M1 Tank Platoon II

[Polak2]

Great insights and memories RG! Thanks.

Here is another great and revealing piece by Ssnake from SB1 manual on how is difficult to convey and simulate real "tanking" on PC :

PHYSICAL STRESS

You don’t have to do hard labor on your PC. A tank crew member has to do a lot of manual labor. Each round weighs about 25 kilograms, and there are 42 to load into a tank. The loader will jump in and out of the tank numerous times a day.

The whole crew will probably sleep only two to four hours a day for weeks. It stinks.

It’s loud inside a tank. You may not wash yourself for days, and then you get some ice cubes instead of a warm and comfortable shower. The rolling motion of the moving tank might cause nausea -- somebody’s barfing into a rubber boot, but the tank won’t stop. Boring routine for hours, days, even weeks.

Then an enemy attack, all of a sudden. And it’s over even before you fully realize that there was a threat to your life!

If you care to simulate the routine day of a tanker, here’s what you can do. (Take care to avoid all social contact, though, or you may find yourself under sedation in a rubber room.) Once you’re alone, stop washing for a couple of days19. Then start 19 OK, if it’s absolutely necessary, use a bowl of ice water. Shave yourself with a blade, but no foam! Use face paint afterward, and diesel fuel as a deodorant.

Exercise by repeatedly climbing some dressers in your bedroom. Fold yourself into a locker for a few hours, and then start weight-lifting your 17“ monitor. Avoid sleeping for more than three hours per day - in the locker, of course! Use duct tape and fix yourself to your seat.