Maybe it’ll work maybe not, but how cool would it be if you had a designated slot for a Destroyer (USS liberty).
Basically an artillery operator but more fancy.
Weapons.
Artillery gun (Hammer).
Cruise missiles.
1 Patreon Ciws.
Deployable.
2 assault boats (for Infantry only).
Bobcat repair/rearm.
Rules.
Destroyer operator must not leave the boat.
Destroy operator must not use any other Drones except the ones supplied on destroyer.
Any friendly fire caused by the destroyer is the operators responsibility.
Operator mustn’t launch any cruise missile carelessly on any lasers detected.
Operator must not lunch/fire any weapons if people are on the weapons deck.
While I would love to see this, it’s quite a dangerous play to make and would almost guarantee friendly fire to occur. One issue I see already is rule 5, being that it is on altis, players already have a tendency to always manage to be in places they shouldn’t(i.e. halo jumping directly on top of heavily populated AO with no blue around and active CAS strikes) so players running around on the destroyer wouldn’t surprise me. It would also require a huge amount of coordination with the ground forces or an air unit to ensure an active laser, and to ensure your missile does not lock to another, for instance if a JTAC is KIA or a UAV is destroyed mid flight, I’m not quite sure, but I would fear a bulldog or bad hit. Having a hammer present would be an interesting addition, similar to how Tanoa has it’s own artillery presence. However the issue at large is if you fire 2 rounds towards a distant AO with 1 minute of flight on a good target, it’s possible 30 seconds into flight 2 guys halo jump onto that position and by the time they hit the ground they are dead and it’s your fault. Mortars already run that risk with a 30 second flight time, and it’s concerning enough. The idea behind a dedicated destroyer is something I’d love to get behind, but practicality and reality is something I feel that will prevent this, especially on Altis
Yeah I understand some of the points, especially the travel time of ordinance. But the side mission (capture USS Liberty) does give the Hammer and cruise missile to the UAV operator until the mission is complete. I have used these to complete side missions that have either been abandoned or ignored, especially the side mission at Limni (swamps) as the long grass and that makes it annoyingly difficult.
While I’m not a huge fan of having the Liberty as a full time player asset (we already can utilize the cruise missiles on the liberty if it is captured by players when it spawns, making it a reward for capturing the ship), I feel like a dedicated artillery piece could be a huge asset for the Altis server if it were utilized properly.
The issue you described could be simply addressed by requiring artillery to work with a spotter/fire coordinator that is actively marking the map with zones where incoming fire is expected, and at that point people are jumping in at their own peril.
I actually am a fan of the artillery piece being a white listed piece of equipment that requires NAK Elite or prior approval for people to use, as well as being a required TS slot similar to being a pilot.