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Are Tank secondary weapons ever used?


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Probably too busy pulling bits of shrapnel out of their faces.  :mellow:

Seriously, the crew are in a notorious fiery death-trap and something has just smashed straight through (IIRC) their second thickest armour.....Their priorities might not be exactly as you'd like after that.

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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So the .50 cal will only be used if the TC is unbuttoned. The hull MG should be independent and fire - seen it may times - even when the turret is pointed else where messing with a different target.

As @Vanir Ausf B is probably alluding to there is a damageable component called "weapon controls" (wpn ctrls or something) that when it gets the red X nothing can fire. Yes, it is a bit black or white - it's an abstraction...

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Thanks guys,

The target command *is* still usable.

I unbuttoned and the 50 cal still didn't fire. I sort of expected that it would otherwise I don't know how it would ever be used.

I don't know if the weapons controls has a red X. I will check when I get home tonight.

If it matters, I don't believe any of the crew is listed as a casualty.

It would be *great* to be able to specify weapons. The only way I know of to, sort of, do this is to "target light" which will make the tank use the coax MG to fire at a target and won't use the main gun. Huh, come to think of it, I'm not sure I tried "target light", maybe I'll try that and see if it will use either of the MGs.

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Ok, looked at it some more. I did have a casualty, the guy next to a machine gun. Doesn't appear to have a name. I have Commander, gunner, loader, driver. There is another guy who, apparently, doesn't have a title. Weird. Also, the weapon controls are out in the tank. So, even though the 50 cal would appear to not need any weapon control and be fired by the commander, Apparently you cannot do so.

 

Oh, and I cannot "Target light" only target. Very strange. A bug maybe?

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Sherman hull mg is 'spray-and-pray'. The radio man peers through his periscope and walks the rounds up to the target. Not the most accurate weapon. Depending on the Sherman type, if its a late war type with an AA pintle mount you'd need to rotate the tank around until the tail is facing the enemy, then unbutton him. If you attempt to 'target' the tank's likely to rotate backand the .50 will once again be out of its cone of fire.

Edited by MikeyD
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Ha, I'll have to try firing backwards with the 50 next and see what happens! :)  As for the hull MG, maybe it's the radio guy who was a casualty and that's why it won't fire. I don't really care if it's accurate, I'm just trying to figure out if I can use the Sherman for more than just ferrying infantry around.

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4 hours ago, joethejet said:

There is another guy who, apparently, doesn't have a title. Weird.

That'll be the radio operator/bow MG gunner (which would explain a lot).

4 hours ago, MikeyD said:

Depending on the Sherman type, if its a late war type with an AA pintle mount you'd need to rotate the tank around until the tail is facing the enemy, then unbutton him. If you attempt to 'target' the tank's likely to rotate backand the .50 will once again be out of its cone of fire.

That shouldn't be the case, on most Sherman's the TC can fire the .50cal (or other AAMG) into almost any arc (if he's brave enough to unbutton and use it).

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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The logic used for Target/Target Light is that Target uses all available weapons; Target Light only uses non-main weapon. (This is for vehicles.)

So, if the main weapon is destroyed...the NEXT weapon moves up. Sigh. In this case it's the Bow Machine Gun. So, since there are no non-main weapons, there is no Target Light command.

Don't ask me why.

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11 hours ago, c3k said:

The logic used for Target/Target Light is that Target uses all available weapons; Target Light only uses non-main weapon. (This is for vehicles.)

So, if the main weapon is destroyed...the NEXT weapon moves up. Sigh. In this case it's the Bow Machine Gun. So, since there are no non-main weapons, there is no Target Light command.

Don't ask me why.

So, that's probably the reason that the 50 cal also won't fire? I did test that late last night to see if it would fire backwards, but it doesn't nor did the tank or turret rotate that direction.

Sgt, the reason he is "brave enough" is because the battle moved on from where he is still sitting while I try to figure out if there is anything useful I can have him do!

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18 hours ago, c3k said:

The logic used for Target/Target Light is that Target uses all available weapons; Target Light only uses non-main weapon. (This is for vehicles.)

So, if the main weapon is destroyed...the NEXT weapon moves up. Sigh. In this case it's the Bow Machine Gun. So, since there are no non-main weapons, there is no Target Light command.

Don't ask me why.

wait I thought your secondary weapon was the tank itself- grind em under the tracks.

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I just happened to come into possession of a T-34 with main cannon, coaxial machine gun and weapon controls knocked out but a functional hull machine gun. When I give it a Target order the hull machine gun fires. The tank does have all 5 crew members.

Edited by Vanir Ausf B
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18 hours ago, joethejet said:

Sgt, the reason he is "brave enough" is because the battle moved on from where he is still sitting while I try to figure out if there is anything useful I can have him do!

There is something useful they can do.
Dismount, and use them as medics until they get some extra weapons.

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17 hours ago, c3k said:

50 cal AA mounts which are behind the TC hatch can be tough to use. I forget what parameters need to be met to have them fire.

This is a misconception, the MG is usually stowed behind the hatch to keep it out of the way, but the whole cupola that it's mounted on can rotate to allow the commander to fire it from his hatch into any aspect of the tank.

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48 minutes ago, joethejet said:

How does that work? I know how to dismount, do they just follow along with some infantry and help that way? And then they'll pick up weapons?

From page 63 of the 4.0 Engine Manual. 

Any infantry soldier is capable of providing first aid on the battlefield (so called “buddy aid”) to nearby wounded friendly soldiers.There is no Command for this action, rather it happens automatically when a friendly soldier (regardless if he is from the same squad or not) is moved close to the location of an incapacitated comrade. Depending on the situation (incoming fire etc.) the soldier may decide to treat the wounded man. The word “medic” is displayed in the status field. The player can abort the treatment at any time by giving the parent unit that the medic belongs to any kind of Command. The medic may decide to abort the treatment himself as well if there is significant incoming fire. Additionally, troops will never perform buddy aid if there is a spotted (healthy) enemy within 100m.

The below thread has a discussion about Buddy Aid to include scoring. 

 

@rocketman also had an interesting thread, that in part, discussed the amount of equipment that can be recovered.  I had no idea it was so much. 

 

 

 

 

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