Tank crew communication

[daranz]

Although communication is important no matter what you do in PR, it is most essential when operating a vehicle with another crewman. Proper communication between the driver and the gunner will determine whether or not they will survive an engagement. So, here's a couple of tips for proper crewmen communication:

• Consider decreasing your squad size to reduce the amount of chatter. You need to be able to communicate at any time, and you need to be able to communicate quickly.
• Remember your gunner's/driver's name and voice. This might be kinda obvious, but you might find yourself wondering who is talking to who, if you don't pay attention in a larger squad.
• Keep it brief. This applies to all communications, but it especially applies to tanks. The faster you relay information, the faster the two of you can work together to act on it.
• Use spotting and waypoints. Although you can simply say "9 o'clock," supplementing it with a spot makes it easier for the gunner and also informs everyone else on your team.
• When your gunner tells you to stop, stop and stabilize. He made the decision to stop, and needs you to be stationary. And usually, in such situations, the gunner is right.
• Let your driver know when you're reloading, and when you're ready to fire. This lets him know when to back off and when to push forward to a firing position. He shouldn't even ask you to tell him.
• When you hit or destroy a target, report that to the driver. He needs to know, but he doesn't need to stare right at the target.

Feel free to discuss and/or add more...

[Guerra norte]

I could post a shit load of info on real Fire Commands if anyone is interested.

[Outlawz7]

Probably stolen from dyslexci and ArmA

But the most effective tank squad is just driver and gunner. Third guy can be an engineer.
If you plan an armor squad, use TS with different channels. And voice activation, so you don't have to use one hand to talk.

[eddie]

VoIP on the BF2 engine has a delay, even on low ping servers. Me and Jester found this out while crewing on EJOD.

Also, the gunner should give the order to move in a direction after he's fired a round. That way the gunner can tell the drive when he's ready to fire again, or they can retreat and attack from a different direction.

[daranz]

Probably stolen from dyslexci and ArmA

But the most effective tank squad is just driver and gunner. Third guy can be an engineer.
If you plan an armor squad, use TS with different channels. And voice activation, so you don't have to use one hand to talk.

Your key config must suck. I never have any problem holding down my PTT key and talking... Especially as a gunner, where my PTT key is actually the only thing on the keyboard that I have to use.

And yeah, TS would be ideal in an ideal world (hell, it even has whispering to predefined channels bindable to buttons, so you could communicate with BOTH your tank and other tanks on separate channels, using nothing but TS), but we don't live in an ideal world (or I'd be really ******** rich and would rule over an entire continent).



Language - Warning


UKF

[Outlawz7]

Umm...TeamSpeak is free...

[daranz]

Umm...TeamSpeak is free...

I never said it wasn't.

[Liquid_Cow]

Four observations which I have found greatly improve a tank's effectiveness.

#1, use the compass. Its the only way to be sure the Tank Commander (TC) and the gunner are looking in the same direction. The gunner has to zoom out to be able to see it well. I will call out a target something like this: "Enemy tank, 2 marks left of South West" marks being the fat lines between the cardinal directions. Practice on an empty server using the coax to shoot as distant bushes etc., until the TC can spot a target and get the gunner on it within a few seconds. Aside from the obvious roll as unit commander, IRL the TC's job in the heat of things is giving the gunner his next target while looking for threats and directing the driver to manuver accordingly.

#2 As far as TC-Gunner comms goes, one of the two most important things a Gunner can tell the TC is when he's loaded. IRL the loader will say "SABOT UP" when he loads a Sabot, and the game has an audio that does this for the gunner, but the TC does not hear it. If you're moving and want to take an accurate shot, letting the TC know when you're ready to shoot minimizes your exposure to enemy fire while you're sitting still.

#3, The other most important thing to tell the TC is that you've taken the shot so the TC can start moving again, minimizing your "sitting duck" time. IRL the gunner (USA) will say "ON THE WAY". There is a bug in the game that I find I don't see or hear the gun fire all the time, and end up waiting for the gunner to shoot... BANG we take a hit and the gunner wants to know why we're still sitting still.

#4 I usually play using TS. I do not use VOX, I have 3 PTT buttons set up. One just for my tank, one for the armor platoon, and a command channel that all the SL's and the commander can hear but not the gunners. It takes some getting used to, but it greatly reduces the confusion of the battle.

[OiSkout]

Hehe you should simply make communications a general 'guide.'

Also note that the driver cannot always tell when the gunner shoots or is hit. I noticed it occasionally when I'm zoomed it. It might be my rig or the system, but when I'm zoomed in(might be when I'm switching zooms), I don't always hear the cannon firing. Sometimes I don't even see the huge tracer-ish round. Sometimes I also don't recognize when my tank is hit. Just a note to watch out for those for an increase in communication.

[El_Vikingo]

Hehe you should simply make communications a general 'guide.'

Also note that the driver cannot always tell when the gunner shoots or is hit. I noticed it occasionally when I'm zoomed it. It might be my rig or the system, but when I'm zoomed in(might be when I'm switching zooms), I don't always hear the cannon firing. Sometimes I don't even see the huge tracer-ish round. Sometimes I also don't recognize when my tank is hit. Just a note to watch out for those for an increase in communication.

Known Issue, probably due to net lag, hitbox, etc...

[Wolfe]

Tank, 3 o'clock high
Infantry, 11 o'clock low
Roger
No shot
Lost em
Hit! Reloading...
Missed! Reloading...
Tank down.
Ready move...
...Ready
...Hold

These commands work well, but in the heat of battle they tend to degrade into something more like:

tank!... stop, stop, stop... STOP, STOP, STOP
I don't see him where is he where is he.
Damnit
sorry
wth?
Did we just get hit?
F*CK we're dead.
sorry
has a tank spawned yet?
get it get it get it ... ****.

[Outlawz7]

So true..

[77SiCaRiO77]

and then people say :"voipd is the solution "

[fuzzhead]

tank!... stop, stop, stop... STOP, STOP, STOP
I don't see him where is he where is he.
Damnit
sorry
wth?
Did we just get hit?
F*CK we're dead.
sorry
has a tank spawned yet?
get it get it get it ... ****.

rofl that is awesome and so true heheh

yea using proper commands is excellent! IMO the absolute hardest thing to do in PR is a high degree of teamwork from an organised tank driver and gunner. And its absolutely the most devastating too (except the overpowering lonewolf jets).

To get kills in a tank is easy, to survive in a tank when the odds are against you and the enemy team is getting pissed taht you are kiling them, that is a very difficult task and requires the highest degree of teamwork tactics quick thinking and aim

I love tanking in PR6 its a shame that most of the time Im shooting against noob 1man tanks that all they can do is sit still then backup when they get shot so they can repair themselves, only to get killed by HEAT round

[CareBear]

rofl that is awesome and so true heheh

yea using proper commands is excellent! IMO the absolute hardest thing to do in PR is a high degree of teamwork from an organised tank driver and gunner. And its absolutely the most devastating too (except the overpowering lonewolf jets).

To get kills in a tank is easy, to survive in a tank when the odds are against you and the enemy team is getting pissed taht you are kiling them, that is a very difficult task and requires the highest degree of teamwork tactics quick thinking and aim

I love tanking in PR6 its a shame that most of the time Im shooting against noob 1man tanks that all they can do is sit still then backup when they get shot so they can repair themselves, only to get killed by HEAT round

yes its hard with lots of suicde engineers running at us as we get try to get out of government office?

and being told to give tanks to some1 else cos we were 'driving around'

[Hairysteed]

I've found out that commands used in the tank sim Steel Beasts work quite well in PR. These are also the commands used by the US Army tank crewmen

When either the TC or the gunner spots an enemy unit he/she immediately shouts:

"Tank!" - Main battle tank
"PC!" - IFVs, APCs, Armored cars, vehicles with light armor
"Troop!" - Infantry
"Truck!" - Wheeled soft-skinned vehicles. Jeeps fall into this category

As the TC calls a target he/she overrides the turret control and slews the gun to bear, making it clear to the gunner what the TC wants the gunner to engage. This is not possible in PR, so the gunner will have to use direction pointers such as:
"Tank, two o' clock!"
To point out the general direction of the target. Usually the gunner can find the target with just that, but if he's off the TC can fine-tune with "Traverse Right/Left!".

Having seen the target the gunner calls "Identified!". In real tanks this is the cue for the TC to relieve the turret control back to the gunner. If the Gunner cannot see the target, or it's unclear what the TC wants him to engage he'll say "Cannot identify!"

When the gunner has identified the target the TC can then issue the order "Fire!". This, however, is not the order to fire the gun straight away, but rather an authorization to destroy the target.

When the gunner is confident he has a clear shot and is about to fire he tells the TC "On the way!". This is to let the TC know he's about to take the shot and is the cue for the commander to stop the vehicle.

The TC will observe the flight of the projectile and tell the gunner where it landed with "Over!/Short!/Left!/Right!/Target!, so that the gunner can readjust the aim accordingly if needed.

Example:

"PC, eleven o'clock!"
-"Identified!"
-"Fire!"
-"On the way!"
-"Target!"

[fuzzhead]

very nice SOP man

it will be nicer in v0.7 cause you will get a compass with more accurate bearings,every 15 degrees is marked. can also use the commander or gunner laser range finder now too

"Tank, bearing 165 range 500!"

[LtSoucy]

lol fuzzhead can you add it to all soldiers? like put it on the minimap.

[Viper5]

Battlecary SABOT unless you know for a fact there are no enemy Tanks on the battlefield.

"Identified"- Target in sight
"Up"- Round loaded
"FIRE" TC to Gunner to commence firing
"ON THE WAY"- Round is airborne
"TARGET" Target destroyed

lol fuzzhead can you add it to all soldiers? like put it on the minimap.

What minimap

[Hairysteed]

"On the way!" does not mean round is airborne. It means "I am pulling the trigger now!"
"Target!" does not necessarily mean the target is destroyed, just hit.