A tank scenario could be fun. I hope Section9 can find a copy of what he is looking for. But as a regular edition to Infinity, it would totally wreck the balance. It would reduce the tactical complexity of the game down to whether or not you have the tools to take out a tank. And if you add in tanks, drop ships, and air support are not far behind. Suddenly the table is no where big enough to deal with that kind of engagement in 32mm scale.
Well yes, it would likely destroy balance in a normal game, which is why I was thinking of the tank perhaps being more neutral or an objective, not a regular unit you can field at any time. Remember I don't actually play the wargame so I don't really know what I'm talking about. I just like tanks and strategizing.
Lucky day for @Section9. Original by @descrii: Scenario: Kill the Tank Attacker Briefing: We’ve located an enemy tank in an isolated and congested location. It’s been positioned there by the enemy as part of a show of force. Ordinarily we’d deal with it with an airstrike, but we’ve lost air superiority for the moment. On the bright side, that makes this a perfect opportunity for a team like yours. You can destroy a high-value target without us deploying and risking our own heavies. Your team will be dispatched to demolish that thing. Make no mistake; that thing is worth more than your whole team and every piece of equipment you carry, so come back with its CPU or don’t come back at all. Defender Briefing: Command has found it necessary to make a show of force at your location, and as a result you’re being entrusted with the care and feeding of a real piece of military equipment. As you’re a scummy bearded black-ops murderer with no experience of real war, let me spell this out to you. That tank comes back squeaky clean with a full tank of gas or next Thursday finds you leading Mission Impossible 400 miles inside enemy terrain with no phrasebook. Army Lists The Attacker has 300 points. The Defender has 150 points, plus The Tank. The Tank The Tank is treated as several separate components. Each component contributes an order. The Tank is in its own combat group and does not share its orders with other miniatures on the Defender’s team. The tank can't be the LT to start, but if the LT is killed the Cockpit can be nominated as LT. Represent the Tank with whatever suitable beefcake vehicle is at hand. It could be a space marine predator, Antenociti’s Hunchback APC, the Secret Weapons Rapid Assault Vehicle, or whatever. These rules assume a classic Tank with a main gun and a secondary anti-troop gun. I’ll give guidelines for changing the tank at the end. All parts of the Tank are Synchronized. Armored Hull/Cockpit: (VEH) Regular, Not Impetuous, Remote Presence CC 0, WP 13, ARM 10, STR 3, BTS -9, Ghost-linked controller of the other parts, Electric Pulse, Braces [4] Tracks/Legs: (VEH) Regular, Not Impetuous, Remote Presence MOV 6-6, CC 0, PH 15, ARM 6, STR 2, Electric Pulse Primary Weapon Mount: (REM) Regular, Not Impetuous, Remote Presence CC 0, BS 11, PH 12, WP 13, ARM 6, STR 1, BTS -6, GML, Electric Pulse, Forward Observer, MSV2, X-Visor Secondary Weapon Mount: (REM) Regular, Not Impetuous, Remote Presence CC 0, BS 11, PH 12, WP 13, ARM 4, STR 1, BTS -6, HMG, Electric Pulse, Total Reaction, MSV2 Electronics Package: (REM) Regular, Not Impetuous, Remote Presence CC0, PH 12, WP 14, ARM 3, STR 1, BTS -9, ODF, Sensor, ECM If the model you’re using doesn’t match the above stats well, you can make the following adjustments. Beside each adjustment is a +/- number. If it says +, the defender may take that many additional points of troops (so +25 means the Defender gets 175 points instead of 150). A - means the opposite (so -25 means the Defender gets 125 points instead of 150). (-25) Armored Troop Compartment: (VEH) Regular, Not Impetuous, Remote Presence CC 0, ARM 10, BTS -6, STR 2, Acts as a bunker, has a (hackable) door, Electric Pulse. Any hit that does damage to the Troop Compartment also does a Dam 9 hit to everyone inside without benefit of cover. (-20) Extra Secondary Weapon Mount (-25) Extra Primary Weapon Mount (-10) Replace Tracks/Legs with Hovercells, same stats but gain Multiterrain skill. (+5) Replace Primary Weapon Mount GML with Autocannon. (+10) Replace Secondary Weapon Mount HMG with Mk.12. (+0) Replace Tracks/Legs with Wheels. ARM becomes 1, STR becomes 4. Complications The Attacker is suffering from Air Inferiority. The Defender is under orders to maintain a Show of Force. Air Inferiority: You've lost the skies, either to the enemy or to a third party. Don't use airborne deployment. If you have netrods or imetrons deploy them during deployment phase as if their aircraft was hacked (PH-9 roll and scatter). Show of Force: You need to put a maximum number of boots on the ground for some political reason. Perhaps you're suppressing dissent or trying to intimidate an enemy. Anyway, all your troops must be deployed during the deployment phase - hold none back for airborne deployment or hidden deployment. Setup Terrain should be typical Infinity terrain, moderately dense, blocking most long lines of fire, but there should be at least a couple areas the Tank can access and move around in. These could be streets, open ground between trees, whatever. For added realism, leave a way for the tank to make it off the board. Deploy as normal. Victory The game lasts 5 turns or until all the components of the Tank are destroyed. At the end of the game, award 1 VP to the Attacker for each component of the Tank that has no STR remaining. Award 1 VP to the Defender for each component of the Tank that has STR points remaining. Notes on the Tank All parts of the tank are hackable and protected by Electric Pulse. Adhesive ammo would potentially be a great way to stop the tank moving or the turrets firing. Missile Launchers and other template weapons will generally hit multiple parts of the Tank at once. The Tank needs to be protected from these weapons. The Secondary Turret has Total Reaction, but does not have 360 visor, so the attacker may be able to outflank it. Since all parts are Ghost Linked, the turrets can all fire in the same order, provided they have the same targets. The Tank is clearly worth more than the 150 points it costs, but this is balanced by it being the objective of the game. It's too large a portion of the Defender's points to keep hidden away, but using it risks losing it, and thereby losing the game.
You know.... Looking at the Maghariba, a tank is not out of question. That thing can't move all that fast and look a bit like a tank.
And I feel a tank would be much faster than it. Kinda of a mid point between a humanoid TAG's mobility and the Maghariba's armor and firepower.
The problem is game balance. A tank should be completely immune to HMG fire. Even an uparmored Humvee is armored to withstand 7.62NATO armor piercing ammo. An Abrams isn't even going to notice getting shot by a .50BMG until they get out and see the scratches in the paint. So, if CB made an Infinity tank as armored as in real life, as soon as my antitank weapons trooper(s) got killed, your tank would win the game for you. Or, if I managed to kill your tank, I'd win, because you wouldn't have enough other troops left. That's boring. If CB made an Infinity tank that was able to be hurt by a basic rifle, well,, we'd all complain about that because tanks are supposed to be hard to kill! And in all practical truth, it'd just be a TAG in a different shape, and we already have those.
