What would you class a Magrider/Vanguard/Prowler?

[Onizuka-GTO]

Originally Posted by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank

Today most tanks are in the 'main battle tank' category. However, from the 1920s to 1940s there were widespread differences of doctrine about how tanks should be used in battle and what technical specifications designs should have. Some of the categories that arose are below.


Tankette

A tankette was a small tank, with a crew of 2 (there were prototypes with one-man crew). It usually had no turret, or if it did, it was traversed by hand. It was armed with 1 or 2 machineguns, or rarely with 20mm gun. The "classic" design was British Carden-Loyd Mk.VI Tankette - many others were modelled after it. Tankettes were produced between about 1930 and 1939, but ceased soon afterwards due to limited usefulness and extreme vulnerability.


Light Tank

These tanks were designed for speed and to be able to take on infantry and light vehicles. While very common at the start of World War II they were graudually relegated to use as scouts and to strike vulnerable areas. Some, like the Tetrarch were small enough to be air-lifted to the battlefield. Sometimes called a cavalry tank.


Medium Tank

Tanks with a good balance of firepower, mobility and protection. Able to engage infantry and also other tanks. German Panzer III, Panzer IV and Panther tanks were medium tanks of increasing sophistication and power, as were the American M3 Grant and M4 Sherman and Russian T-34.


Heavy Tank

Designed to attack obstacles, create breakthroughs and engage enemy armoured formations. Prominent World War II examples were the German Tiger and Russian Josef Stalin. They featured very heavy armour and guns. After World War II the heavy tank concept wasmerged into that of the main battle tank.


Assault Tank

A very heavily-armoured vehicle designed to directly attack heavy anti-tank emplacements, of limited tactical use otherwise. While the German Panzer IV was originally envisaged as something like this, World War II versions included the Sherman Jumbo, Sturmmoser Tiger and Churchill AVRE.




Cruiser Tank

Primarily restricted to Britain and the Commonwealth, cruiser tanks were designed to have moderate armor and fast speed. They were intended for maneuvers such as flanking the enemy.


Infantry Tank

The idea for this tank was developed during World War I by the British and French. The infantry tank was designed to be slow (moving at the same pace as running infantry) and heavily armored. Its main purpose would have been to clear the battlefield of obstacles, take out enemy soldiers, and protect the infantry on their advance through and into enemy lines.

The most developed infantry tanks were the Matildas of World War II. Their armour and anti-tank firepower was sufficient to take on German Panzer IIIs. However, their anti-infantry weaponry was often restricted to a machine-gun, with no high-explosive rounds for their main gun being available. Later British tanks were more akin to medium tanks.

Tank Destroyer

Used mainly in World War II, the tank-destroyer concept was used by German, British, American and Russian armed forces. In theory, tank-destroyer units (from platoon to battalion level) would be deployed alongside armored formations to destroy enemy armoured forces when encountered and act as fully mechanized anti-tank guns.

All tank destroyers were equipped with powerful guns. Early in the war tank destroyers tended to be lightly-armoured to ensure mobility but increasingly late in the war heavily-armoured models were produced, able to take on heavy tanks at all ranges.

In spite of the tank destroyers, most tank casualties in the War were inflicted by other tanks or anti-tank guns. After the War the concept of the tank destroyer was replaced by that of the main battle tank.

Obviously now the three empire specific "Main Battle Tanks" aren't in the same catagory at all.

What are they?

Lightening is definately a Light Tank,

But what is the Magrider?
What is the Prowler?
What is the Vanguard?

Personally, i think the magrider is a Tank Destroyer, Vanguard is a Heavy Tank and the Prowler is a Medium Tank.

[Rbstr]

i agree with you except i thing the Prowler is more of an infanty tank on steroids(slow heavy armor, better infanty killer than the van, but not as slow as infantry)

the lighting is a tanket on steroids as well(one man, light armor, but turret, and small cannon)

[Manitou]

I think you classified them pretty well, but I am not so comfortable with this definition of the Prowler:

Tanks with a good balance of firepower, mobility and protection. Able to engage infantry and also other tanks. German Panzer III, Panzer IV and Panther tanks were medium tanks of increasing sophistication and power, as were the American M3 Grant and M4 Sherman and Russian T-34.

I don't see the Prowler as being on par with the Panzer IVs, Panthers, nor the T-34s. Don't get me wrong, I love driving the Prowler, but it doesn't have the hitting power of these three specifically. I would probably define it more as an Infantry tank with a slightly buffed cannon.

[Majik]

Don't forget the games new Tank Destroyer, the Thunderer

[Rbstr]

not a tank, and the radier is good enough to take out a tank, you just have to actualy man one.

[Incompetent]

The MAG is a tank destroyer, the Vanguard is a Heavy tank, and the Prowler is closest to a medium tank.

[scarpas]

Originally Posted by Rbstr

not a tank, and the radier is good enough to take out a tank, you just have to actualy man one.

yes... it take out a tank if the tank doesnt have machineguns shooting the raider.

the raider cof gets about to the size of a mcg at full bloom if it is shot, so if you are gettin hit by any type of fast firing gun the raider will land about 1/14th of its shots, which therefore makes the raider almost useless.

[BlackHawk]

All 3 of the empire specific tanks are classified as Medium Tanks on the official PS website.

Otherwise, I would classify the Vanguard as a Heavy Tank, the Prowler as a lightly armored Assault Tank, and the MagRider as a Tank Destroyer.

[Onizuka-GTO]

mmmm...maybe they should of made all the tanks in the same type? cos when you can seperate them like that, you cant really compare them with each other, and you shouldn't expect them to clash head on.

[Lartnev]

Originally Posted by Manitou

I love driving the Prowler, but it doesn't have the hitting power of these three specifically.

Hitting power is a relative term (ie those featured tanks could probably kill another tank in one shot, none of the tanks in PS can kill another with one shot )

[Onizuka-GTO]

Originally Posted by Lartnev

Hitting power is a relative term (ie those featured tanks could probably kill another tank in one shot, none of the tanks in PS can kill another with one shot )

but only one main battle tank from ps can't kill infantry with one direct shot.

[Baneblade]

I think the empire traits concept is flawed in the concept.

In the real world (yes I know its damn game) nobody had some that the other side didnt have, even if it might have been inferior in a way.

The problem is the devs designed the game so that the three sides would never be equivalent...though they did attempt to have some of the field equal with Common Pool...

In my mind, all the heavy tanks or MBTs should be similar to the Vanguard. Obviously they should have some little quirks though.

One thing that I really didnt like is that it only takes 2 or 3 ppl to fully man the tanks in this game...

Should be a Commander, Driver, Gunner, and Machine Gunner...

It would be more fun imo to work with a fluid team of 4 in the same vehicle than just have 2 Vans assblasting everything that twitches...

=/

PS: Still think the Reaver should be a 2 person futurilzed Apache...like its designed after...

[Sputty]

MAgrider is a cruiser tank
Prowler is Infantry(sort of, it has low armor, but it's also slow, it's more of an infantry tank than anthing else)
Vanguard is Medium tank

[EarlyDawn]

Originally Posted by Sputty

MAgrider is a cruiser tank
Prowler is Infantry(sort of, it has low armor, but it's also slow, it's more of an infantry tank than anthing else)
Vanguard is Medium tank

I concur, with the exception of the Vanguard being a heavy tank IMO.

Mag is defenitely a cruiser, though. I guess it's technically a Medium / Cruiser hybrid above anything else.

[Lartnev]

Originally Posted by Onizuka-GTO

but only one main battle tank from ps can't kill infantry with one direct shot.

Ah quit whining

I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say, a WWII panzer was powerful because it could withstand and obliterate opposing tanks and infantry weapons in WWII. Against a modern Abrams or T80 it probably wouldn't have much of a chance.