3 Man Tank Crews

[Col Deadmarsh]

My Sherman M4A1 tank crew have managed to get 2 guys shot and are now down to 3 men: Driver, Loader, and Main Gunner.

 

I'm now concerned about their effectiveness going forward.

 

1) Will this effect their firing rate of the main gun on another tank?

2) Will they only fire the main gun or can either the main gunner or loader take over if they feel it's better to use the co-axial(?) instead of the main gun for infantry?

3) What other limitations/penalties will they incur because of their situation?

Edited April 24, 2015 by Colonel_Deadmarsh

[Kieme(ITA)]

Well, first of all a dead commander will greatly reduce the spotting ability. Not to mention the absence of a 5th pair of eyes. So, in my opinion, the first trouble you got there is that your tank will be a mole much more than usual.

 

Second, the turret people should be able to shoot the coaxial mg with no problem, the bow mg won't be used anymore I guess, so you can consider that asset lost.

 

It's in bad shape overall, I am pretty sure the remaining crew is not really ok in terms of motivation. All in all, I'd consider that sherman a lucky survivor but not a combat ready tank, your main problem is going to be your spotting ability.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Kieme(ITA)

[c3k]

^^^

The game does a GREAT job of simulating what the remaining crewmembers will do, and how well/poorly the tank will fight because of it. (Unbutton the tank to see what happens. Look at the wrench tab for the status of various weapons. (I =think= it updates based on manning.)) Kieme covered the specifics of your case.

[womble]

I think the silhouettes of your remaining crew will show what they're manning, or at least that they're manning vehicle weapons over their own smallarms. I'd expect the driver to have his small arms silhouette, anyone aiming the main gun to have a "shell" silhouette, and anyone on a machinegun to have that relevant silhouette. If the loader has taken over from the gunner, he might have either the MG silhouette or the shell one, depending on whether he's firing the coax or the main gun.

[John Kettler]

Colonel_Deadmarsh,

The position manning should now be: Gunner commands the tank and operates the cannon and coax; the Loader loads, and the Driver drives. This preserves minimum combat functionality. If this tank is from an AD which had two years of workup before entering battle, then it's conceivable your Gunner might have a considerable amount of cross training, but he might very well be like Robert Irwin, that guy who got only two weeks of gunnery training in the States before being shipped to the repple depple, then found abruptly found himself not only gunner, but in practically the lead tank for the 3rd AD as a major offensive began! Your Gunner is going to have to fight the tank (move, communicate and fire) and still handle the gunnery--all of it--personally. Thus, your theoretical ROF remains as before, but your practical ROF drops, because it now takes longer to scan the battlefield through pretty narrow FOV optics, find the target, select the ammo, issue the fire order, sense the round (muzzle blast obscuration the TC could see over may block your view of the round altogether), adjust and so forth. Imagine trying to run a platoon while in this fix! Nor, since the radio operator is gone, can I say what kind of radio capabilities your Gunner has. In terms of its fighting capabilities, your tank is significantly crippled and should, if possible, be pulled out of the fight or at least not in the thick of it. Circumstances may not permit this, but that is the way to go if you can. Think of it as not just trying to box while hobbled, but trying to control other boxers who aren't, while trying to avoid a haymaker headed your way. Possibly while also partially deaf. Other than the items listed, you'll be fine!

Regards,

John Kettler