Armored Combat
In reply to CPT Joseph Miller (msg # 499):
RBS:
I wrote the following for Cork, but realized it really needed to be posted OOC so EVERYONE could read it. If your character is in this game, even though he may not be a tanker still needs to know how tanks work, so this should be read and at least vaguely understood by all.
Thank you.
ND
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OOC:
Even though the M1 was the first and most basic of tanks in the Abrams series, it is by far one of the top tanks in the world. It is a highly armored, highly computerized weapon that was designed to destroy massive amounts of enemy armor in a very short period of time.
The M1 has duplicate sights for the gunner and commander. So, since the Black Rhino is down to 3 people, Beth could either stay at the commander's station or go to the gunner's station to fire the main gun. However, if she is at the gunner's station, she must spend another combat round(5 sec) in addition to the combat round it will take her to get at the .50 if she is 'buttoned up'.
As you are going into combat, I need to know what station Beth is at for purposes of determining whether she(or the other crewmembers) gets injured IF the tank is breached by hostile fire. Also, I need to know if she is buttoned up or not. Unbuttoned, she can see and command more easily but is exposed to hostile fire. Buttoned, she is safer, but suffers penalties to see targets, shoot the .50(it is still possible while buttoned IN THE M1), and effectively get a feel for the tactical situation, which translates in game terms to more difficult RCN rolls.
As for the commander of a tank issuing orders to the gunner during a firing sequence, these are 'simple'. :) 'Gunner, HEAT, T-55' means that the commander wants the gunner to target a vehicle, in this example a T-55, and aim while the loader loads a HEAT round. IF the gunner has a round loaded(your decision before combat takes place), a small box appears on both the commander's and gunner's sight.
What KIND of round is NOT displayed, and the gunner goes off of the last command he was given. So, if an hour ago you told the gunner to load a APFSDS round(Armor Piercing, Fin Stabilized, Discarding Sabot, or 'Sabot' for short), and the crew were jumped by an enemy tank, the gunner doesn't have to wait to fire. It happens instantly, although the round fired is the last one loaded, of course.
If a HEAT round was loaded, and the same enemy tank got the drop on our heros, the commander saying, "Gunner, Sabot, tank" would mean that the commander wanted the loader to UNload the HEAT round and load a sabot round. To do this, he must activate a mechanical control, called a breech block, to unlock the round from the breech in order to remove the round. As you can imagine, with practice a loader can get good but this would be time consuming and in an armor battle, seconds count. So, you can see HOW IMPORTANT the words are when used in a combat firing sequence.
Once the shell is loaded, the loader says 'Up', reaches over near the left side of the breech, and flips a switch making the little 'box' display on the sights. Even though the little hollow box appears on the gunner/commander sights indicating that a round has been loaded, the loader says 'Up' in the odd chance that the system isn't working. Also, the M1 is equipped with manual sights, more like an old Soviet tank, just in case the modern sighting system is damaged in combat. So, you can see how the loader saying 'up' would still be necessary.
After the gunner and commander hear 'up', the commander at this point can still order 'cease fire', but if the threat is active orders 'fire'. Please note: THE GUNNER WAITS FOR A COMMAND BEFORE FIRING EVEN AFTER HE HEARS 'UP'. This way, a commander can order a cease fire in case the wrong tank is targeted. If the commander orders 'Fire', the gunner says 'On the way', indicating that he depressed the firing trigger(s). If there is a problem with the cannon(it happens sometimes), the gunner declares, 'Misfire'.
In the case of a misfire, the commander has two options. He can order the crew to abandon the tank if the shell has been ruptured or the breech mechanism is somehow damaged. If the shell is not ruptured and the breech mechanism is still operational, he can order 'Master Blaster'. In that case, all the crew members yell out 'MASTER BLASTER' to ensure that the gunner heard this command.
The 'Master Blaster' is in fact a manual backup to the cannon's firing system. Think of it as the hammer on an Old West pistol. The Master Blaster is rarely used, but allows a heavily battle-damaged tank, or just a tank with electrical problems(which as one can imagine can happen with that big 105mm cannon going off several times a second) to stay in the fight and fire the main gun.
Once the cannon goes off, the breech comes back 279mm, or about 11 inches, the shell disintegrates upon firing and is ejected as gas by the fume extractor, ensuring that the crew doesn't suffocate on the 105mm round's propellant charge. Once the loader declares 'Up'(back before the tank fires), he puts his back against the bulkhead (facing the rear of the turret), crosses his arms over his chest in an 'X', and waits for the shot.
After the shot, and the travel of the breech, the loader is free to grab another shell from the ammo bussle. To do this, he uses his knee to open a pair of armored doors located at the rear of the turret. He reaches in, grabs the appropriate round, steps towards the breech moving away from the knee switch. This causes the doors to close, as they are designed to do in order to protect the crew in case a hit destroys the ammo. Special panels direct the blast up and away from the turret, which is why the crew want that ammo bussle door open for the smallest period of time possible.
Of course, life isn't perfect, and combat doubly so. Cpt Gamble has gone down due to heat casualty, which leaves the Black Rhino a man short. However, all these characters have been properly trained and would STILL use the fire commands. They are trained to do this IN CASE one goes down and the gunner becomes commander, loader becomes gunner, etc.
So, what you have to decide is this:
1. Does Beth stay at the Commander's station?
2. If so, does she fire the gun, or does Pirro?
Once that is decided, this is what I need every time you fire the gun:
1. Is the tank moving or stationary?
2. What, if anything, is said between crew members?
3. What are you firing at(target), or are you ordering an NPC to fire at?
4. Do you spend a five second combat round to aim first before firing?
5. What kind of shell are you firing?
6. Roll to hit(copy-paste from RPOL die roller). Included should be what the firing character(PC or NPC) skill is being used and what they need to hit.
Of course, I realize this is a game and the combat posts should be THE MOST fun part of the game. If all of these rules seem tedious in the beginning, give them a chance. If after a few posts they still become monotonous, please let me know so we can do something to change that.
Everyone has different amounts of free time and therefore might want to sacrifice realism for brevity. I maintain that a person gets out of the game is what they put into it, and the more realistic we make the firing sequence, the more you will want to post, not less.
As with everything, feedback is the key.
ND
