9 replies to this topic

[Shirou]

This is a suggestion for a special missile trooper which does not focus on anti-tank, but mainly for anti-building and general purpose combat.

It uses the RPO-A/Z Shmel rocket launcher. The soldier will have to fire modes. A thermobaric missile for general purpose damage, however it will not exceed at anything. (general purpose). It will not be a penetrating missile of some sorts and thus will have little effect on armoured targets such as tanks. The secondary (RPO-Z) firemode will use an incendiary warhead which can be used to clear garissons and effectively attack buildings.

[Admiral FCS]

"Kinda" similar to CWC, but I like it.

[Alexei_Stukov]

This is a good suggestion. Thanks a lot. I'll think how to use this.

[CommanderJB]

Totally agree - the thermobaric warhead would be far more effective against entrenched or concealed infantry than a flame warhead. This is why. Also plenty of good shots here. If anything I simply wouldn't bother with the RPO-Z anyway; it's not very common and genuine incendiary weapons are (strangely) treated much more harshly than thermobaric ones when it comes to treaties etc.

Edited by CommanderJB, 21 September 2008 - 07:12.

[Shirou]

But that RPO-A missile tends to completely destroy things. There needs to be a weapon which does not destroy, but only clears structures, if you want to preserve the structure yourself.

The incendiary warhead can technically be more effective at flaming the inside a house than the dragon tank flamethrower can, so I don't see the problem.

Creating two different firemodes is also there to create tactful play. Just having this thing to walk around and be able to target anything with just one warhead, and even clear buildings with it, is just too damn simple.

[CommanderJB]

Probably, but then who ever cared about realism anyway? Spraying a building with napalm is hardly going to leave it untouched while crisping everyone inside. In fact it's much more likely to completely destroy the building than an RPO-A round, which will take out a group of rooms but not a lot more (of course this doesn't work very well with smaller buildings).

[Shirou]

Well you started the whole realism thing anyway with the RPO-A being more effective for anti building purposes, while in logic of the Game Generals, it will be the incendiary missile launcher..

[CommanderJB]

With the more realistic tones and aims of this mod I think it's reasonable to get the equipment in the best order possible. Both would of course be very nasty if they entered the building you're hiding in, so I don't suppose it matters much, I was merely stating that because of their ability to blast soldiers out of concealment, without the possibility of denying the usage of the rest of the structure for your forces, I personally would think they'd make slightly more sense for that role.

Edited by CommanderJB, 30 September 2008 - 00:41.

[Someone]

From what I know, all 3 warhead types (thermobaric, incendiary and smoke) would be effective for clearing out buildings (thermobaric and incendiary warheads kill the occupants, while the smoke warhead blinds and makes breathing difficult for occupants without gas masks (I am not sure if it can suffocate them), forcing them to abandon the building).
I think adding a ROP-armed infantry to the mod is an interesting idea. This infantry could be called “Shmel Soldier” and I see two possible ways such a unit could be incorporated into the game:
1) Shmel Soldier could be Russia’s counterpart to the Missile Defender, RPG Trooper and Tank Hunter. In reality, ROP weapon is only effective against light vehicles, but it might be more interesting to have a thermobaric-armed anti-tank infantry in the game rather than just another RPG or missile soldier.
Unlike other anti-armor infantry, Shmel Soldier would not be able to engage airborne targets. To compensate for this, Shmel Soldier would have the ability to clear out garrisoned buildings.
Against infantry, Shmel Soldier would employ the incendiary warhead. This warhead would create small firestorms wherever it hits. If Shmel Soldiers would be anti-tank infantry, their rate of fire against other infantry should be slow, preventing them from replacing Conscript’s as Russia’s basic anti-personal infantry.

2) Alternatively, Shmel Soldier could be Russia’s “heavy” infantry.
In that case, this unit would utilize its thermobaric or incendiary warhead for anti-personal and anti-building role but would be relatively poor at taking out armored vehicles. This would be closer to reality than the anti-tank role I suggested, but I am not sure if it would be very practical: in the game, infantry are rather easily disposed off and thus are not often used in base assaults, as would be the role of the anti-building Shmel Soldier.
Perhaps if a ROP unit is to be used as a heavy assault infantry it could have a smoke warhead in addition to the thermobaric or incendiary. The smoke warhead would cover the target in a cloud of smoke, blinding it and preventing it from fireing back (essentially, it would have a similar role to EMP and ECM weapons in the game). This might make the “heavy assault” soldier more survivable and thus more useful.

That is my opinion on adding ROP Shmel to the game. Below are some photos of real life “Shmel Soldiers”:






Also, an upgraded version of ROP exists called ROP-M as well as lighter & smaller counterpart to ROP known as MRO.