I would like to point out that the Comms Truck, as it stands, is about as much use as tits on a fish.

Don't get me wrong - I can understand that it would be very handy to block enemy radio calls by placing it just behind the front line. However, if you attempt to do so, some high-ranking player must sit in it continuously and babysit it; otherwise, the allied bot that will normally drive it (if no higher-ranked player commandeers it) will move it back into friendly territory. In doing so the truck often wanders through the battle in progress, and gets destroyed, thus knocking out comms for a time. This might be amusing the first time it happens, but it becomes very frustrating from there on.

Since the driver bot is usually Captain rank one would assume that they'd be experienced, and know where to put it, and where not to. But that isn't the case. The only sure winning strategy with the Comms Truck is to hide it as far from the front line as is possible, and preferably to block it into a corner with sandbags, so that the bot driver won't drive it into battle.

That makes it worse than useless - it's a liability.

Please could this be altered so that it becomes more functional, like the Spawn and Armory Trucks?

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2032&hilit=comms+truck&start=10#p12996


Probably not the best idea; the enemy AI doesn't use calls THAT much and they will attempt to destroy the truck if they get close.

Fair enough. Our opinions differ on whether it could be of use. Having seen the enemy AI regularly call in reinforcements (and make devastating artillery attacks on occasion), I would try to use any available option to gain an advantage.

I have tried to place the comms truck near the spawn/armory trucks (behind cover, obviously), and ALL trucks will get destroyed in the heat of battle, if the enemy gets too close. The other trucks, however, can only be moved by a player and destroyed because they were placed incorrectly (poor strategy on the part of players = destroyed trucks), whereas the comms truck AI acts either as a mischievous agent, or maliciously, as though it plays for the opposing team.

If I understand it correctly, the comms truck is basically just a gimmick whereby the enemy can deny the human player team of the ability to make radio calls for a while. Would that be a fair assumption?

No, not really. The enemy comms truck is a side objective for players. If you locate it and destroy it, the enemy comms will be down, which means their AI commander won't issue commands through to their bots, and their capacity goes 75% until the comms gets back up again. It's like a mobile radio tower.

This effectively means their attempts to attack stops for that time, and if you hit a base during this time, the enemy won't send reinforcements from other bases for defense. During this 3 minute time, you're nearly guaranteed to advance at least one base forward with the invasion, either at the main attack target or at a side base by your own squad's attack.

The reason the comms truck comes with a local radio jammer is that it would be far too easy to just call in a mortar strike from a safe distance to destroy the comms truck you've located. Instead we want you to attack it with nades and bazookas or organize a roadblock for its potential fleeing routes once you've found it.

Likewise, against the friendly faction, when your comms goes down, you may actually need to defend the frontline base for a while as your commander won't be getting orders through to your fellow bots.

This is all good information, some of which I didn't fully understand since I haven't seen it described so comprehensively on the wiki. Thank you for that.

However, I still think the Comms Truck is pointless for human players to interact with as it stands. Blow up the opponent's truck, sure - makes perfect sense. But drive your own team's? Like I said, I see it as a liability, since it just won't stay where you park it, unless the AI wants it there too.

PS - will we ever see the Radar Tank appear in-game, or is it deemed to be too overpowered?