The issue has been raised multiple times about the use of certain vehicles and weapons. The most recent discussion has been around the use of Light Anti-Tank (LAT) and Heavy Anti-Tank (HAT) weapons. Let me spend some time relating this topic with the Tactical Gamer Primer.
There are several things to consider here:
1) THE REALISM ARGUMENT. This is largely a topic on its own so I'll briefly make a few statements. The game engine has its limitations which restricts the developers from creating a fully realistic environment. We can argue for months on every feature being completely realistic or not. Every case will rarely, if ever, be satisfied. What we want to do is try to capture a majority of cases.
Example: The Reality Mod contains a mini-map that displays the current location of friendly units. This is not realistic. However, we're provided this feature to compensate for the lack of situational awareness that you cannot accomplish with the BFx engine on a 2D screen.
2) THE DEVELOPERS INTENT. It is not always possible to know or fully comprehend the developers intent with some of the game features. We're lucky in the case of the Reality Mod to have open forums and inside connections with the developers themselves to shed light on many of these issues.
3) THE ENVIRONMENT WE'RE SIMULATING. This largely falls on the shoulders of the Tactical Gamer Primer and ties closely with the developers intent. One of our goals at Tactical Gamer is to simulate the environment we're given. In the case of the Reality Mod we're simulating a war between factions using modern day weapons and vehicles.
Every player on a Tactical Gamer server should make every attempt to understand these things to facilitate their judgment and actions when playing. Let me cover an example to help players better understand.
Mobile Anti-Aircraft
The intended purpose of this vehicle is to harass and destroy aircraft. When an aircraft is in the vicinity, this vehicle should be focusing on that target. However, there may be situations where there is no aircraft to target but plenty of infantry units within range. This vehicle may adjust and begin attacking these infantry units. While infantry may not be the primary target, this type of use is possible.
Where the use of Mobile AA against Infantry becomes a problem is a) when there are aircraft within range that this vehicle should be tarteting, and b) when the player / drive utilizes this vehicle with the sole intent of attacking infantry units, neglecting the primary use against aircraft.
Players should be positioning this vehicle to focus on the primary targets.
Light Anti-Tank (LAT)
On to the topic of the Anti-Tank kit. I'll start off by first discussing LAT. The primary targets for this weapon consist of lightly armored vehicles like the Humvee. I don't believe there is a question of use here.
The questions begin to circulate when it comes to the LAT use against infantry. This is a large grey area and very much situational-based. The use of LAT against infantry does happen in the real world. It's how and when that is not always correctly reflected with our use in-game.
A common use for LAT is as a bunker-buster when rifle fire does not suffice. This use isn't necessarily based on the number of infantry units, rather how the infantry unit(s) are entrenched and what objects are nearby for the projectile to hit and cause collateral damage. If we can remember this, hopefully our use of LAT against infantry will better simulate the environment.
Examples of CORRECT use:
a) The enemy infantry unit(s) are defending within a bunker. The LAT is a valid weapon to fire into the bunker to cause damage to the maximum number of targets.
b) The enemy infantry unit(s) are hiding behind an option like a barrel, tree, or wall opening. The LAT is a valid weapon that is intended to destroy the object providing cover and cause collateral damage to the enemy.
c) The enemy infantry unit(s) are moving along a wall, however they are not behind any objects as cover. This particular example allows for the use of LAT or rifle fire.
Hopefully we can see the commonality of those examples. The enemy unit(s) are entrenched with solid objects nearby for the projectile to hit.
What we don't see in those examples are the LAT projectiles directly impacting the enemy unit or targeting units not entrenched near some solid object. We should not be targeting infantry units directly in the open field at close to medium range.
I mention close to medium range purposefully. Long range LAT use against stationary infantry in an open area is a different situation that many call this AT SNIPING. Let's define "long-range" as a distance that rifle fire can not easily take down a target. In this situation the player must use their best judgment. If a target is off in the distance and not reachable by normal rifle fire, then they may switch to the next best feasible weapon at their disposal. The LAT kit can be properly used here.
EDIT for clarification: Using the LAT at long range still requires some object to be targeting. Using in the open field probably isn't the proper use, however if the enemy infantry unit(s) is on a mountain side, the mountain will provide the solid backdrop.
Heavy Anti-Tank (HAT)
The primary purpose of the HAT is for use against heavily armored vehicles (e.g. tank, APC). These kits / projectiles are considerably more expensive and less available than their LAT counterpart. Players carrying the HAT should focus solely on vehicles.
I hope that this clears up the question on vehicle / weapon use for most players, especially that of the LAT and HAT.
Some may ask why this is not a hard and fast rule. One of the reasons that this is not a rule is because we want to keep a short list of clear and concise rules. What I've described here is very much situational-based and the players intentions and use is not always clear.
Should we see a player misusing a vehicle or weapon, our first step is to educate them on the reason why we feel they are using it incorrectly and what the correct use is. Should this behavior not change, an admin may take action to remove them from the server. We do want players to attempt to simulate the environment the game provides.
Re: Intended use of vehicles & weapons
|TG-6th|Ferris Bueller
|TG-6th|Skud
