Crunch Time

I tell you, there is nothing more fun than getting into a tank in Battlefield. I have been driving tanks in Battlefield since 1942. I even drove tanks in Call of Duty and they were just as much fun as in Battlefield. The destruction and power that you are given when driving one of these bad boys is just something else. Throwing fear into your enemy and watching infantry run and hide as they hear you coming in. Taking down engineers and C4 welding support (or recon in BF2/142) while rolling over vehicles is just great fun.

Yes, having these metal monsters on the Battlefield can be great, but they also have another purpose. With great power (on the cyber battlefield) comes great responsibility. In games like Battlefield, the tank has been put on that map for specific purposes. Oh yes, you can do whatever you want with it and you are in control, but the outcome of the game may entirely depend on what you are doing with the tank. A bad tank commander is about as good on the field as any infantry running around. The enemy team learns very quickly that a bad tank commander is no threat and will usually ignore those tanks. Why blow something up that is not a threat?

I am writing this article because of a game I had just yesterday, August 4th 2013, on Seine Crossing. We were playing one of the game modes where the only vehicles are the two tanks, one for the US and the other Russian. We were winning pretty well and were dominating the map. Constantly pushing the enemy around. Blowing up the enemy tank with no problems. They were blowing up ours as well. Just some newbs being newbs and cancelling each others tank out. This makes infantry the deciding factor in the game, which we were better at. Then…it happened. Our newb turned into a noob. I don’t know why or what happened, but the noob bailed the tank. It was taken over by enemy forces. It’s worse than that though. The tank was taken over by two guys that knew what they were doing.

Now our infantry is getting cut down. Our team was not ready for this and we now had two tanks to fight against and our tank is in the hands of veterans. Working together to repair and protect. Keeping their distance and giving support to their guys! My squad now had to focus on getting our tank back instead of capping flags. By the time we were able to overwhelm that crew and get our tank back, it was too late. The damage was done. We were in our spawn fighting our way out. We lost the match.

So after all these years of tank warfare, what seems to be something obvious still is not today. So I wanted to post up these important rules to using tanks in ANY FPS style game:

1. NEVER leave your tank. EVER. You DIE with that tank.
2. Pay attention to what is around your tank. Use 3rd person view if available.
3. Do NOT rush a tank into the heat of battle. That just invites running over mines or getting close enough for C4 to be placed. It is a supporting role item.
4. NEVER leave your tank. EVER. You DIE with that tank.
5. Let the repair people repair. Don’t drive off with partial health. Let them get some points and allow you to bring on death by tank.
6. Learn to fire while moving. A sitting target is an easy target.
7. NEVER leave your tank. EVER. You DIE with that tank.

There are other rules to learn as far as equipping your tank and how to work as a team and how to position your tank, but I feel the above rules should ALWAYS be followed by new and old alike. Losing your tank can be harsh, but the enemy gaining an extra tank is way more extreme.

There are three exceptions when leaving your tank:

• When you KNOW the area is clear to repair it yourself.
• When a fellow good guy is in the tank to prevent theft.
• The tank is boobie trapped with C4 that can be easily detonated with no threat of losing the tank. (This one is iffy as well. Don’t risk it)

That is it. Any other circumstance will get your tank jacked and you killed by it. You see C4 being put on it, you get blown up by it. You probably broke the 2nd and 3rd rule to cause that. You see mines on the field then you blow them up with the main tank gun. Your engineer is killed while repairing, don’t let them die in vain by getting your tank stolen, give them a place to respawn instead. You think you are fast enough to jump out and kill the guy and get back in then you are fooling yourself. Veterans like myself KNOW how to tank jack. Its easy and fun and we LOVE DOING IT! You know how fast it is to enter a vehicle and we are waiting for the sound of the engine to die down telling us that it is now empty. A quick hit with the E key and we have ourselves a tank that is probably strong enough to kill you, pick up your kit, repair, and go on our merry way.

So have fun and be responsible tank users on the battlefield. If you or someone you know needs to see this, pass it on to them. Tweet this. Post this up. Let them know the most important rules of tank commanding. It is the difference between noob and newb.