The Longstreet Day (Tank and TC guide)

[XSlayer300]

"A giant piece of armor with a big gun, you know what to do." ― Examine Description, Colonial Marines

BE WARNED THAT THIS GUIDE IS VERY WORK-IN-PROGRESS. IT SHOULD UPDATE OVERTIME.

So, it's just like every other duty back on the old days of the USS Sulaco. You woke up as a Tech. Sergeant with the role of a simple MT, while workin' on the Supermatter engines, you saw the grand APC that has been used eversince the very first operation of the Sulaco. Too bad it's not gonna be fixed, ever. Due to layoffs at the CMP training programme, Synth enlistment duties and so on and so fourth. For these reasons, MTs found Jones somewhere in the ship wearing a boonie hat for some reason, but their Admiral asked them a favor for a Tank training course as long as they give Jones to the leading commander and the boonie hat as a museum stuff.

Years later, you're now promoted to a Ensign! The better news? After a long day of the Tychon's Rift Championship Basketball games, the USCM developed an updated version of the APC. The M34A2 'Longstreet' Light Scout Tank. One of the Marines' best caveman invention. This handy guide will (hopefully) teach you every bit of material on how to use the tank, and some tips on how to be a good TC.


M34A2 'Longstreet' Light Scout Tank.

• What is a TC?

TCs or Tank Crewmen has two slots for this role. And unlike most roles in the game, 1 tank crewman is not enough. Of course, there are 2 slots for that specific role. Which is why previously that the PO has two slots as well. The TCs operate in two roles, Driver and Gunner. What are they?

• Driver - Simple enough to say, you control the tank's threads, drive it, turn around with it, etc.
• Gunner - You control the three main hardpoint spots, mainly you fire your tank cannon, support via smartgun, launch smoke and others Along with a bunch of other weaponry in the palm of your hand.

But let's take it into a more in-depth point, TCs are suppose to work together. A well coordinated tank crew can easily deal with the xenos or just atleast, support the marines during their push. A crippled tank crew can deal more damage than supporting your marines. So try to atleast support the marines without you crushing them.

• M34A2 'Longstreet' Light Scout Tank and YOU!

The M34A2 does have its pros and cons, but it's better to explain about them rather than having you finding out yourself.

PROS:

• Heavily armored, much better defense than plasteel barricades, enos couldn't get pass a tank easily.
• Modulized Tank, you can mix and match any part as long as you wish.
• Can stun enos under its treads.
• Can block enos.
• You automatically eject once the tank takes too much damage.

CONS:

• Once its treads is destroyed, it's almost completely immobile.
• Even with it's treads, it's slow to move.
• The tank's turrets fire at a 45 degree angle.
• Can stun marines under its treads.
• Crewmen need to enter the back of the vehicle to drive/man it.
• Repairing the tank from damage will take a while.
• Really bulky, 3x3 tiles long.
• Blocks retreating/pushing marines.
• TCs are only able pilot it and reload it. While MTs, the Synth and the CE is able to repair it.
• Two TCs are required for the tank to reach its full potential.

and so on and so forth, though I haven't got much into the tanks yet honestly. But in short, the Tank is a double-edged sword. On one edge, it can be a great asset in the field against the enos. But on the other, it's a relatively big and slow target, and it can be easily destroyed unlike a marine without armor and carrying a M39 SMG.

• The beginning of the Longstreet Town. (Preperation)

So, it's the beginning of the round, you and your crewman (or crewwoman) partner will spawn at the Tanker Room at the bottom deck of the Almayer, the tank is located at the north of the bottom deck, at the right. Remember, your partner crewman (crewwoman) is VERY important, without them, you are unable to have a parade at your hometown while firing celebratory confetti cannons. So try to treat your partner as your spouse (or girlfriend, in legal terms) and your one and only, because if they die, it's all up to you.

The first thing you wanna do is to repair the tank, which its state is how the APC ended up way back at the Sully. Tell the MTs, Synths or the CE to do it in engineering comms (use a blowtorch and a crowbar), since they can repair the tanks with a bunch of knowledge while you don't. In the meantime, go north of your spawn location and head east, you'll see the tank's treads and its cannon along with some magazines. Get them modules and put them at the tank! Once that's done, you should communicate with your fellow TC on what role you're going for in the tank. Whether you're going for driver or gunner, it's up to you and your skills at piloting the tank. See the above section for the roles. After that, enter the tank by clicking on it while you're behind it (indicated by the red outline). Just like this UPP dude who's about to hijack it after an assault!


Right behind and at the middle, that is where you want to shove your inner unga in.

• They see me rolling... (Controls)

In your object tab, you should see some controls on your tank.


Located at the object tab, that is your controls.

Wait, the controls are freaking here, along with the others! We need to make it more specific.


But this is also good, right-clicking on the tank.

Better, so these are the controls of the tank... Not better? Fine I'll explain to you about them.

• Change active weapon - Changes the usage of hardpoints in the tank, Secondary, Support and Primary.
• Reload Active Weapon - Reloads the current hardpoint of the tank.
• Rotate vehicle Clockwise - Changes the direction of the tank eastwards (to the right).
• Rotate vehicle Counterclockwise - Changes the direction of the tank westwards (to the left).
• Swap seats - Changes your seat position to another after a few seconds (from Gunner to Driver and vice versa).
• Exit vehicle - ...Do I need to explain this? You eject the vehicle after a couple seconds.
• Movement keys - Moves the tank forwards or backwards in its direction.
• Mouse click - THROWING FR- wait wrong. It fires or activates the current hardpoint of the tank to the location you clicked on, like a gun. As long as your target is at the 45 degree field of view, if you are using a weapon for that matter.

• The instrument of Doom. (Driver)

So! You've decided to go for a joyride huh? Apperently, the Almayer isn't a place where you can have joyrides. But hey, let's get started on driving the actual tank.

Drive the tank using movement keys. Turn the tank using the Object menu. It's also important to set up a macro so you'll easily allow yourself to turn around. Simple as that. Better head to the Macros page of the CM Wiki to find out!

But what's not so simple? Driving around of course! While you can drive almost everything (including aliens, barricades, etc.), it's only limit is driving through podlocks, airlocks, and walls. Heck, even you cannot get pass through window frames! Worst, Ungas will try to get into the way of your tank, crushing them and stunning them. So please, do not run over them or let them to run over your tank. Simply yelling "DO NOT GET INFRONT/BEHIND THE TANK" will do enough. Maybe several more times and perhaps they'll snap.

Blockades, however, are a different story. Barricades, crates, tables and what not, can be crushed by the tank itself. So feel free to crush them while you're in danger or you just want to get rid of the useless cades around the map. Walls, windows and window frames on the other hand is something that is considered as your archenemy. You cannot run them over, you cannot get through. Wait, that's wrong. Yes, you can get through basic building walls and reinforced walls, by crushing them of course! Alternatively, you can also destroy the walls more effectively with the cannon! Oh and do not bother with the ultra-reinforced walls though, you gotta find another way.

• Just point us at 'em. (Gunner)

Now what? You wanna be a smarter unga with the even bigger guns? Now we're talkin'. Let's blast enos with a cannon then!

Like using a gun, firing cannons/smartguns is simple. Point your cursor to a tile you want to fire! Sounds easy, right? Make sure you point it at the right tile and direction.

Driving tanks could be tough, but firing your guns is a whole lot of tougher. You are more likely to expect to damage barricades more than xenos. Why? Because in a nutshell, you should've know (or atleast, RP-wise) that Crushers and Queens are laughable to your cannons, somewhat. In a shellnut, they are RPG rockets but with a capacity of a Thermobaric rocket launcher. Worst, if your fellow crewman (aka, fellow unga and NOT your spouse) is apparently either braindead or SSD and suddenly many ayylmao Ravagers came in to the side where you cannot hit. Yell at your fellow unga to "TURN AROUND"! Otherwise, the tank is no more than a power piece of barricade that you and your 'partner' can die on.

• We will prevail! (Modules)

Tanks are a really powerful asset in the field, just like CAS, but more ground based. And like the CAS, the tank can carry a number of modules. All of them provide various advantages while some, carry disadvantages in many situations. Before we head on to the armor, treads and support equipment. Let's take a look at the USCM's better-known line of vehicle weaponry throughout the system.

• Main Armament Emplacements:

For every main gun of the kit, we have two choices: A classic modified MBT 105mm cannon or a juryrigged 7.62x51mm surpressive chaingun from APCs. By that, I mean the LTB Cannon and the LTAA AP Minigun

LTB Cannon
My grandmother used to told me that cars can get through point A to point B faster than walking. Today, my knowledge will never be the same. If you can get to point B in half the time, better start makin' a point C then! LTB Cannons are the Colonial Marines' mainline tank cannon, used in different variations of tanks today. And it still remains a classic as ever. All you gotta do is aim, then shoot. Leaving a cloud of scorch on the path.

• Area of effect damage.
• Very deadly on soft targets.
• Stuns targets.
• Starting weapon.
• 4 shells before reloading.
• Explosion is almost useless against Crushers and Queens.
• Carries a total of 3 LTB shell magazines before needed to rearm.

All in all, a very worthy choice of a classic tank battle. Though it does have its downsides, it's nevertheless, your SADAR from the good ole' Sulaco. Just be wary that it does have its downsides.

LTAA AP Minigun
So what do we got, autocannons, tank cannons, coax machine guns... Now what, a juryrigged Ol' Painless attached to a tank? I'm sure that's possible, since I saw a few of these in action. But it's more or less, your APC kind of cannon. Firing a hail of AP bullets* along the way. Best part, if you do have an Ol' Painless (I reckon you don't, but that's up to you), you can use these rounds to reload! Atleast it's a weapon that may be dangerous on the field.

• Carries about 300 rounds.
• Fast rate of fire.
• Automatic.
• Inaccurate.
• Low damaging.
• *It is not exactly an AP round. It's actually a minigun round.

Not much better than the LTB, but if in any (RP or not) case you wanted this minigun, take it without consequences! But beware of the consequences you'll face with the weapon!

• Charlie Longstreet Breakfast. (Early-game)

More information will be written as the guide continues.

[XSlayer300]

Updated for a little bit. A gunner guide will be coming soon.

[XSlayer300]

Updated again. With a controls guide and so on.

[KingPhilipIII]

To be fair, an armor piercing RPG hitting a Queen directly, while far from lethal still takes out a third of their health so if you've got good aim you could kill it.

[XSlayer300]

I'll take note of it as a suggestion.

[Brotemis]

Since it was experienced recently, when loading the tank onto a dropship, it must be fully on the dropship for it to fly. On that note, don't bother trying to get on if there is a machine gun nest. You can't roll over it.

A huge heads up as well is that the tank must FULLY be off the landing pad for a dropship to lift off if the tank is not on it. That means the entire box surrounding the dropshio. You can't back up the tank to the door of the dropship to block it off while the ship lifts, you will doom everyone.

The statement about your partner being your spouse cannot be any truer. The gunner will usually be the one calling the positioning and movement action, the driver will copy and ask if adjustments are necessary and act as the quick reaction movement. If the gunner is on their toes and reacts with you, you will catch many xenos off guard. I can't stress enough the driver should only drive on their own accord when reacting, otherwise only doing adjustments on positioning when asked

[Lil Mayo]

Hey! I've played 2 rounds as TC Gunner and I've got some tips to share, maybe they'll prove useful for the guide.

1) LTB shells can reliably gib any T1's, including Ancient Defenders (I don't know if the guy was full HP but still got gibbed), all T2's and can 1-shot crit Young Ravagers, managing to gib Boilers and Praes. Of course, it can't do anything to the Queen and Crusher. If you want to gib any xeno, remember, you have to aim BEHIND it, so when the projectile hits their tile, the code registers a direct hit, giving that extra damage which gibs the enemy. If you aim for their tile, you'll just cause a standard explosion there, just stunning them.

2) If you spot your enemy due to the lightning bug in the code (area is not lit up but you still see the xeno; not talking about boilers), do NOT fire behind the enemy. If you click a location which you can't see, the shell won't go there, it won't spawn at all actually, and you lose a valuable LTB shell! Target their sprite instead and finish them with the TOW.

3) The best loadout is, by far, Concussive + ArtyMod + LTB + TOW. If you're really confident in your aiming with the LTB you can ditch the TOW, even the armor if you won't be doing any frontline combat (not indicated at all, I'll talk about this at point 7) ). I've thought about using the Overdrive Module to be more efficient in stunning xenos via ram, but it's a niche situation, and it could only work on very clogged maps, where you can't do anything with the Artillery Module, like Prison.

4) Speaking about ramming... One of the best things about the tank is that you can kill any xeno at any range with this loadout. LTB direct hit? Congratulations, you've gibbed a xeno! Direct hit or AOE damage critted or just stunned it? Follow up with a TOW shot! Is it a Queen or Crusher who'll just say "fuk u m8" to your explosives and shrug it off like a boss? Bait them into a charge and crush them yourself, leaving your marines to shoot the bastard up!

5) As TC you MUST ensure you're supported by marines. They're your best friend, and you're theirs. A full squad is perfect, even 5 marines suffice. Just ensure that you're all coordinated! Just don't get many marines with you, unless you're actually leading a push. Marines could pose a problem, since, if they don't clear your tank's firing arc, you could gib them. And trust me, the tunnel vision effect with Arty module is REAL. I won't even talk about what happens in this situation if comms go down.

6) However, the most important effect of the Tank is that, if you and your driver are a robust TC team, you garner respect both from your marines, who will commit to any push alongside you after they see you casually gibbing the Ancient Warrior who was fucking their day up; and from the xenos, who, once they see that you've rolled in a flank that was under siege, will run away ASAP. Boilers will run first, because they have the same view range as Arty Module, and alert the rest of the hive; if you can, gib them! Even if you lack components or you roll in with no armor and broken treads, once xenos see you they'll run like hell. Unless both your TOW and LTB are broken, then you're probably dead.

7) Always have a MT come with you and repair you at all times! Your armor is the first thing that gets damaged; once that's destroyed, your other components take damage, the first to fall being the Support Module, then the treads, then the Primary, and finally the Secondary. Once all of these are destroyed, you get kicked out by angry xenos, the hive rejoicing over your deaths and the Queen probably gibbing your bodies if you've fucked her hive really badly.

Welp, hope I'm not Captain Obvious here but I just thought that these tips could be added to the guide. Have a nice day!

[Surrealistik]

Basically every tank config at the moment sucks but the curren stale meta of

• Armor: Ballistic
• Secondary: TOW
• Primary: LTB Cannon
• Support: Artillery

[Jeser]

The beginning of the Longstreet Town. (Preperation) prepAration.
also, Synth can drive it. it's not forbidden.

[Mashallah]

Protip: Don't run over MPs with the tank.

[Grubstank]

Protip: Don't run over MPs with the tank.

The MP can't arrest you if you leave it parked on top of them!

[Asmodius]

LTB, Flamer, Overdrive, Concussive, take that, i wont say anything more, catch my driver/gunner combo kill streak of 20

[Mashallah]

The MP can't arrest you if you leave it parked on top of them!

If you run them over with the tank and they aHelp you will get might banned for griefing because "They have no way of defending themselves from the Tank". Learned this the hard way. Even if the running over is justified it doesn't matter.

[Mashallah]

Another Protip: Don't press your macro until you need to reload a weapon system or you will have to get out of the tank to use any function.

[Liam Gallagher]

"Not much better than the LTB, but if in any (RP or not) case you wanted this minigun, take it without consequences! But beware of the consequences you'll face with the weapon!"
That's where you're wrong kiddo. The Minigun is the low key goat.
Not only will it shred xenos at close range (Including the Queen), but they're also scared shitless by it. The Main cannon is one and done and can't do much to a queen (which is a bad thing if you are surrounded), the minigun on the other hand will make them think otherwise about approaching you. You'll become the ultimate area denial weapon, capable of halting a push greater than anything in the marines arsenal. Charge into the fray and fuck everything in your path.
Here is the real meta:
Overdrive to charge the gates of hell
Minigun to literally intimidate everything
TOW missiles to down Tier 1s and 2s (and to put an added dent into any tier 3s)
Ballistic Armor to take all the hits (Having spares on standby is helpful)
and a driver who likes to run shit over

We're not fighting enemy armor here, we're dealing with a horde of primarily melee based infantry. So stop using the tank like a glorified RPG, get in there and do what the tank does best. An IFV is far more valuable than a MBT in this situation.

[XSlayer300]

Sorry, to be honest. I don't update this thread ALOT more often as much as before. Most of the info are kinda outdated as of now.

[Mashallah]

what tank crew