How do AT guns track targets?

[Phoenix]

A buddy of mine pointed out something that I never thought of. How does an AT gun track a target that is moving perpendiular to it?

He made the comment while watching an AT gun smoothly rotate and aquire a target in CM.

From my hazy recollection of footage and photos, AT guns were not mounted on a platform that allowed the to smoothly traverse the gun to follow the target and then fire.

Didn't AT guns just have two wheels, and a couple of "legs" that stick out the back and into the dirt to brace the gun?

So the question is...wouldn't a unit have to "lift" the rear of the gun and traverse it?

Thanks for clarifying.

[This message has been edited by Phoenix (edited 12-22-2000).]

[Major Tom]

It isn't directly fixed to the carriage. If you look closely at AT and Artillery guns, you will notice some 'steering wheels' both horizontal and perpendicular. The perpendicular ones adjust the gun up and down, and the horizontal ones adjust it left and right. It doesn't mean that the gun can rotate in large degrees, but, this can result in a large enough movement to keep a tank targetted. Also, AT guns were designed to be light enough that the crew can rotate it fast enough. Everything in CM is abstracted and we don't get to see it all (just like there are more than 1 crewmembers for an AT gun yet we see only 1).

[Phoenix]

Ok, so then in CM is there a penalty of some sort for guns that have to traverse a large amount? It would seem that for an AT gun to travese a great deal that accuracy and readiness to fire would take a big hit.

[CATguy]

Actually I would suspect to see no penalty since there is plenty of room to manuever to fire and load the rifle unlike the cramped conditions of a tank and the limited visibility.