simulations\WWII Fighters\Data
The files will be extracted to a new directory WWII Fighters\Data\SFH_18. Using Windows 
Explorer, navigate to the WWII Fighters\Data\SFH_18 directory.

This modification employs only standard resolution (256x256) textures so no video problems are 
envisaged. 

To install, double-click on the Gun Emplacement Installation.bat icon. This will open up a DOS session 
and the installation will proceed in this window. When the installation is complete, a message saying 
"DONE...CLOSE DOS SESSION" will be displayed in the window. Close the DOS session by clicking on the 'X' 
close button in the top right corner of the window. Installation is now complete.


Alan Hutchins
Perth, Western Australia
simplyhf@space.net.au
December 2004


