The turret living-dead

jawsconan · 10-21-2006, 01:29 AM,

Hi, gentlemen

In many games, one or more tanks have their turret guy killed, no matter with the way to manage this.

But during all my games in which this case was happening, i noticed that "with" or "without" its turret operator, the tank (ennemy or our) ran as the same way althought the manual say : "a tank without this guy is nearly blind".
It looks like the turret guy is still alive althought we killed him !!!

So i ask the question : does it worth managing to kill this living-dead ?
What is your opinion ?

Cheers.
Jawsconan

Hawk555 · 10-21-2006, 03:18 AM,

Soldier · 10-21-2006, 03:34 AM,

You're obviously speaking of the tank commander being badly wounded or killed by a snipper, shrapnel etc...
In that case the "gun loader" is a perfect choice for the job of observing the surroundings and spotting for enemy threads, etc.
With the officer (if killed) missing, the tank crew ceases to be a team. (very important point to consider)
When ever such disabled tank gets involved in a firefight, awareness of it's environment, drops considerably. With the loader back at his designated function..

jawsconan · 10-21-2006, 04:26 AM,

Soldier, you think that this guy's elimination makes decreasing the tank's capacity to spot enemy or to detect bad surprise arround it.

Well, i used to believe the same thing since the begining of my CMAK's career, but actually i am dubious on this fact.

Thank for your clarification.

10-21-2006, 04:31 AM,

I like the 'padink' when you shoot at them with snipers so while probably carry on regardless.

Bootie

Soldier · (This post was last modified: 10-21-2006, 04:46 AM by Soldier.)

My speculation on the matter was pertaining to real life situation. I don't feel that the tank commander's, so to speak training and "experience" make him much more than marginally better at it. (Versus the loader)
A young cocky gun loader can spot for and recognize threads 95 percent as well, if not better.
The problem or issue lies with the missing leader.
The remaining crew is more likely to give up, look for cover instead, etc. or even hightail it for home.. :-)
During a firefight, only the gunner has a very marginal averseness of the environment around the tank.

I really don't know how this game models the situation!

10-21-2006, 04:52 AM,

Hell the nearest Ive been to a tank was when my goldfish Scooby Doo owned one so I cant really comment on a RL situation.

Bootie

10-21-2006, 09:44 AM,

OK.

Depending on the quality of the crew and the approximation of the opponents, losing your Tank Commander can cause significant degration of the ability of the tank.

When buttoned, or commander less (same thing), you tank will not be able to spot as well as having a commander.

Now CM has an anomaly in that if your tank is part of a platoon and other commanders are still alive and can see an enemy, all other forces can automatically see it too. The term is called Borg Spotting. A single tank may be disrupted and even on occasion if you have a sharpshooter, all tanks may be affected.

CM is good but its not perfect. But in general, I have found that as long as you keep them together in a doctrinally sound way, losing your commander degrades, but does not seriously affect, your tanks performance.

Easy in theory, less easy in practice1

DerBlitzer · 10-21-2006, 11:22 AM,

Losing a member of the tank crew typically Shocks the tank for a turn or two (sometimes even for the duration of the game). A shocked tank sometimes cannot move, sometimes cannot fire, or both. Once it becomes unshocked (i.e. the men inside wipe the gore off their eyes, determine their own wounds aren't too serious, and rearrange themselves) the tank's rate of fire probably decreases (not something you'd necessarily notice right away). And a tank that starts out with a crew of 2 (tankette, for example) probably isn't very useful after losing a guy.

McIvan · 10-21-2006, 06:38 PM,

Geordie is exactly right....if there are heaps of friendly units nearby, they do the job of spotting and it is unlikely you will see any difference in the performance of the tank.

Get the tank by itself or with only a few nearby friendlies, however, and in my opinion it will show significantly decreased spotting ability, especially against nearby infantry.