I would not seperate the driver from the turret. Only one person buys the tank, so that one person should be able to use it. I would rather reduce the effectiveness of the tank if it will not or can not get two gunners. There's nothing wrong with a solo operated HAV. But it should be measurably weaker than a crew operated HAV.

My proposal:
1. Slightly increase the effectivity of small turrets against infantry. We need people to want to crew a tank.
2. Slightly decrease the effectivity of large turrets against infantry. We want tankers to want a crew.
3. Reduce the capabilities of a tank without the crew. I've suggested in the past to give a -10% rate of fire and a -20% scan radius for each unoccupied seat. So the tank is slightly weaker and blind without his crew. I think this would match a quasi-reality as the crew could help load the main turret as well as scan the battlefield.

In the end you still have a tank that is formidable with a solo operator. But, with a crew, it's a war machine deserving AV teamwork to take down.

my tank has no small guns, it is largely due to PG constraints and given the opportunity I would probably put back the top gun and ditch the front gunners position.

I've gotten bad gunners over and over again and completely understand the motives of anyone who said bucket and removed all their smalls.

small gunners are really useful and yes I did cater to them when the situation presents it self. however neither gun is well placed on the tank.

the top gun can't track down far enough to to be useful in short to mid range combat and smalls are really bad at any range at all, so unless your target was above you(in which case it is likely that they are protected by a railing) it is essentially useless, another strike against the top gun is that is off center of the main turret rendering tracking with both simultaneously turrets nearly impossible.

the front gun is worse than the top gun, the front gun's only saving grace is that is substantially more accurate than the to gun due to the a fore mentioned placement issue. it's field of fire is horrendous and catering to it very often endangers the integrity of the tank. the full 360 movement ability of the main turret means that broadsiding your target is possible and if the situation arises you can pull transversal on any threat perpendicular to your tank often breaking line of sight. facing your enemy so that the front gunner can line up shots is preferable however if a threat arises the only means of escape is to eliminate the threat or reverse which never breaks line of sight and can't take advantage of transversal.

there is one situation where pulling forward into the enemy lines in a blitz is a viable option and in fact preferable to any other maneuver. in the case that you are facing enemy lines and parked, good squad leaders will often plant an orbital on the back end of the tank because allied infantry often use the tank for cover and many tankers first instinct is to full reverse out of danger and into their own lines. this gives the squad leader a 2 for 1 taking out the panicked driver who reversed further into the OB and his infantry support.

there is of course the human element of having gunners, I have had excellent gunners but more often than not I get very, very bad gunners. the guy AFKing in my top turret(the semi useful one), the impatient blueberry in the front gun firing very angrily at nothing in my front gun because I'm not lining up shots for him, as doing so would endanger the tank. the ******* shooting at blues for sport, the guy who refuses to leave so I can recall the tank. the guy who doesn't understand the basics of tanking and shoots at nothing giving my position to the whole wide world while I wait for favorable conditions to engage. the guy frantically switching seats trying to get the drivers seat(he's probably moving to fast to notice if he actually got it).

I've spent a lot of time tanking and gunning for other tankers, I hope that this helps the community at large understand the decisions we make with our machinery and why we do what we do how we do it.(say that last bit 5 times fast for extra fun!)

and I hope this post helps at least some people realize that while tanking may be EZmode now, good tankers put a lot of thought into when and how they move.

Not sure is serious or...