importance of tank HMG gunner

[Meza82]

as an experienced PR tank driver and gunner, i believe that all MBTs (main battle tanks) should ALWAYS be fully crewed with driver, main gunner, and HMG gunner(heavy machine gun gunner -the .50 cal or the MEC tank's 12.7mm Kord). i remember many times playing as or with an HMG gunner and saving our tank against a HMMV TOW, spotting enemy APCs, Big Red flanking, and other threats.

but almost always in pubs when i join a tank squad, the leader seldomly feels it is important to have a fully crewed tank with a present HMG gunner on the .50 or 12.7mm. ill tell them over voip that a HMG gunner would very useful but other tank squad leaders often disagree.

so for tanks -to HMG or not?

[arjan]

I dont really see them important, I always drive the tank and act as the gunner too kinda.
i always tell him what to cover and listen to the drivers order, wich in my opinion works best.
I always swing around and check everything with my camera while the gunner always covers the front 190 degrees
(untill i need to turn or something)

becouse most of the time ill face enemies with front armor anyway so the gunner is ready instantly to shoot at them simply becouse i turn towards them, and my gunner knows it.

[xxkillerxx69]

its always good to have 3 eyes

[J.Burton[EEF]]

people on top die to easily, far too many times have i had a guy on the 50 and we've been hit by something and he's instantly dead. May as well save the ticket and not have him on board.

[Rudd]

if we had 110 players on a server, yes. the 50 would be used and it certainly helps the tank.

but, there are abouts 4 or 5 tanks spawning at the start of the round on Kashan. thats 8-10 men to crew minimally.

12-15, and you start eating in to the personel for th infantry squads, which leaves your team with deficient capping capability.

Also, atm 50cal gunners cannot use binos etc, making him useless in long range engagements. Really we should just shove RWS/CROWs on top of the tanks for a 3rd gunner

also now, only crewmen can crew 50cals on tanks. Which sucks bigtime gameplay wise, since the guy isn't useful most of the time, only if the enemy manage to sneak up on you, or you are suppressing, rather than destroying a contact. (e.g. on the bunkers in Kashan, firing at the door to keep them inside)

[Psyrus]

;1123223']people on top die to easily, far too many times have i had a guy on the 50 and we've been hit by something and he's instantly dead. May as well save the ticket and not have him on board.

My feelings exactly. I always get pinged in the .50 seat, I'd rather follow in a logi truck and drop repairs than die pointlessly

[DankE_SPB]

its a must at al basrah on chally 2 and not really needed on big combined arms maps

its always good to have 3 eyes

ZOMG

[ralfidude]

its always good to have 3 eyes

No, having 3 eyes is odd, weird, and defective.

However having 3 Pairs of eyes is an advantage.


As far an im concerned, a 50 cal gunner is a good idea as long as hes not being annoying by looking at the same direction the driver and gunner is looking at, and as long as he doesnt fire off his turret at everything that moves, or looks like a threat.

Al Basrah for example has one tank, no more respawns. Do it right on that map. Have ur 50 cal, but also get the scimitar in ur squad for rear support. Its not like the scimmi has any transport capabilities.

[J.Burton[EEF]]

6 eyes** unless one person has 2, another has 1 and the third has none, or they all have 1 eye each.

[ralfidude]

lol at three consecutive disses in a row. (Sorry killer)

[Tim270]

Only on combined arms maps (not the mod) are they useful, especially in the forests of Kozelsk. But as Rudd said, there is little point in taking it now as you have to be a crewman.

[Meow]

Id say a 50 gunner is a must in Basrah and recommended in Kozelsk. Everywhere else its a waste of manpower.

[xxkillerxx69]

lol at three consecutive disses in a row. (Sorry killer)

well it is a must on al basrah on kashan I don't ever have a hmg gunner the challengers turret turns so F**king slow its ridiculous.

[DesmoLocke]

I can agree with having a .50 gunner on maps with a small number of tanks. But with only 64 players, it is not wise to have .50 gunners on Kashan. Now, if the player cap was increased, it is a different story.

(I sometimes dream of one man operated tanks. 6 tanks in one squad. 12 tanks to a team. Whoa!)

[badmojo420]

(I sometimes dream of one man operated tanks. 6 tanks in one squad. 12 tanks to a team. Whoa!)

With the delay in voip, and the delay in working with another random human being, one manned tanks might better represent a real world tank crews ability to work as one. Although, a well trained tank crew using mumble is another story. But, the tournaments don't run 24/7, 365days a year.


On topic...
I don't really agree with the whole 'save 1 ticket, we only have 32 players' thing. First of all your driving around in something that represents 10 players. And second, that extra 50cal gunner could mean the difference between losing that tank and not losing it. If he does nothing other than warn you about a circling A10 once in the round, he was valuable.

When i started playing PR, at first i didn't drive or gun in tanks, because i wasn't expirenced and didn't feel good enough. But, I used to join tank squads anyway, wanting to be a 50cal gunner. But i was told by the squad leader, many times to get into another tank and gun, or drive. I became quiet good at doing both jobs. I would say out of 50 rounds of being in tank squads, i've only manned a 50 once or twice. Which is sad since that is originally what drew me to tank squads.

[jim1994]

I used to be a .50 gunner for the Challenger in Al Basrah on Battlearena sometimes.
Saved the tanks arse about 5 times in one round and spotted enemies many times for the gunner.

.50 Cal Gunner for AL Basrah is a 100% must.

[mat552]

No one has brought up that with two people in a tank, the driver can turn off the engine, sit in the .50 seat, and let the sound of the enemy tank engines warn you of an approaching engagement. I find this far more valuable than the itty bitty extra bit of firepower the .50 brings to an engagement.

Except on insurgency maps, where every extra gun cannot be stated enough.

[badmojo420]

Well that tactic still applies, the driver just needs to exit the vehicle and stand on top instead. And in most cases you wouldn't need the driver to turn off the engine. I can hear other vehicles over my owns tanks engine noise while manning the 50cal, but inside the tank you hear nothing either way. It's not the engine turning off that is the benefit, it's moving outside the armor.

And its not the firepower of the 50cal that is important, rather it's having a set of eyes and ears outside the tank looking around with a high rotation speed, and nothing to worry about except spotting enemies.

[octo-crab]

It depends on the map really. Kashan or Qingling then no cause at most they will get a kill or two from it.
Al Basrah absolutly YES!!! The .50 on the CR2 can take out bomb cars in a few shots and should in my opinion always watch the rear. This allows the driver(who should be the SL) to take the hunter role while the gunner does the killing.

[War-Saw-M249]

For Basrah, yes. There should be a fifty cal gunner on top. If its just me and my buddy and nobody will join the tank squad I'll just find an open spot and camp on the fifty myself. For stuff like Kashan, there probably wouldnt be a fifty cal gunner because you can only get two tanks in the squad, and you know people like to roll in tanks so if everybody would take a tank with a third man on top then it would take up squad space.