Tow's aav7 version 1.1 released

[theavonlady 2]

News at OFP CZ.

Problems I noticed.

1. raise/lower blade action is available even from outside the vehicle.

2. there's a flashing texture on the back of the left hand side.

[bonko the sane 2]

Good job TOW!

Btw...does that front blade affect vehicle phisics when up/down? Does it change front armour value or it improves speed in water?

[Sxep 0]

Hmm They must have set the Wrong DL on opf.cz

There is no Front plate....

[(T)r@cer 1]

The animated bowplane is for use in the water.

We haven't noticed the flashing texture bug so it will be fixed in version 2. About the bowplane animation... this is a problem with lots of addons, but we will see what we can do.

Before anyone starts asking about why we didn't add animated cargo door, new exterior textures... etc. etc. here is a list of version 2.0:

- bugs found in version 1.1 will be fixed

- animated cargo door and more

- new exterior textures

- both woodland and desert versions

- Tags will be added

Lots of people asked for the tags and our goal was to add them in this version. Renaming and retexturing the model is a lot of work, so we decided to release it now and not in a few weeks. Its not really important now since there are no other AAV7's out there, but it will be added in version 2.0.

Let us know if someone found more bugs or if someone has suggestions for version 2.0. Thanks.

[Sxep 0]

Ahh my fault. i had 2 pbo´s of the old version in different MOD folders..sorry

[ruff 102]

well i hoped at least the avv7 can withstand one rpg rocket

the last one was too strong now this is just standard

does anyone know if the real avv7 can withstand a rpg?

i m just dissapointed that the avv7 has a low armour value

in a normal mission it will die like theres no tommorow

i just hoped it was gonna have an amour value of the t72 or the m60

[miles teg 1]

You're kidding right??? The AAV-7 only has 30mm of armor and that's only on the most armored areas of its hull like on the front. It most definitely WILL NOT withstand a hit a from an RPG. In real life there are only a small handful of IFV's that can withstand hits from an RPG-7. As far as I know only the Israeli Zelda APC, the American Bradley IFV, and possibly the uparmored British Warrior can withstand hits from an RPG-7. One of the biggest losses for the Marines during the Iraq invasion was when one of their AAV-7's full of troops took a direct hit from an RPG-7. It blew the APC wide open like a sardine can with the top pulled off. Not a pretty site. The AAV-7 like the standard M113 was designed as a light APC with just enough armor to withstand artilerry shrapenl, small arms and heavy machine gun fire. It also has superior amphibious qualities compared to the M113 and provides a good ship to shore assault platform for Marines. It's duel .50 cal and Mk-19 weapons turret also provides good cover for disembarking Marines as well.

At any rate, if you don't want to get hit by RPG-7's then you need to use proper combined arms tactics with infantry acting as a screening force to keep the enemy RPG-7's at bay. Keep the AAV-7 farther away out of range of the RPG gunners. If you're driving the AAV-7 just keep the pedal to the metal and hopefully the RPG gunners will miss.

So in other words, don't try to use the AAV-7 like a tank because its not. The same goes for the Bradley, BMP's, and M113.

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[ruff 102]

You're kidding right???   The AAV-7 only has 30mm of armor and that's only on the most armored areas of its hull like on the front.  It most definitely WILL NOT withstand a hit a from an RPG.   In real life there are only a small handful of IFV's that can withstand hits from an RPG-7.  As far as I know only the Israeli Zelda APC, the American Bradley IFV, and possibly the uparmored British Warrior can withstand hits from an RPG-7.     One of the biggest losses for the Marines during the Iraq invasion was when one of their AAV-7's full of troops took a direct hit from an RPG-7.  It blew the APC wide open like a sardine can with the top pulled off.   Not a pretty site.   The AAV-7 like the standard M113 was designed as a light APC with just enough armor to withstand artilerry shrapenl, small arms and heavy machine gun fire.  It also has superior amphibious qualities compared to the M113 and provides a good ship to shore assault platform for Marines.  It's duel .50 cal and Mk-19 weapons turret also provides good cover for disembarking Marines as well.  

At any rate, if you don't want to get hit by RPG-7's then you need to use proper combined arms tactics with infantry acting as a screening force to keep the enemy RPG-7's at bay.  Keep the AAV-7 farther away out of range of the RPG gunners.  If you're driving the AAV-7 just keep the pedal to the metal and hopefully the RPG gunners will miss.  

So in other words, don't try to use the AAV-7 like a tank because its not.  The same goes for the Bradley, BMP's, and M113.  

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

so its just used as normal apcs

protect ppl from bullets???

its armoured plating right???

coz if its not mite aswell get a humvee

thanks for the info

watta about the bradley??

[miles teg 1]

Well there's a world of difference between a humvee and a AAV-7. The Humvee don't float and can't carry nearly as many infantry soldiers in it. It also has the nice duel weapons platform on it which none of the Humvees in OFP have.

The Bradley in OFP is the same way. Usually one hit from any RPG or LAW rocket in the game and it's toast. Same for the BMP's.

However in real life the Bradley's have extra armor plates (said to be made of depleted uranium like on the M1A1) that provide protection against RPG-7's along it's front and side. The turret I'm not sure about, and more then likely the rear and top armor is not resistant to RPG rockets. But keep in mind that even tanks like the T-55 and T-62 can be destroyed with RPG-7's. Even the T-72 can be destroyed from top and rear hits from RPG rockets. That kinda puts things in perspective.

Look at it this way. The realistic armor levels forces you to use the same tactics used by mechanized forces in real life.

However with that said, hopefully the BAS Bradleys in their upcoming desert pack will be RPG resistant where they can at least take one hit without getting destroyed.

Likewise if the Lost Brothers mod team make a Zelda I hope that they also give it the ability to survive an RPG attack.

But back to this addon, I just wanted to say that I think this new version of the AAV-7 is AWESOME!!! It looks MUCH MUCH better and is now much more realistic. I like the animated bow plate. Excellent work!!! This addon has been a long time coming and it was worth the wait. You all should be very proud of yourselves!!!

Keep up the awesome work! I can't wait for the next version of this great addon!

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[Eviscerator 0]

I believe even an M1A2 was knocked out by an RPG-7 on a stroll through Baghdad, it was shown on the news with Iraqi's jumping all over it.

[miles teg 1]

That was most likely a mobility kill. They showed the wreckage from many different angles and I could not see any holes in it. However the tracks were blown off on one side suggesting a mobility kill. In addition, the ammo storage area had the roof panels blown off suggesting also that a RPG may have penetrated the roof armor and set off the ammunition. But fortunately for the crew, the M1 is designed with armored ammo doors inside and with "blow-off" roof panels that are designed to channel the explosion up and out of the turret. But who knows for sure how it was taken out. For all I know it could have been a big AT mine or stacked AT mines that set it off. That's how the Palistinians for example, have taken out Merkava tanks...although in their case I believe they used a home made giant shape charged explosive set off manually.

So yeah, there are lots of ways to kill or immobolize even the toughest tanks but I don't think a RPG-7 penetrated the front, side, or even rear armor on the M1.

We'll probably never know as most of the after-action reports will likely be classified for many years. However I'm sure other countries are sending in fact-finding teams to interview ex-Iraqi soldiers to learn what they experienced going up against a modern Army and what worked and what didn't work.

The Russians especially I'm sure are very interested because when they tried similar tactics in in the capital of Chechnya, their tank columns were massacred. If I was a military analyst I'd love to compare the initial assault on Grozni with the assault on Baghdad.

Interestingly enough, the AAV-7's played a key role in that assault, yet I don't believe the Marines lost any of them in Baghdad. Either the Iraqi soldiers were so poorly trained as to realize how vulnerable those big APC's were, or the Marines used effective coutnermeasures to suppress RPG gunners... afterall the Marines are VERY well trained in urban warfare.

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[johnnylump 0]

Quote[/b] ]The realistic armor levels forces you to use the same tactics used by mechanized forces in real life.

That's the beauty of OFP, ain't it? You aren't artificially forced to use particular tactics by some kind of rock-paper-scissors game engine, but real-life tactics instead naturally lend themselves to the real-life engine.

And go Spurs.

[Cpt. FrostBite 0]

on the merkava tank;

a big aircraft bomb was used to destroy the tank. The blast left the merkava upside-down. If I remember correctly a fire inside the tank killed the crew (they couldn't get out).

The attack was a very well planned ambush a merkava tank.

[theavonlady 2]

on the merkava tank;

a big aircraft bomb was used to destroy the tank.

No. As Miles said, it was a home brewed +/-100 kilo charge that penetrated the weaker underbelly of the tank.

[Cpt. FrostBite 0]

ok than,

guess you know more about it than some guy watching the news about 10000 miles away. Thanks for the info.

almost forgot;

great aav7

[Sxep 0]

on the merkava tank;

a big aircraft bomb was used to destroy the tank. The blast left the merkava upside-down. If I remember correctly a fire inside the tank killed the crew (they couldn't get out).

The attack was a very well planned ambush a merkava tank.

poor guy´s.

[Cloney 0]

Jesus, being trapped in a burning tank is a terrible way to go.

[munger 25]

Jesus, being trapped in a burning tank is a terrible way to go.

Every tanker's nightmare.

[Sxep 0]

i could imagine.

[Shashman 0]

That's why you'll never find me in a tank

Great job on the AAV7 btw

[NZXSHADOWS 0]

Suicide

[Sxep 0]

I would prefer a AttackChopper

[coporal_punishment 0]

About the aav7 do you people notice that the whole turrent moves up and down and not the weapons. if you knosw what i mean. Is this meant to happen like that ??

[jprtech 0]

The turret movement will be fixed in version 2.0.

I remember now, that on a real aav7 turret, the guns move up and down and the turret only rotates. I also plan to animate the water jets and side louvers so when the aav7 enters the water the covers open and the jets start spinning. I will have to figure out how to write a script to automate this. I also would like to have the bowplane raise and lower automatically depending on the aav7 position to water. Probably gonna have to be based on elevation.

Anyway, thanks for all the complements on the AAV7. It has taken me a year to get this thing realesed. (The joys of a family and full time job.) Its been a pleasure to read all the comments on the forums.

I wish the textures were better. Textures were derived from actual photos. If anyone has better photos of an AAV7 (especially you jarheads that have digital cameras) and would like to submit them, you can email them to tdijkema@hotmail.com. That would be great!

In the mean time.. Semper Fi!

Rothy - TOW modeler

former CPL USMC 1988-1996

[Red Unit 0]

Very nice addon. A large step over v1.0