Matrix Games Forums

Rocking Harry:
Could you please tell me EXACTLY when I should hit the alt+L key to get logging. I've tried it during a scenario but to no avail. Should I so it prior to setting up preferences or ??????????[&:]

TIA chief[&o]

Chief, just hit alt-l during the actual battle. You should see a pop-up with 'combat.txt logging 1" when it's on and 'combat.txt logging 0" when you turn it off. Oh and no caps, just plain 'l'. Maybe that got you confused.

Voriax

RH......Yeah I was hitting the "el" key not the "eye" Key.....should work now. Mucho Gracios Amigo.[&o][8D]

ORIGINAL: Svennemir

If you really want answers to all the questions, make a shooting range with the editor and do some tests.

I think I heard from one of the "big ones" (Vebber probably) that the formula is

total armour = thickness * cos(angle)^(-1.4)

..which probably counts for AP. But it's different for other kinds of ammo. HEAT, for instance, almost ignores slope in SPWAW (which doesn't really make sense. That's probably why close support tanks with HEAT are ridiculously effective, if you've ever wondered).

Of course there are a million other factors as well, such as shell diameter and stuff, but oh well.

Actually it is a lot more complex than that. You have to figure the vertical component of the armor by figuring in the difference in height of the two vehicles along with a small random add or subtract to simulate that the ground is not flat like a pool table. Along with that you have horizontal angle to figure, if the target is directly facing the firing unit you get a zero here if it is at a severe angle it can be even more than the vertical add. Along with those there is a modification for armor quality, for warhead size vs real armor thickness and a random chance that you get a lucky shot that can reduce armor value (hitting vision ports etc). Then if you do manage to penetrate there is a check vs the survival value of the target to see if it even takes damage (small warheads vs high survival value often just do nothing).

To maximize your chances of killing a target, hit with a large warhead firing at a target that directly faces the firer, and from the same lvl if it has no slope to the armor or from above it it has sloped armor.

The worst case is against a target higher than the firer, very close and with a high angle off shot. You get several meter thick effective armor that way. Any AP or HVAP is going to bounce with that sort of shot.

Yes, I know there are a billion jillion squared factors. It's not just the angle from the encyclopaedia.

But it's highly interesting that the power of the cosine is -1.4, not -1 which geometry would otherwise imply.

If you test (using combat logging) on flat ground at perpendicular angles etc., the above formula holds for AP ammunition, IIRC.