Main Gun won't fire.. Don't blame the Joystick V.1

[Lone*star49]

...

:( Ok.. your deep in battle, alot is riding on your tank and you see or get a target call from the TC..

You go to fire (via joystick) and "nothing"...

90% of the time its the position of the turret in relation to rear of tank.. in that there are certain areas or elevations (low) that the main won't fire.. :thumbdown:

Hint: when TC calls target.. hit E key for engage.. this will turn tank to face target giving you the most protection from a hit.. :thumbup:

And if you can't move tank, or you don't want too.. ie it's in a proper BP.. and your gun won't fire via Joystick.. :thumbdown:

Hint: Hit the "spacebar" and chances are high that your main gun "will fire" .. :thumbup:

Work those units..

Good Hunting.. Ls :yltype:

[Hell_Hound]

This can also happen if you're on Last Laser Return, and manage to lase a distant terrain feature or the sky. If your return range is in excess of 3500m or so, the gun will refuse to fire. If you're feeling lucky you can enter a range in the low 3000s manually and then add the extra superelevation yourself. (Good luck, you'll need it.)

[GsMcAmis]

Also...
The GPS can play tricks on you...
Just because you can see the target and have it in the cross hairs, don't take it as gospil that the main gun barrel is gonna depress far enough to fire on the target. This happens alot when coming out of a ditch beside a road and on hill tops with ditches (or as some intripid/inovative scenario builders call them... entrenchments :) ).

Usually, my first instinct is to pull up a little and engage the target...
then, usually, my next instinct is to press f5 and try to figure out where I have teleported to from my now dead/former tank whose carcass is laying face down in a ditch. (Didn't my mom always warn me about this? hmmm.)

Pulling up and attempting to reengage that target is a bad idea for two reasons.

1) If at first the main gun won't depress but you can see it in your GPS... guess what? the enemy can see your GPS. So... in the time it takes you to pull your tanks hulk out of the ditch far enough for your main gun to come in line with the GPS the enemy has had that amount of time not only to spot you... but to identify you, orient his Tank-Swatter, and fire. Think about that for a second... 60 some odd tons of depleted uranium, fully combat loaded, groaning it's way out of a ditch vs "Gunner Sabot TANK! FIRE!"

2) As you pull the tank out of the ditch you expose the thinnest armor on the tank, giving the enemy the best shot imaginable in order to kill you. In other words, the softest spot on a tank is its belly. (NOTE: Rubbing a tanks belly to induce Tac-Idle doesn't work.)

So what do you do when you find in this particular situation?

The good news is that most likely only your GPS is in view and that reduces the chances of being spotted. So note the target's position, orientation, and heading and sit very still (even try to keep the turret from moving). Movement, above all other things, draws unwanted attention. Then communicate what you've seen and call on another unit in the area to try to engage the target.

If the tank your in is your last tank (or near enough to it)
Then note the target's position, orientation, and heading and STILL try to move as little as possible, only this time wait for the target to move along or start scoping for better cover (or both).

To me... having one eye observing the enemy from a concealed position is pure gold.

Fight the urge to kill a few fast.
Fight the vehicles using all their strengths (in this case their optics).
Call in the Cav (literally... if digitally. ;) )
Win the battle.

[GsMcAmis]

LoneStar...

It's refreshing to see someone posting game play related notes and tips that have nothing to do with bugs or connection problems.

Keep 'em coming, please.

Thank you. :)

[Hell_Hound]

Also...
The GPS can play tricks on you...
Just because you can see the target and have it in the cross hairs, don't take it as gospil that the main gun barrel is gonna depress far enough to fire on the target. This happens alot when coming out of a ditch beside a road and on hill tops with ditches (or as some intripid/inovative scenario builders call them... entrenchments :) ).


Working off my imperfect memory here...
The Leopard will warn you if this is happening. As you depress onto a target, at some point an F will appear to the left of your range (stands for Fault, I think) to warn you that the gun can't depress onto target anymore. And as Gs says, hitting W and crawling forward until you have a shot is almost never the best option.

I do it constantly. Let me tell you, it's almost never the best option. :D ;) :(

Does the M1 have a "cannot lay on target" indication? Does the little "o" disappear or something? Can't remember at the moment...

[Ssnake]

Working off my imperfect memory here...
The Leopard will warn you if this is happening. As you depress onto a target, at some point an F will appear to the left of your range (stands for Fault, I think) to warn you that the gun can't depress onto target anymore.Quite the contrary. F means Fault only in the M1 GPF, but "ready to Fire" in the Leo (otherwise it'll show a zero). The best way to determine a clear shot is a peek through the GAS, though.

[Mekhazzio]

Yes, the little o in the M1 GPS disappears if the gun's unable to fire (reloading, coincidence loss, damage/mode, whatever)

If the joystick trigger doesn't fire, but the spacebar DOES, then...yeah, I'd look into if your stick is functioning properly. They're supposed to behave identically :)

[colin]

Why is it that you can not fire the coaxial MG when the Leo is being reloaded?

[Lone*star49]

Why is it that you can not fire the coaxial MG when the Leo is being reloaded?

Hey Colin.. it's because the Leo has an "automatic loader", unlike the M1 which uses a crewman to load.. and because of this.. the breach goes into a certain "locked" position for the system to load the next round.. (general terms) ;)

[Wolfman]

Hey Colin.. it's because the Leo has an "automatic loader", unlike the M1 which uses a crewman to load.. and because of this.. the breach goes into a certain "locked" position for the system to load the next round.. (general terms) ;)

Actually Lonestar, Leo has a human loader just like the M1, 4 crewmen total. The reason the gun is raised is to make loading easier for that human loader. This happens only in Normal mode. If you plan on using the Coax while the loader is loading a round, switch to Emergency mode, and the gun won't elevate.

[Hackworth]

"Main Gun won't fire.. Don't blame the Joystick "

Listen to Bobby Dole and get Viagra :D

[9erRed]

Greetings

Have also found that in the leo if your in the GPS and take a hit that disables the prime sight and you switch to the F2 sight, the gun will not fire till you enter a range (unless the last tgt was a Battle sight engagement) using the "shift up/dn arrows".
Almost wore out the space bar trying to get the main to fire..... entered the guesstamation range and voila, the main was happy to produce a 35ton paperweight. The T-72 was very dissapointed to say the least.
Note to remember: On "Crew Action" from Vehicle Commander - SET THE BATTLE SIGHT RANGE.
9erRed.......out

[Mekhazzio]

The reason the gun is raised is to make loading easier for that human loader.

The M1 has an identical function, it's just that in practice the US Army never uses it while the BW does, so in-game it's only modeled on the Leo.

[Ssnake]

Have also found that in the leo if your in the GPS and take a hit that disables the prime sight and you switch to the F2 sight, the gun will not fire till you enter a range (unless the last tgt was a Battle sight engagement) using the "shift up/dn arrows".
Almost wore out the space bar trying to get the main to fire..... entered the guesstamation range and voila, the main was happy to produce a 35ton paperweight. The T-72 was very dissapointed to say the least.A most unusual observance, and either a bug or - more likely - a user error. What may have happened is that the hit also disabled the stabilization, so that you accidentally switched back to Beobachten in the resulting panic. Once that this was done, you could fire the gun again.