We recently introduced a new feature in the form of deployable heavy weapons into Hotmod 1968. These allow smaller heavy weapons, like machinegun tripods, mortars and other man-portable heavy weapons, to be packed up (usually into what we call 'gunbags') and carried. This gives them a big advantage in terms of mobility, as they don't need to be towed and can go anywhere an infantryman can, including the back of an APC. For those familiar with Arma 3, the concept is taken from that game.
These heavy weapons come deployed by a teams of two, one soldier carrying the packed-up backpack, and an assistant.
To deploy the weapon, select the soldier carrying the item. When selected you will find a new option in the 'Emplacement options' menu of the control panel, 'Deploy Heavy Weapon':
Selecting this will bring up the build interface (like when building foxholes or planting mines) with a small tripod cursor and a ghosted image of the heavy weapon. Left-clicking and then dragging allows you to change the orientation of the weapon:
Releasing will then send the soldier over to deploy the weapon:
Once a heavy weapon is deployed, the soldier will automatically enter it - his assistant however will not, so you'll have to order him to as well.
Heavy weapons can then be disassembled and turned back into a gunbag with a new button in the center of the control panel, 'Disassemble Heavy Weapon':
Clicking this option will quickly pack up the heavy weapon into a backpack. If the heavy weapon was manned by a soldier when clicked, he will pick up the bag automatically. If not, it will remain as a bag on the ground and can be manually picked up (via the 'Take' command in the Item options control panel menu of a selected soldier)
It's that simple! Deployable heavy weapons give an added layer of tactical flexibility for your forces. When in deployed form they can still be moved around like any other crewed weapon, but the ability to turn them into bags means they can easily be transported by APCs or helicopters.
The list of deployable heavy weapons is pretty small. It includes most heavy machinegun tripods (whether 7.62 or .50 cal) as well as light (50mm-80mm) mortars and some smaller recoilless rifles like the B-10 and M20, as well as 1st gen ATGMs (see their own guide here) and in the future will include other weapons like MILAN and AT-4 Spigot missiles.
Until next time!
