"out of fuel - become a pillbox. out of ammunition - become a bunker. out of time - become a hero"
It's funny - I've read any number of books, made model kits and seen tank movies (like "Beast Of War", which I heartily recommend to anyone that's not seen it) and also had plenty of encounters in BF2 and SF as an anti-tank fighter, but it's only recently that I've started having proper tank vs tank duels.
Up til now, I've been using tanks wrongly and selfishly - as a means to getting me to a flag or as an emplacement to get easy kills from the turret machine gun. Normal procedure has been to jump in, press "c" to change the view until it's the overhead, then go off and get me some points. Tut, tut. I had to read in black and white that my responsibility as a tankist was to take out other tanks first.
Well, now and I've had my first encounter that I'm actually proud of.
I've brewed up other tanks with my tank, sometimes using the crest of a hill, sometimes buildings. Slowly I've been getting my head around driving one way and pointing the turret the other. I also read the FAQ here and was encouraged by the bit that said the driver MG is very accurate - it sure is!
Most of the tank vs tank encounters have not been head on, so have finished very quickly in that one of us has the front-facing advantage, or perhaps the other tank (or mine) started on less health.
But this still leaves tonight's encounter - tank vs tank, both head on, both full health, flat ground. Whaddya do?
Strike 1
I picked up a US tank on south island of Wake and headed past the beach and on to the airport, where I first spotted the Chinese tank - stationary and facing me as I came through the towers. Then came that fraction of a second where you either hesitate or decide, and if you survive the think time, do what you decide. During this time we traded shots which both hit.
Strike 2
As I was playing as an Engineer (another great tip from the FAQ) I had the option of pulling back and repairing. But I was going for my silver and was on 15 kills, and the tickets were running out, so the decision I made was - ram. Sometime during the time it took me to drive straight at this guy, we both fired shot no.2 - again (I think) both hit, but you know what the damage is like if it's straight on - I was still in the white and he wasn't smoking.
Strike 3
I now rammed the Chinese tank straight on, having crossed the runway at full speed whilst firing. Whether it was because my suicide run was unexpected, because he had more damage than me or simple inexperience - or even panic - whatever it was, my opponent proceeded to exit his tank and - wait for it - lie down next to it. This I did not expect. SF jumping out and C4, perhaps. Anti-tank coup-de-grace? No. I don't know what class this guy was, but there he was, lying prone next to his tank. Surely he wasn't trying to fix it??
Bye Bye
It was an almost disappointing end to simply roll back a little and zap the guy with the driver MG. I now had a side view of his tank and dispatched it. By this stage, the wave of blue behind me had taken the airport flag so I powered on north, did a quick repair and promptly got brewed up myself in a less than memorable encounter shortly after - but I scored my silver badge only just in time - the Chinese re-occupied all of the Wake bases and the US spent the rest of the match trying to re-gain a foothold.
Anyone else got any tank vs tank memories?
It's funny - I've read any number of books, made model kits and seen tank movies (like "Beast Of War", which I heartily recommend to anyone that's not seen it) and also had plenty of encounters in BF2 and SF as an anti-tank fighter, but it's only recently that I've started having proper tank vs tank duels.
Up til now, I've been using tanks wrongly and selfishly - as a means to getting me to a flag or as an emplacement to get easy kills from the turret machine gun. Normal procedure has been to jump in, press "c" to change the view until it's the overhead, then go off and get me some points. Tut, tut. I had to read in black and white that my responsibility as a tankist was to take out other tanks first.
Well, now and I've had my first encounter that I'm actually proud of.
I've brewed up other tanks with my tank, sometimes using the crest of a hill, sometimes buildings. Slowly I've been getting my head around driving one way and pointing the turret the other. I also read the FAQ here and was encouraged by the bit that said the driver MG is very accurate - it sure is!
Most of the tank vs tank encounters have not been head on, so have finished very quickly in that one of us has the front-facing advantage, or perhaps the other tank (or mine) started on less health.
But this still leaves tonight's encounter - tank vs tank, both head on, both full health, flat ground. Whaddya do?
Strike 1
I picked up a US tank on south island of Wake and headed past the beach and on to the airport, where I first spotted the Chinese tank - stationary and facing me as I came through the towers. Then came that fraction of a second where you either hesitate or decide, and if you survive the think time, do what you decide. During this time we traded shots which both hit.
Strike 2
As I was playing as an Engineer (another great tip from the FAQ) I had the option of pulling back and repairing. But I was going for my silver and was on 15 kills, and the tickets were running out, so the decision I made was - ram. Sometime during the time it took me to drive straight at this guy, we both fired shot no.2 - again (I think) both hit, but you know what the damage is like if it's straight on - I was still in the white and he wasn't smoking.
Strike 3
I now rammed the Chinese tank straight on, having crossed the runway at full speed whilst firing. Whether it was because my suicide run was unexpected, because he had more damage than me or simple inexperience - or even panic - whatever it was, my opponent proceeded to exit his tank and - wait for it - lie down next to it. This I did not expect. SF jumping out and C4, perhaps. Anti-tank coup-de-grace? No. I don't know what class this guy was, but there he was, lying prone next to his tank. Surely he wasn't trying to fix it??
Bye Bye
It was an almost disappointing end to simply roll back a little and zap the guy with the driver MG. I now had a side view of his tank and dispatched it. By this stage, the wave of blue behind me had taken the airport flag so I powered on north, did a quick repair and promptly got brewed up myself in a less than memorable encounter shortly after - but I scored my silver badge only just in time - the Chinese re-occupied all of the Wake bases and the US spent the rest of the match trying to re-gain a foothold.
Anyone else got any tank vs tank memories?