I just thought that the avarage PC party 0f 4-6 is the perfect size for a tank crew which allows for lots of fun considering most crews in books are runnning around in penny packets so being atached to a guard regit is possiabel 

1. Commander
2. Gunner
3. Loader
4. Driver

This is a modern western tank crew additon of a radio operator give you a ww2 crew I can see extra gunners and Mech as well in a large 40k tank?
what do people thing allows for all sorts of ideas and keeps the size small and focused One probleam is of course TPK is a much easier propositon.

For a Lemun Russ or similar class tank... remembering what I read in Gunheads this sounds about right.  Though a Cadian story in the Guard Omnibus describes the inside of at least one Baneblade class (a Stormblade if I remember correctly) tank during the recovery of the Fortress of Arrogance... remember it sounded like there was nearly eight seperate positions on it and most of them pulled double duty as gunners.

 For a Leman Russ the crew is:
Commander, Gunner, Driver, Loader, 2 Sponson Gunners


For a Bane Blade the crew is:
Commander, Driver, 3 Gunners, 3 Loaders, Comms-Operator, Engineer

Santiago said:

For the Leman Russ I would have thought there would be a hull gunner (who is also pressumbly navigator or comms opperator) which is not optional like the sponsons.

For the Baneblade I count 5 gunners at least (I think I remember the sponsons opperate both the H bolters and the Las-cannons), driver, comander and maybe 2 loaders for the BC and Demolisher cannon.

 The problem I see with this is that playing a loader may be one of the most boring combat PC's possible, same with commander really, as they won't have much to do.

Driver and gunner could work, but it seems easier to have some tankers along with supporting infantry.

The Commander can open up the top for when he wants to open fire with the pintle mounted weapon.

Or hit someone with his sword. :)

SomVone said:

I mentioned this in another thread but it is appropriate here:

Crewing an Armored vehicle is much like crewing a naval vessel in many respects. Each crew member has a dedicated role in combat and none are irrelevant or unimportant. To use the Leman Russ as an example:

4 crew (Per IG Codex) Tank commander, Gunner, Driver, and loader (As earlier suggested).

The Tank Commander directs the rest of the crew and is responsible Identifying and prioritizing targets in combat "Driver halt! Target Tank; Eldar wave serpent, 035, range 400!"

The Gunner is responsible for positioning and firing the main weapon. "Target Aquired:Tank 400"

The Driver controls the movement of the tank and controls the forward hull mounted weapons. "All stop! Lascannon hot! Engaging target!"

The Loader   also serves as the Radioman and controls any Sponson servitors "Round up! Boss; Command says there's infantry prowling about! Uncaging sponsons!

Doesn't sound boring to me!

I would just relegate the loader to being an NPC.

 Like I say, I'm a lot happier with the 'everyone is a captain' model from Star Trek online, with all the players controlling a tank commander. 

 'The Party' then forms a tank troop of 3-5 tanks, which is a nice independent tactical unit.

AluminiumWolf said:

Like we debated in the other thread: Your method is valid but I think it would only work w/ higher lvl characters. For lower lvl PC's I would stick w/ the single tank crew model.

Personally, I think I'd rather the abstract tank crew. Numerous characters aren't going to have anything to do with a tank, and might only be near one that was a Chimera they rode in. Having a character with the Drive skill, to do so, would be nice, and if you need to operate the lasgun-mounts, or such, okay, but if your character will be a tank, such as a Leman Russ, then I think I'd rather that each was a tank, and you just run it, and the NPCs, like a one-man crew tank. Then, your characters who aren't tanky, say your stealth-based sniper team, or your Ogryn Assault Squad, can still do their thing, while you bring down the sky with a Leman Russ's battle cannon. Having all your party in a tank, with one doing the occasional Drive test, two shooting guns, and one barking orders at them just isn't as fun to me, when your party could be more efficient spreading out, each doing their specialty, and feeling more like they are the victorious army, rather than one tank in it, that happened to blow a tread. Also, if my first wish is granted, and they balance out weapons, so that they can ding/boom vehicles, without killing infantry just for watching you reload, some tanks might not be the best place to stow the whole party. A melta-bomb that works on the side of your Hellhound might spell doom for you all, as the blast fills the tank with death, and the survivors, if any, then watch as the promethium stores detonate, sending you physically rocketing to the Emperor's bossum.

Anyway, that's my two bits; make one character a "tank operator", who pilots, barks, and shoots, and leave the rest to slog it on foot, where their specialties can still apply. Otherwise it's kind of like Star Wars RPG, to me. In that, I will either build an Ace Pilot, and strike fear in the Imperial Navy with my invincible starfighter, OR I build a powerful Jedi, and strike fear into the Imperial ground troops with my bringing justice back to the Republic. The two don't particularly mix well, and characters who aren't dedicated pilots, called upon to act like they are, often fail, while fighter aces on foot suck. It's good to know which style you will be in, first, and build accordingly. Hopefully, this game will understand that, and allow a character to operate a tank, more or less as an extension of themselves, sort of how a Dreadnought works (yes, I am well aware that a great deal more goes into making a Dreadnought work, but it's the principle of the thing), and let the other players do their thing, whether that's drive their own tanks, scout ahead and paint strike spots for distant Basilisks, or shore up behind a wall, and pour heavy fire into enemy infantry, while someone is coordinating all of this with a beautiful string of orders that show why the Guard has been enough, over the millennia, to hold onto the Imperium, even when the Space Marines are too busy fighting the handful of epic fights that the Guard couldn't handle.

Radwraith said:

You could start off  being a really bad tank commander with a really little tank...

:o)

AluminiumWolf said:

Ok! You got me there!

Honestly though: The other problem I have with a one man tank is that turns a single character into something FAR MORE powerful than an Astartes! If I'm going to run that kind of game than the players might as well play SM's! (Not that that's necessarily a bad thing!) As I said though; The single man tank model is as valid as my tank crew method. It's just a question of the style of game you wish to run.

 Dude. It is just a tank! They made something like 300,000 of them in the Second World War. The Imperium is going to be swimming in tanks. And anti-tank weapons.

AluminiumWolf said:

Dude! I get it: Top speed 29 - 70 kph Armor such that most weapons carried by most creatures in the Galaxy will not touch it! Enough firepower to to Destroy enemy armor, Level structures and annihilate hordes of infantry in a single round! It's a Tank! It is not a medieval Knight's Warhorse (Although it actually fills the same roll on the battlefield.)! I am not saying that there are not plenty of them to go around. Fluff sources put their numbers in the millions! That means that there are many more of event the Leman russ tank in service than there are SM's total! While you may wish your group to be the commanders of a platoon of these beasts I would rather they didn't each have there own destructo engine! (Especially at lower lvls!) Either way is good but that's my opinion.

Peace