05-02-2016, 06:00 PM
Alright, so I said in the debriefing thread that commanding armor in Arma tends to be boring, or let's say, not really fulfilling its purpose. The question as to why that is is easily answered - we are afraid to use it. Why? Because it breaks so easily.
So why is that the case, and what can we do against it?
Well, one thing is certainly RHS' armor system. That might actually make tanks more sturdy. But still, vehicles like the BRDM-2 or even an LAV-25 aren't that heavily armored and a single tandem warhead will take them out. So how to fix this?
Let's first look at (what I think) are the major issues with rocket/missile launchers and Arma 3:
About 2): Some firearms take more time to reload than most of the launchers. My only real-life experience with anti-tank weapons is the MAAWS/Carl Gustav launcher. You typically carry two shots for it, and a team consists of two guys (gunner and loader). The rocket is inserted from the rear after opening the breach. You need to remove the safety from the rocket before you put it in. You are VERY very careful when inserting it since you don't want to drop the damn thing. You close the breach, and tap the gunners shoulder. All in all it takes seconds (see here https://youtu.be/U2CXy4NBEtU?t=155), not the way that it is in Arma, where a single guy reloads a large rocket launcher in two seconds.
About 3: This isn't the major issue, but CUP will have disposable launchers in the future as well.
About 4: Backblast is a major issue with any modern rocket launcher. You still feel the backblast of a Carl Gustav even at half a kilometer away. It will feel like a gentle breeze then, but you still FEEL it. a SMAW backblast will outright kill you at up to (IIRC) 20 meters. Safety precautions also reduce the amount of fire a single missile solider can put on the enemy.
Secondly, the issue with the groups in Arma 3 is that almost all of them are brimming with AT capabilities. Whereas in reality a typical fire team has at most an M136 launcher with a single shot, an AT solider with a Titan or at least NLAW and two to three (or more) rockets is the norm in Arma 3. In reality, hardly any squad has offensive firepower against heavily armored targets, and there are dedicated anti-armor teams for that purpose. It also means that we, as players, find way too much AT lying around.
So, what can be done? Well the first thing would be for BIS to fix some of the issues, but that is not likely to happen. Reloading a launcher should play a realistic anim (incidentally, Kudos for the much hated Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising for having realistic reload anims for their weapons). Putting a delay between targeting and shot to clear backblast, maybe even looking for AI behind the shooter and having them move out of the way (can be scripted too) would be an uption. Adding backblast would be an option.
However, what we as mission makers should start doing is:
What do you think?
So why is that the case, and what can we do against it?
Well, one thing is certainly RHS' armor system. That might actually make tanks more sturdy. But still, vehicles like the BRDM-2 or even an LAV-25 aren't that heavily armored and a single tandem warhead will take them out. So how to fix this?
Let's first look at (what I think) are the major issues with rocket/missile launchers and Arma 3:
- At least in Vanilla, the rocket soldiers carry a ridiculous amount of rounds.
- Reloading a launcher is WAY too fast
- Some launchers are disposable in reality but not in game.
- No backblast
About 2): Some firearms take more time to reload than most of the launchers. My only real-life experience with anti-tank weapons is the MAAWS/Carl Gustav launcher. You typically carry two shots for it, and a team consists of two guys (gunner and loader). The rocket is inserted from the rear after opening the breach. You need to remove the safety from the rocket before you put it in. You are VERY very careful when inserting it since you don't want to drop the damn thing. You close the breach, and tap the gunners shoulder. All in all it takes seconds (see here https://youtu.be/U2CXy4NBEtU?t=155), not the way that it is in Arma, where a single guy reloads a large rocket launcher in two seconds.
About 3: This isn't the major issue, but CUP will have disposable launchers in the future as well.
About 4: Backblast is a major issue with any modern rocket launcher. You still feel the backblast of a Carl Gustav even at half a kilometer away. It will feel like a gentle breeze then, but you still FEEL it. a SMAW backblast will outright kill you at up to (IIRC) 20 meters. Safety precautions also reduce the amount of fire a single missile solider can put on the enemy.
Secondly, the issue with the groups in Arma 3 is that almost all of them are brimming with AT capabilities. Whereas in reality a typical fire team has at most an M136 launcher with a single shot, an AT solider with a Titan or at least NLAW and two to three (or more) rockets is the norm in Arma 3. In reality, hardly any squad has offensive firepower against heavily armored targets, and there are dedicated anti-armor teams for that purpose. It also means that we, as players, find way too much AT lying around.
So, what can be done? Well the first thing would be for BIS to fix some of the issues, but that is not likely to happen. Reloading a launcher should play a realistic anim (incidentally, Kudos for the much hated Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising for having realistic reload anims for their weapons). Putting a delay between targeting and shot to clear backblast, maybe even looking for AI behind the shooter and having them move out of the way (can be scripted too) would be an uption. Adding backblast would be an option.
However, what we as mission makers should start doing is:
- Remove ammo from AT gunner. They carry way too much (exception is the RPG-7, which usually has pretty small rockets). A Titan should have one damn missile and nothing else. I am not sure if the AI will go to ammo bearers to resupply, if they do, that would rectify some of the issues.
- Remove AT gunners from groups. Use more realistic teams were only a couple of specialist groups have actual heavy AT. Unfortunately, vanilla Arma does not have any unguided AT for NATO.
What do you think?