Main gun dispersion?

[Maj.Hans]

Someone please refresh my memory, was main gun dispersion significantly reduced in a past 2.X or 3.X version?

 

I was just talking to an old gaming buddy about Pro PE, and he mentioned how it was impossible to score hits beyond about 2000 meters on stationary tanks due to the dispersion of main gun rounds.

 

I, however, recall being able to get hits out to 3000 or even 4000.

 

So was dispersion originally quite large and reduced in a patch?

[Ssnake]

Given that it was definitely possible to hit certain targets as 3.5km range even in the oldest versions of Steel Beasts, I don't really know what he was talking about ... but it is quite possible that his memory refers to a certain ammo type that had a particularly high dispersion which was later reduced. Sometimes we have to guess parameters, and later we get a more reliable source that gives us a specific value - of course we couldn't ignore such info.

[dejawolf]

dispersion was increased from the original SB gold to SB pro PE. 

as a result a lot of old SB 1.0 guys quit, since they were no longer able to 1st round kill targets at 4km. 

[GSprocket]

You cannot guarantee 100% hits beyond a shorter range than that. At around 2km, with a working FCS there should be a reasonable expectation of not missing, but equally not necessarily striking a specific aimpoint.

As the range increases beyond that, the apparent target size (and the ability to aim at a specific point within it) reduces, as the time of flight, superelevation and lead requirement and shot to shot dispersion all increase. Even identification can become troublesome with the older TIS devices, and near impossible with Txx FCS quality vehicles.

At 4km the best situations are going to struggle to give consistent performance, and an expectation of 2-4 rounds per effective hit is probably a good basis for a starting point in benign conditions. With closer matches of ammunition and armour effectiveness which requires a smaller vulnerable area to be struck... that can rapidly climb to dozens of shots per kill (while a single shot and hit could still be effective).

Add in terrain obstructions that inhibit clean lasing (and visibility of the entire target profile), uncooperative and erratically moving/accelerating targets, smoke, pressure of firing quickly or while under return fire... and all bets are off.