Critical Kill Components
Vehicle kills in WWIIOL do not always represent kills of the player crewing the vehicle you killed, just as in the real war a kill is determined by either the kill of the crew in the vehicle or a kill of the vehicles ability to continue to function in the pursuit of it's basic mission objective.
For example, a tank needs to be able to drive around and shoot other tanks, primarily ... or support infantry with it's gun ... so if you remove it's ability to drive around and shoot, or either of those functions, you have scored a kill. The player crewing the vehicle could well still be alive and not have a kill scored against him at the same time as you get a kill for killing his vehicle. Crew RTB status is based on being alive. Vehicle kill status is based on whether or not the vehicle sustained critical damage or not and it's ability to continue it's basic mission objective after that damage was sustained. Naturally, what represents a "kill" on a vehicle is thus variable depending on how it was damaged and what it's basic mission function is.
Critical Kill components for vehicles are:
Tanks, Scout Cars and armed AFV's
- Engine out (immobile)
- Main Gun out (primary offensive capability disabled)
- Driver dead (immobile)
- Gunner dead (primary offensive capability disabled)
- Vehicle tracked (immobile)
Aircraft
- Engine out (immobilized after landing)
- Guns out (primary offensive capability disabled)
- Pilot dead (immobilized)
- Wing damaged catastrophically (and no longer attached to aircraft)
- Rear fuselage damaged catastrophically (and no longer attached to the aircraft)
- Rear stabilizers (vertical and horizontal) damaged catastrophically (and no longer attached to the aircraft)
- Propeller heavily damaged (immobilized or soon will be after you crash it)
Boats
- Engine out (immobilized)
- Main guns out (primary offensive capability disabled) this means all guns on the boat, except port and starboard LMGs on Fairmiles
- Boat sinks (flotation damage catastrophic)
Trucks/Halftracks, whether armed or not
- Engine out (immobilized)
- Tracks or wheels destroyed (all of them) - immobilized
- Gunner (if applicable) dead
AT/AA Guns
- Both crew members dead (obvious)
- Gun out (primary offensive capability disabled)