Tank crew communication

[Liquid_Cow]

Undies, good post. One key thing which I'd like to add is that once a shell is fired its important for the gunner to let the commander know that, as frequently the commander does not see/hear the shot. When using the shoot and scoot method of engaging enemy armor it is vital that the commander hold the talk still until the shot is fired then move rapidly to avoid counter fire.

BTW, in the US we use "Sabot, HEAT, Coax, Engage, Engaging, Acquired, Fire" and when the shot is fired "On-The-Way."

What ever words you use, its important that you lay down the ground rules before you get into a fight. I pub with strangers all the time, when we get into the armor I make it clear, when talking directions we always need to use the compass, and any sightings should include a bearing. Its also important to avoid ambiguous words or words which sound alike. If you want the tank to stop say "STOP". Don't say "whoa, hold up, ****, etc., etc.," it will just decreace you life span.

with the gunner carrying out his own engagement is he carries out all the vocals himself to inform the commader of what is happening

ABSOLUTELY! Nothing worse than the driver/commander looking at a black screen wondering what just happened when the gunner says "I guess I missed him, hu?"

The hull is good for the clock-ray method

I have to respectfully disagree with this method. While IRL it is used all the time, in PR it is too easy for the commander to loose track of where he is looking. If you have any magnification on you have to zoom out to see where the hull and turret it. KISS method here (that's Keep It Simple Stupid), the compass is there and always works, so use it.

When I have a regular tank crew we go out and practice spotting, that is getting the gun on the commander's target ASAP. The commander will spot a bush or other object and attempt to direct the gunner onto it as fast a possible. The gunner will fire the coax and the commander will then walk the gunner onto target with left/right short/long. Even after months of playing together its usefull to do this at the start of every day's play.

[Undies]

@ Spaz - Let me know next time you are in town

@ Liquid Cow - I totally forgot the bit after you shoot my bad. If the gunner observes the fall of shot and strikes the target he simply reports "TARGET" to which the commander will acknowledge by repeating, followed by either "STOP" or "GO ON" depending on the state of the target.

Should the gunner not see the round strike he will report "NOT OBSERVED" and if he misses he will automatically carry out corrections for himself but report to his commander what corrections he has made. For example if he goes down and to the left he would report "RIGHT AND ADD" and carry on engaging.

When I have a regular tank crew we go out and practice spotting, that is getting the gun on the commander's target ASAP. The commander will spot a bush or other object and attempt to direct the gunner onto it as fast a possible. The gunner will fire the coax and the commander will then walk the gunner onto target with left/right short/long. Even after months of playing together its usefull to do this at the start of every day's play.

That is an older version of gunnery that is used occasionally thay harked back to the late 40's early 50's when tanks like Centurion had ranging guns fitted to get the fall of shot on target before firing the main armament, and works extremely well.

[Liquid_Cow]

Actually, that's exactly the purpose of the coax gun when it was first mounted, to assist the gunner with his firing solution. Of course, I'm just talking about using it as a training tool.

One other thought, you mentioned the MG gunner in the commander's hatch, it would be a lot more useful if that position was able to use binoculars and do some decent spotting. Or perhaps in the future the DEV's could give us a TUSK modification for the thanks, which mounts a CROWS on that hatch and puts a M2 50cal atop the main gun for increased coax firepower..

[ma21212]

what i noticed is that its really hard to play with strangers when your using a tank. you tell them "170 deg.! HAT USE YOUR HEAT!" but they ignore you and look a diffrent way and then bam you team just lost a tank. the only desent ppl to play with in a tank is ppl you know