Originally Posted by CutterJohn
That said, the tanks should have far less infantry gibbing ammo. 30 or 50 rounds, instead of 300+, so that they are more selective and actually use the coax(also all gunners should have a good coax), and infantry could use a better short range AV. The deci had way too little damage potential for how much room it took, and really didn't have that great of a dps advantage either.
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I can agree with that point certainly. Using modern tanks as an example, most don't even have the option for high explosive or fragmentation ammunition anymore (that was one reason the M1 Abrams initially had a 105mm gun versus a 120mm) because their entire load is designed for killing tanks and other armored fighting vehicles (APCs, self-propelled artillery, etc). The role of infantry suppression is mostly confined to coaxial and roof-top machine guns and/or the infantry and APCs/ IFVs who accompany them. This way tanks might actually be used to *gasp* fight other tanks and/or "hardened" defenses instead of spamming shells through open doors. I always loathed that part of defending or attacking a tower or door that opened to the outside. Not only did it feel like it was circumventing part of the design of the bases, but it also was miserable in that half the time the attackers own tanks would kill more of their breaching team than the defenders would.
Personally I would think something where each tank had a high AV/ low AI value main armament (like the Magriders main gun) with minimal splash plus a coaxial AI weapon and an additional fixed-forward driver controlled or independent commander/ secondary gunner AI weapon. Plus of course the usual grenade dispensers that are standard on modern tanks.... even if it's just a mix of fragmentation and/or jammers. SOMETHING to drive off the annoying pests who jump on a tank (and attack it with a knife) or hug the sides and you can't just smush them against the closest tree or wall or swat them off with the gun barrel (or poke your rifle out the hatch and ventilate their brains).
I can also agree to the need for better (and more diverse) infantry-portable AV weapons. Something like the Carl Gustav used in the US military (aka. a one-shot and reload/ throw away weapon packing the AV power of 2-3 Deci shots with a much faster projectile). Also some satchel charges or magnetic mines would be great. In actual war one of the tankers worst nightmares was to be ordered (sans infantry support) into a city, dense forest, or other area that provided lots of places for enemy sappers to hide then jump out as the tanks passed to attach satchel charges and anti-tank mines before jumping back out of sight. In Planetside (at least while I was playing), there simply wasn't any sort of explosive that could be attached or "ride" on an enemy vehicle, much less do enough damage seriously damage or destroy an MBT. Some things like that would encourage cooperation between vehicles and infantry; the vehicles need the infantry to clear out the enemy anti-armor ambushes, and the infantry need the vehicles for transport and heavy direct fire.