PlanetSide Universe - View Single Post - News: The Lightning First Look! [[Updated] Images]]
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Old 2012-04-29, 03:54 AM   [Ignore Me] #237
Erendil
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Re: The Lightning First Look! [[Updated] Images]]


Originally Posted by Saintlycow View Post
I was more referring to your sig, but hey, having a laser lightning would be sweet!
Ahhh hehe. Yeah, a rotating turret for the Mag would be good too.

Originally Posted by biertrappist View Post
Only one guy here properly talked about the consequences of length. Namely to fire a shot perpendicular to itself around a corner/in a base will either have to go 2/3 forwards or arse out. Great idea, it's not some uber vehicle, you have to think.

Secondly, due to the tank's length, the infantry if they have fair mobility, might be able to run around trees and not just get mowed down. It might take out infantry in the medium / long range but it certainly looks harder to benny hill them in the immediate vicinity.

Thirdly, tank length and short barrel relative to its body means it won't have great depression. Think you can shoot up infantry right in front of you, I doubt it.

Fourth, restricted vision to the tank's immediate front. You need to keep it moving, stop just outside your base, and some cloaker will have mined you before you realise it.

PS was always about trade-offs and this great design is a perfect example of it.

Too bad the OS is back!
Actually you just listed a bunch of reasons why its a bad design from a balance standpoint, not a good one. The Lightning needs to be equivalent to a solo MBT in overall combat effectiveness (or at least in desirability) otherwise hardly anyone will pull one for anything other than AA duty. And its low armour and lack of a second, dedicated gunner are already enough trade-offs to its superior speed to keep it in balance. IMO it doesn't need all of the disadvantages you listed tacked on top of it.

Since its not powerful enough to tackle a MBT head-on, it needs to be designed such that it can engage in hit-and-run tactics as well as long-range harassment. And in order to do so it needs to be able to do things like fire from cover, which as you pointed out its long front makes difficult to do.

In addition, its length as shown would also make taking advantage of hull-down tactics more difficult since its nose will get in the way of the short cannon when said cannon is depressed. But again, that's just the type of tactic a light tank should be using.

Plus as I mentioned before its length gives it a huge profile when exposing its flank to the enemy.

And its rear armour is also incredibly weak (Devs mentioned 2-3 Prowler shots to the rear will take one out). So basically if our speculations are correct, it can't fire around cover, can't hull-down, can't see very well in front of it, can't take on infantry up close, can't attack vehicles head-on, can't retreat, and can't expose its flanks.

Ok, yeah I'm really not liking the long design now...

Last edited by Erendil; 2012-04-29 at 03:57 AM.
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