Vickers

History

Vickers Mk.VI
Specifications
Type	Light Armored Fighting Vehicle
Armament	Main gun: Vickers .50 machine gun Coax MG: Vickers .303 cal machine gun
Crew	3 (Driver, Commander, Gunner)
Weight	4,877kg
Top Speed	51km/h

Main Gun Optics
Specifications
Designation	No.30
Magnification	x1.9
Field of View	21°

During the real World War Two Battle of France period, the Vickers Mark.VI actually formed the bulk of Britain’s tank forces in this very early period of the war. It was intended to be deployed as a reconnaissance vehicle and to be used mainly for colonial low-intensity conflicts and police type actions. To this end, it was meant for infantry support only … the light armor of the Vickers couldn’t stand up to even close range AP light machinegun (LMG) fire. Because of the grave situation faced by having insufficient heavier armoured tanks, many were thereby thrust into the role of being light battle tanks, with predictably high casualties. Also note that the .50 caliber machinegun of the Vickers Mk.VI is not the impressive M2 .50 cal. later brought into the war by the Americans, but the earlier Vickers British design with similar .50 caliber barrel diameter but much poorer performance than the famous “Ma Deuce” Browning M2 heavy machine gun (HMG) … the Vickers can however, perform well as a stand in anti-aircraft vehicle and this makes the Vickers perhaps a little more valuable if you see it as a pseudo AA tank rather than a “real” anti-tank vehicle like most other tanks are.

Game Play

The Vickers is a nimble, quick vehicle which can maintain high speeds off road as well as on. Its green coloring makes it hard to spot in any sort of broken brush or against a tree-line, which is handy because the Vickers when shot at by almost anything is straight away in a bit of trouble. If what is shooting at you is heavier in firepower than a rifle, “a bit of trouble” can quickly become “a lot of death” so be warned everything is going to try and kill you. The concentrated machinegun fire can provide infantry suppressive fire in addition to some self-propelled anti-aircraft capability. Used in support of an infantry assault, this can be effective but the fountain of tracer fire will also attract enemy attention to your position like a vulture to road kill. This will mean a short life span for the Vickers. The Vickers can provide good support for AT guns or other weapons that need to keep away defending or attacking infantry in the field, having the standard AFV commander’s binoculars means it will help spot approaching enemies and sometimes this is its finest role, providing armoured protection for AT and AA guns in the field. The .50 cal has a lot of dispersion, which means long bursts are required to be effective. While it has trouble protecting itself from virtually any form of enemy attack, it is useful as a source of suppressive and defensive firepower for your attacking infantry, in backing up AT and AA guns and particularly in a defensive perimeter you wish to hold against enemy assault. Used in conjunction with infantry Anti-Tank guns in particular, it makes a handy combined arms vehicle, it just isn’t super capable on its own because it can easily be overwhelmed by the enemy in particular if that enemy is actually a tank or armoured car. Against dedicated AT crews who are trained to kill heavier “real” tanks the Vicky has no chance of survival. You’ll need to be wary of enemy aircraft, enemy tanks, enemy AT crews and even enemy AA crews who can and will make a mess of your shiny new Vickers with the AP rounds they will send your way with very deadly effect.

The Vickers Mk.VIB is available from tier 0.

History

Vickers Mk.VI
Specifications
Type	Light Armored Fighting Vehicle
Armament	Main gun: Vickers 15mm heavy machine gun Coax 7.92 Besa LMG
Crew	3 (Driver, Commander, Gunner)
Weight	4,877kg
Top Speed	51km/h

Main Gun Optics
Specifications
Designation	No.30
Magnification	x1.9
Field of View	21°

During the real World War Two Battle of France period, the Vickers Mark.VI actually formed the bulk of Britain’s tank forces in this very early period of the war. It was intended to be deployed as a reconnaissance vehicle and to be used mainly for colonial low-intensity conflicts and police type actions. To this end, it was meant for infantry support only … the light armor of the Vickers couldn’t stand up to even close range AP light machinegun (LMG) fire. Because of the grave situation faced by having insufficient heavier armoured tanks, many were thereby thrust into the role of being light battle tanks, with predictably high casualties. The .50 caliber machinegun of the Vickers Mk.VI, was an earlier Vickers British design with similar .50 caliber barrel diameter but much poorer performance than the famous “Ma Deuce” Browning M2 heavy machine gun (HMG)> This lead to the up gunning of the VIC equipping it with a 15mm Besa Heavy Machine gun. The VIC was also the first British tank to be equipped with the highly successful 7.92 Besa LMG which was adopted for almost all British tank designs.

Game Play

The Vickers is a nimble, quick vehicle which can maintain high speeds off road as well as on. Its green coloring makes it hard to spot in any sort of broken brush or against a tree-line, which is handy because the Vickers when shot at by almost anything is straight away in a bit of trouble. If what is shooting at you is heavier in firepower than a rifle, “a bit of trouble” can quickly become “a lot of death” so be warned everything is going to try and kill you. The concentrated machinegun fire can provide infantry suppressive fire in addition to some self-propelled anti-aircraft capability. Used in support of an infantry assault, this can be effective but the fountain of tracer fire will also attract enemy attention to your position like a vulture to road kill. This will mean a short life span for the Vickers. The Vickers can provide good support for AT guns or other weapons that need to keep away defending or attacking infantry in the field, having the standard AFV commander’s binoculars means it will help spot approaching enemies and sometimes this is its finest role, providing armoured protection for AT and AA guns in the field. The 15mm Heavy Machine gun means you can take on the lightest armour German vehicles buts its still not recommended. While it has trouble protecting itself from virtually any form of enemy attack, it is useful as a source of suppressive and defensive firepower for your attacking infantry, in backing up AT and AA guns and particularly in a defensive perimeter you wish to hold against enemy assault. Used in conjunction with infantry Anti-Tank guns in particular, it makes a handy combined arms vehicle, it just isn’t super capable on its own because it can easily be overwhelmed by the enemy in particular if that enemy is actually a tank or armoured car. Against dedicated AT crews who are trained to kill heavier “real” tanks the Vicky has no chance of survival. You’ll need to be wary of enemy aircraft, enemy tanks, enemy AT crews and even enemy AA crews who can and will make a mess of your shiny new Vickers with the AP rounds they will send your way with very deadly effect.

The Vickers Mk.VIC is available from tier 0.