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Tactics Why do ppl open hatch to view in combat?

Guys, in order to get pop up, take a 360* look, and get back down, it takes about 1 second, maybe 1.5.

If you know a clown car is near you (or the UC now) just use the slots in the turret. If you are far enough away from, well, everything, unbutton.

Don't criticize people for the way that they play. The same guy that just got shot out of his turret may be the guy who ends up spotting a Stug coming in fast on your left flank and saves your worthless ass, because he was unbuttoned.


This thread is pointless. It's like saying "Why do ppl stand up to run in combat?"

Sure, you get there faster, but you expose your head more.


God. This is pointless. Just drop it. Please.
 
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Guys, in order to get pop up, take a 360* look, and get back down, it takes about 1 second, maybe 1.5.

If you know a clown car is near you (or the UC now) just use the slots in the turret. If you are far enough away from, well, everything, unbutton.

Don't criticize people for the way that they play. The same guy that just got shot out of his turret may be the guy who ends up spotting a Stug coming in fast on your left flank and saves your worthless ass, because he was unbuttoned.


This thread is pointless. It's like saying "Why do ppl stand up to run in combat?"

Sure, you get there faster, but you expose your head more.


God. This is pointless. Just drop it. Please.

If he had a cupola he always had a supply of fresh air. :p
 
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This thread is pointless. It's like saying "Why do ppl stand up to run in combat?"

Sure, you get there faster, but you expose your head more.


God. This is pointless. Just drop it. Please.

Its different. A tank is impossible to kill with a gun, and infantry gets killed by everything. If you open the hatch, you will be killed like anybody else. Plus, its harder hitting infantry than a tank. Theres a difference between a gigantic fortress, and a tiny man.

If you hate this thread, don't post in it, simple as that.
 
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1. Peeking out would look a hell of a lot more silly to me.
2. Too Long?! Too short for me! Ducking down, closeing and locking the hatch and then operateing the sights has to take up some time!
3. If both tanks have equal reload times then the first to shoot will also be the first to get the 2nd shot as well. If that fails he will also get the 3rd shot first if he doesnt cock up and miss. It is a HUGE disadvantage be be seen first.

For your #2 rebuke, tanks had gunners and commanders, he's saying that you should simply switch jobs, not have to do all of the above =D.
 
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I have palyed since last May

I have palyed since last May

I have always driven around with my diver hatch open - hundreds of times and have only been shot by a machinegun ONCE! Of course I can chew gum and walk too, and I can blow my own nose, and I suppose I ain't stupid. Maybe I just pay attention and know where danger points are and where they are not. I am not very bot-like in nature I suppose. I shut the hatches when moving into high risk zones - but that is only a very small section of any map. Often I run into battle with an open hatch cause I quickly judge how talented my foe is and how far I can go with him and still get away with it.

However I have killed a lot of other tankers who stuck their heads out. Its my favorite sport after I run out of panzerfausts. Why is that? Why do I kill so many and yet never get killed doing the same. Beats me. I also speed in my car and yet have not had a speeding ticket since 1976.
 
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old thread revisit. . . .

old thread revisit. . . .

This thread has pretty much run its course.
But, if I could offer one anecdote about buttoning up from a WWII vet:

My great uncle (I'm sure you've heard me talk about him elsewhere) was a Sherman commander in 1944/45. He always stayed buttoned up, and says he only poked his head out when he was assured that there were no enemy infantry or other threats nearby. They relied on nearby infantry or fellow tanks to alert them to possible threats. This got him through some horrific firefights in the Normandy breakout, the race for Trier, and Bastogne.

In the Spring of 1945, his mech-tank CA team was pushing deep into Bavaria, enroute to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It was a beautiful April day, and the war was essentially over. Most resistance had collapsed, and now it was a race for the spoils.
Along a hilly country road, he was in the open hatch and heard 81mm mortars firing in the distance. He figured that there was no way some ill-trained volkssturm could hit him, even though it was standard to close the hatch when indirect fire was likely.
He figured wrong.
The first round exploded directly overhead, slamming the hatch shut, with his head caught in the middle..

He woke up a month later in a hospital, with half of his skull replaced with a steel plate, and the war well over.
"My own damn fault for being stupid," he would say. "When in doubt, button up!"
 
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It really is'nt possible to come up with a single rule for fighting a tank buttoned or un-buttoned. In Orel, Black Day July etc there are plenty of open areas where infantry have difficulty hiding and sticking your head out of the turret really does help situational awareness and reaction time. In built up or wooded areas working with infantry is the best tactic and they can alert you to threats from blind spots and its best to stay buttoned up.
 
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Using the tank!

Using the tank!

It is possible that this has already been said, I did not read all 4 pages of posts ... just most of the first and last, but it seems to me that most people assume that the tank should be dangerously close to the action (on mixed maps) and so unbuttoning may be a problem. For the most part on maps like Koningsplatz and Hedgehog it is important to remember that the tanks should be used to support the assault (or defense) without leading it. The Tiger and the IS2 should almost never be in the contested cap zone, you may as well blow it up your self. These tanks have the advantage of range USE IT!

The Tiger can defend the monument or PlatzWest from the left of the Sieg or even PlatzEast and the IS2 can support the assault from the right from the right side of the monument. In this way it is highly unlikely that infantry or even a tank MG can shoot a tanker out of the hatch.

In both cases it is much better for the commander to be looking for targets with his binocs ranther than the turret because moving the turret to a target takes longer than scrolling the mouse to get into the gun ... DON'T LOOK WITH THE GUN > YOU WILL GET KILLED

Anyone who wants to see this done well can go to the [sn][per] group server on a Wednesday between 10am and 2pm (eastern US time) and see me and my pal Turkmanbashi use the Tiger to perfection. Granted sometimes we have bad days and the Russians have good days but all together using the binocs in combination with the range of the weapon is essential to success.

In real life, as we have read the testomony of a WWII vet, the above is not the case. The real battlefield is much more fluid than RO and I would practically have lived in my Sherman too.

We should patition the creators to add a mortar man to the game! I'll make a new thread to tell you what I mean.

----Lowman
 
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I'de just like to add that the time you should spend not buttoned up is inversely propotional to the speed of your turret (yah, try staying in the tiger). This is one of the reasons I like the panther over the tiger. You need the 360 view in the stug anyway... and if you're in the russkie tank destroyer you're going to be shot anyway.

It's a risk/reward situation. If you see someone running around your tank with an smg, you're going to stay buttoned up and try and squish some bugs, but if the closest opponent is a tank hiding in a treeline, you'll want the visibility.
 
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If you open the hatch, you will be killed like anybody else. Plus, its harder hitting infantry than a tank.

And if you don' topen it you will be killed by solider in the bush with a panzerfaust or another tank.

Catch 22.

It is really a matter of where you are and the enemey is.

If you are pretty far away form the enemey keep the hatch open. Chances are you'll see him before he sees you and you can take him out at a distance or move to a better position if you happen to be up a against a tank with better range and armor than you.

If you are close the enemey or driving into area with a great deal of cover like a town where there is plenty of convient hiding places, then avoid unbuttoning. Of course you are less likley to see a hidden soldier with an AT weapon hiding in a window though.

In reality, tanks should avoid areas like this all together without some type of infantry support. Infantry should always go in first into these areas and then call for the tank when they discover the enemey is dug in (machine gun, sniper, or another tank).

That way your disadvatages are offset and you can advance without any type of ambush.

Personally, I try to get as much distance from me from the enemey with the hatch unbuttoned since this also helps not running over your own team mates, but if I am going to do a suicidal charge or I see traces or shells in my direction I button up.
 
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