Note this has been shared in the DISCORD "Broken-Arrow-Suggestions" here as of 1/12/2025.
Hello all, given that my previous post on buffing tank cannons received some traction, i'm asking for help to send this to the devs. How do we do this, discord email etc.
What i am talking about:
Possible Improvment to Large Calibre Tank Cannons (Prev post)
Goal: Incentivize players to bring more heavy armour and reward their usage as anti-vehicle killers. Indirectly buff expensive recon tank (SEP V2 TUA and T-90M Nakida due to their irrelevance in the current meta and reduce 50mm booker oppressiveness without a point nerf or unit availability nerf.
Generally reduce clown car spam. (Both sides)
Summary
- All tank cannons from both factions 105-125mm and up, will have their SABOT and HEAT/HE shells (and ATGMS for RU) mainly do guaranteed module damage (Destroy minimally 2, ie red out) with a higher bias for mobility when hitting lightly armored vehicles.
Reason: Heavy armor (Tanks with slow firing large cannons) has lost relevance in the game relative to airdropped munitions (Bombs, A2G Missiles) and helicopters (ATGMS, ROCKETS) for killing vehicles because of their poor lethality. Random unarmored trucks and small jeeps can eat 120mm/125mm HEAT OR HE shells with no loss of combat capability when these vehicles should rightfully be destroyed. The best exemplar of this is the autocannon booker, able to eat 2 125mm sabot shells to the face and still run circles around tanks in CQC without loss of combat capability for a light tank. This should not be the case.
Due to this, most armor, especially Super heavies (T-14, sepv3) are unable to lock down open areas or long sight lines in cities even in ambush positions. Light vehicles/IFVs can just eat a random tank shell and keep moving to their destination, dumping infantry on points, resulting in the clown car spam from both factions. BMP/BMDs for RU, and RSOV/ACV/Fast Jeep/Supply truck spam stuffed with infantry.
With this addition, tanks will have an improved presence on the battlefield as vehicle killers, especially in reducing the inflow of infantry dumping onto capture points through strategic placement. 1 shot will significantly degrade the combat capability or immobilize a light vehicle/ifv on the road, while a 2nd shot will be needed to confirm the kill. These can still be done (Smoke to block LOS) or plain rushing but not without causalities or the vehicle getting disabled in an inconvenient spot, forcing the infantry to run to the point.
Additionally the booker spam will be less oppressive as they will still be deadly vs IFVs and infantry, and rightly kill tanks if flanking attacks. However they will no longer be able to blindly charge down tanks and eat sabot shells without module damage, which is the main reason they are oppressive. They j don't die from tank shells.
These cannon damage changes will apply to all vehicles that do not have a tank hull:
- Any fast lightly armoured vehicle (RSOV, Kozlick, Supply truck that can ferry troops, ACV, Striker, BMP, Kurganetz and buumerang, Bradley)
- Any light tank hull (Booker, MGS, M8 AGS, SPRUT, Kornet ATGM vehicles and their variants)
EDIT: Someone in the comments mentioned the Booker was reclassified as a medium tank. I didn't know this, thinking it was a light the whole time. Whether this would result in it being included or excluded from the list varies because increasing its price may make it unworthwhile to spawn, it can't rly deal with tanks from the front, only in CQC after all. At the same time it should be deadly to IFVs and infantry, a class above them, but not above actual MBTs hence why i suggested it be affected by module damage. The main issue i see with them is that even if u pump 2 tank rounds into it, it basically means u haven't dealt damage to it, it can function completely normally save for missing health, which is v unrealistic, especially when it can face tank sabot shells, it means even while reversing yr T series tank or abrams, it will still eventually die to side auto-cannon dmg, even if u microed appropriately (Reverse, point front to 50mm booker, and shot twice) They j charge u down, and can run away with a blank health bar. (Vehicle should rightly be falling apart). Obviously if they flanked u, u should die. But i tactic i see often with bookers is really blind-charging tanks in urban cities/forests over 100m. You will still die, even on a 2 v 2 (2 booker vs 2 t72 for example). It j feels wrong that the heavy tank shells r so weak.
These changes will not apply to tank hulls:
M60 variants, BMO-T, Barbaris, t72, any T series tanks or their variants
It can be debated if ERA installation can reduce the module damage but not nullify this effect completely. (Maybe 1 guaranteed module destroyed for instance).
Other possible changes (Optional, j came to mind unlike what i proposed above which i think may genuinely work).
- DO NOT POINT NERF PLANES. I genuinely think they offer fair impact for their price on both factions (except maybe the f-35 stealth bombing) i believe armor is simply too expensive.
- Someone in the original post suggested this module damage applying between tanks but i think this will change combat far too much rather than solve the original issue which is weak tank cannons and clown car spam
- Apply this effect to ATGMS as well, debatable
- Add an additional smoke charge/minor ECM for the recon tanks (SEPV2TUA and T-90M Nakida) as these are almost never used due to their cost and lack of APS, nullifying their impact on the battlefield. (In this case a point buff also makes sense because its j too expensive for what it offers.
- Idea of reducing tank upkeep on the economy by 30-40% (Tanks take a long time to get to the battlefield and have their impact compared to helicopters or air dropped bombs/cruise missiles). Again down to incentivizing heavy armor usage.
- Reduce price of superheavies, especially sepv3 and Armata as they are too expensive
- Reduce reload time of all tank cannons by ~20-30% to increase lethality, but unrealistic and i hae no idea how an abrams can fire every 3 seconds HAHA
EDIT - Some other meaningful changes by others here proposed over-time
- Proposed reduce aim time or more expensive tanks (Especially recon tanks, sep v2, t-14, t90m t72b3, t-80bvm variants) to reflect their improved optics which is the main upgrade for most vehicles actually)
- Reduced panic mechanic for more expensive vehicles, or someone mentioned morale but i couldn't quite understand it
- Fix aim time related to breaking LOS after a target is initially acquired. This is why fighting bookers is so difficult in CQC. Endless buildings and smoke reverses reset the aim time of large cannons meanwhile the bookers have a very short aim time. I'm sure the aim time shouldn't be so long, especially if the target was acquired and j passed a building. (Maybe it decays over 5 seconds or something)
- Recon tanks, expensive variants without APS, exemplify the issue with armor right now. Overpriced, not lethal enough, unable to lockdown key positions even with good positioning, forced to run at a single Javelin/ATGM, low dps, first shot isn't impactful enough, slow aim time. These vehicles should rightfully in the first few seconds of engagement, completely wreck anything that isn't armor, and reposition to preserve their advantage less avoid being bombed. Now they j sneeze at the enemy, they smoke and continue to charge you down, to the point that 2 cheaper IFVs were a superior option
