Challenger II User Manual

Thank you and congratulations on your purchase of The Omega Concern's Challenger II Main Battle Tank. Please read this manual before using your new tank.

The Omega Concern is dedicated to producing quality work at affordable prices, and we support everything we sell. All of our products are designed with the balance of impact on sim performance and ease of use in mind. If you find one of our products to be causing lag, behaving in unexpected ways, or otherwise being a pest, we need to know so we can correct it.

You are eligible for all upgrades on this version, being version 1. Also, your feedback is valued! If there's something you love, hate, or just think would be better if it were just a little different, we want to know. Your input directly influences the course of development and future features of Omega Concern products.

About the Challenger II

The Omega Concern's Challenger II is a model and simulation of the main battle tank designed and manufactured by Vickers Defence Systems, since acquired by BAE Systems Land & Armaments. The Challenger II is a third-generation tank, equipped with the latest in detection and targeting technology, weapons, and armour. Aside from the United Kingdom, the Challenger II is also currently in service with the armed forces of Oman.

The Omega Concern is not affiliated with, nor endorsed by Vickers Defence Systems, BAE Systems Land & Armaments, or any other company involved in the design, production or manufacture of the Challenger II series or its weapon systems.   All trademarks and copyrights are and remain the property of their respective owners.

1. Unpacking and Setup
   
   
   1. Package Contents
      
      The Challenger comes in a fabulous box. Don't feel threatened or insecure by this box. You will need to rez it and select "Open".
      
      
      
      Press the button "Copy To Inventory", and you will now have a new folder in your inventory named "Challenger II 1.0 (Boxed)" (or similar) which will contain the items from the box.
      
      
   2. Rezzing the Challenger
      
      The Challenger is a mesh model, which means you will need a viewer capable of displaying mesh. The standard SL viewer is one such option, as are several others on the Third Party Viewer Directory.
      
      To rez the vehicle, simply drag the object named "Challenger II 1.0" from the folder in your inventory to an open area, bearing in mind that the vehicle has a footprint of about 13 by 5 meters, and you will need 160 prims free on the parcel. This vehicle uses no avatar attachments with the exception of the on-screen head-up display.
      
      It is best to rez a new copy of the vehicle from inventory for each use and deleting it when done, as opposed to taking one in-world back into inventory and reusing it.
      
      
2. Driver/Commander and Gunner Roles
   
   
   1. Driver/Commander
      
      The driver/commander is primarily interested in driving the tank, maneuvering in response to threats, and setting up the vehicle such that the weapons can be utilized against targets. In the case of a single operator of the Challenger, the driver/commander will also assume gunner duties.
      
      
   2. Gunner
      
      The gunner operates the 120mm L30A1 rifled cannon and 7.62mm coaxial machine gun.
      
      
   3. Driver-Gunner Handoff
      
      The driver (being the owner of the vehicle) can assume gunner control, or in the case of a two-person crew, can assign it to or withdraw it from the gunner, as described below in Operation 3.3.7.
      
      
3. Operation
   
   
   1. Getting in and out
      
      
      1. Driver/Commander: The driver/commander boards the Challenger by right-clicking on the vehicle body and selecting "Board" (Some viewers may simply show "Sit Here" which serves the same function).
         
         
      2. Gunner: The gunner follows the same procedure as described for the driver/commander, but must get into the vehicle after the driver/commander has, and must do so before the driver/commander has started the engine.
         
         Getting back out of the tank may be accomplished by simply hitting the "Stand up" button, but everyone will laugh at you and call you a noob. Use the "EGRESS" button on the HUD, which stands for "egress" and is explained below.
         
         
   2. The HUD/MPD
      
      All of the vehicle's systems are controlled by the HUD/MPD (Head-up Display/Multi-Purpose Display) which is also used to convey information about the vehicle. If you don't already have it attached, fear not, as the Challenger will happily pass you one. If you have a gunner, they will similarly be passed a HUD. Simply locate the HUD in your inventory (the "Recent Items" tab is made for this) and right click and select "Wear" from the menu. It will attach to your bottom screen position. If you have a Challenger HUD still attached, it will function without issue, and the tank won't try to pass you another.  When you get back out of the Challenger, it will hide itself from view. To detach, simply locate it in your inventory, right-click and detach.
      
      

      Challenger II HUD Overview

      
      

      Challenger II HUD Data Entry Keypad

      
      
      
   3. Tell Me About the Buttons
      
      
      1. ENGINE
         Starts and stops the engine, and indicates if the engine is running (green) or stopped (red).
         
         
      2. SMOKE
         Deploys smoke in an arc centered on the direction in which the turret is facing. The number just to the right of this button indicates how many sets of smoke grenades you have available.
         
         
      3. EGRESS
         Allows you to egress gracefully from the vehicle, as opposed to simply standing up, which is graceless and embarrassing to those who have to witness it.
         
         
      4. REJECT
         Reject is not the question. "Do you want to get rid of your annoying and/or unwanted gunner?" is the question. Reject is the answer.
         
         
      5. OCS Mode Indicator/Options Menu
         When orange, indicates the vehicle is in OCS mode. (i.e. if the crew is wearing active OCS HUDs) Pressing this brings up the Options menu. From this menu, you may turn on/off the headlights, change the camouflage scheme between NATO woodland and Challenger desert, and adjust your L30A1 ammunition loadout as explained below.
         
         
         1. Setting the L30A1 Shell Loadout
            The Challenger can carry 52 shells for the L30A1, and while this defaults to 20 each of the M829A3 and M830A1 and 12 of the M1028, you can adjust the balance of shells as you like, while remaining within the 42 shell total.
            
            Before the tank is started or the weapons are used, select the Options menu. From this menu, select "Loadout." You will be presented with a menu of the following options:
            
            M829A3, M830A1, M1028 +/- : You'll first have to remove some shells from one of these slots, which will show in the "Free" count. You may then add any shells shown in the Free count to whichever slot you please.
            
            Done: When you're happy with your loadout, press this. This will commit your changes, but they can be changed until the tank is started, or you arm the weapon systems. After either of these events, you may not change the loadout on the current tank.
            
            Reset: Resets the loadout to the default 18/18/6.
            
            Discard: Dismisses the loadout menu and does not commit your changes.
            
            The loadout you decide to keep will become the default ammo levels for this tank. Meaning if you rearm/repair this tank, the weapons will be restocked to this level.A newly rezzed tank will have the default ammo levels.
            
            
            
      6. GUNNER
         In the case of a single driver/commander/gunner, this will toggle control of the weapon systems and turret tracking. With a two-person crew, on first press this will give control to the driver/commander, a second press will hand off weapon control to the gunner, and a third will deactivate gunner control entirely.
         
         
      7. FCS
         Toggles the Fire Control System for both the L30A1 main gun and coaxial machine gun.
         
         With FCS off, you may manually set the range.To manually rangefind a target you may use the default "R" gesture, or chat command "/5 ranging" and the range that is returned will automatically be used by the coax to calculate windage and bullet drop.
         
         
      8. COAX
         Selects the 7.62mm coaxial machine gun.
         
         
      9. L30A1
         Selects the 120mm L30A1 cannon.
         
         
         1. Loading Status
            After firing, the L30A1 will be reloaded with the same shell type as was just fired, assuming there are any available. The loading status has three phases, in which the "LOADING" indicator will turn from red to yellow, and then the blue "ARMED" indicator will appear when the cannon is reloaded and ready to again be fired. You will also hear the sound of the breach being opened, loaded and locked as an auditory cue to loading and arming status.
            
            As autoloaders are actually slower to reload a tank's main gun than a live crew member is, using the Challenger with another player as your gunner will reduce the L30A1's reloading time by about 16%.
      10. M829A3
          Loads a M829A3 sabot shell into the L30A1 cannon.
          
          
      11. M830A1
          Loads a M830A1 High Explosive shell into the L30A1 cannon.
          
          
      12. M1028
          Loads a M1028 canister (a.k.a. "beehive") anti-personnel shell into the L30A1 cannon.
          
          
      13. MODE
          When using the M830A1 shells, this toggles the fuzing mode between impact and ranged fuzing.
          
          
      14. Data Entry Keypad
          Tapping the wedge on the right side of the HUD causes the data entry keypad to pop out. From here, you may enter the fuzing range for M830A1 shells. Simply tap the appropriate numbers, and your entry will appear while you enter it in the digital display beside the mode button. Press the green enter key when done. The valid range is 75 to 500 meters. If you make a mistake during entry, press the red delete key. Pressing the delete key again will cancel the data entry operation and fold the keypad. Also, pressing the delete key without having entered any data will fold the keypad.
          
          
   4. Going Mobile
      
      
      1. Driving Controls
         

         Challenger II WASD Controls

         
         The Challenger uses the arrow keys or WASD keys for gear selection and steering/pivoting control. The WASD keys will be used for the examples here.
         
         W and S control the tank gearing, shifting forward and backwards respectively. You do not have to hold down W to drive forward, simply tapping the key will increase your gearing, which will increase power to the drivetrain, which will move the tank forward. The Challenger has four forward speeds, neutral, and two reverse.
         
         A and D turn the tank left and right, or pivot it around when it is sitting still.
         
         The C or Page Down key will reset your throttle to zero and apply full brakes, stopping the tank.
         
         The E or Page Up key cycles the driver's camera between the default 'loose follow', rigid 'driving', overhead and drive-by camera modes.
         
         
      2. Starting
         
         Starting the Challenger after you've boarded is done by hitting the Engine Power Switch (ENGINE). Allow the engine a second or two to start, and then tap the W key once or twice to get moving.
         
         
      3. Maneuvering
         
         The A and D keys rotate the tank left or right respectively, and used in combination with the W and S keys to control gearing, the Challenger can get up inclines of over 45 degrees and over most any object lower than its nose and forward track wheels. If you happen to roll the tank onto its side, you will lose mobility.
         
         
      4. Fording Water
         
         The Challenger has a maximum fording depth of approximately 2.0 meters. Attempting to cross water deeper than this can result in water entering the engine intake, the engine being inundated with water and a complete loss of power and mobility. Bear in mind also that crews with OCS HUDs active will also drown in deep water if steps are not taken to abandon the vehicle and get ashore in an expeditious manner.
         
         
      5. Stopping
         
         You can stop the Challenger by either deicrementing the throttle (S key) until you have reached neutral, or by pressing the C key while either in a forward or a reverse gear and you will brake to a stop. If you wish to disembark, press the Engine Power Switch (ENGINE) and then the EGRESS button.
         
         
4. Weapons
   
   Before you can select and take control of any of the Challenger's weapon systems, you must be the active gunner. As the driver/commander, clicking the GUNNR button will toggle control of the weapon system. When the button appears green, you are the "active gunner" and as such, have control over all weapons systems.
   
   In addition to causing appropriate OCS damage (impact and blast) the weapons on the Challenger also deliver 100% damage in Linden Damage enabled areas.
   
   
   1. 120 mm L30A1 Rifled Cannon
      
      This is the tank's main gun. It is aimed in mouselook, and is fired by pressing the left mouse button. The turret will rotate at a rate of 30 degrees per second in the direction the gunner is looking, and the gunner must wait for the turret to fully traverse to aim at the target, or the shot will not go where it was intended. Its range of lateral motion is 360 degrees, to maximum depression and elevation of -9 to +20 degrees, relative to the tank body.
      
      By default, the L30A1 functions under a Fire Control System (FCS) in an automatic rangefinding mode. Normally this will mean after pressing the left mouse button, there will normally be a slight pause and then the gun will fire.
      
      The FCS calculates a three-dimensional, asymptotic targeting solution taking into account the following:
      
      Shell selection
      Your tank's motion
      Target range, elevation and velocity
      Wind deflection
      
      If you fire against a target that is in motion, the shot will be calculated to meet the target at the precise point the target will be when the shell arrives. When using the M830A1 High Explosive shells, they will be fuzed for the distance to the target, so in the event the shot is not a direct hit, the shell will still detonate near to the intended target. When fired in rangefinding mode, the FCS will give you feedback about the firing solution, which will look similar to this:
      
      RNG: 241 @ 106 T: 1.40 s VC: 2.75 @ 200 WC: 1.81 @ 090
      
      This means the target is 142 meters away at a bearing of 106 degrees. Time for the shot to travel to the target is 1.40 seconds. This is a moving target, so it is compensating for that (Velocity Compensation) by leading (aiming ahead) 2.75 meters at a bearing of 200 degrees. Also, to compensate for wind deflection, it is adding 1.81 meters at a bearing of 90 degrees to the solution. As an approximate (and not to scale) kinematic diagram, it would look something like this:
      
      
      
      
      
      1. M829A3
         The M829A3 sabot round is a kinetic energy weapon and is best suited for armored targets. As it is a non-explosive round, blast damage is minimal, making it a poor choice for anti-personnel engagements.
         
         
      2. M830A1
         The M830A1 is a high explosive round for use against dismounted infantry, light armored vehicles, helicopters and structures. In addition to the local blast effect of the high explosive, this shell will throw shrapnel for a considerable distance which can be lethal to anyone not under cover.
         
         
         1. Impact Mode
            The default fuzing mode for the M830A1 is impact, simply meaning it blows up on contact with a solid object. When used in conjuction with the FCS, the round will be fuzed for the distance to the target, so in the event the shot is not a direct hit, the shell will still detonate near to the intended target.
            
            
         2. Fuzing Mode
            Proximity fuzing sets a distance from the tank at which the shell will detonate. This is useful against aircraft, infantry behind cover,and other soft targets which are susceptible to shrapnel damage. The proximity distance can be set from 75 meters to 500 meters. The FCS (if enabled) will aim at a virtual target in the direction you are aiming, at the distance speficied by the fuzing range, compensating for shell drop and windage to detonate the shell at the location you are aiming with high precision.
            
            
      3. M1028
         The M1028 Canister round (also called a "beehive round" for the sound that 1,150 high-speed, marble-sized tungsten steel balls makes) can be thought of as a very large shotgun shell. While it has limited effectiveness against any type of armored vehicle or fortified structure, it is highly lethal against infantry out to a range of approximately 115 meters, encompassing an arc of 30 degrees, with the damage inflicted falling off as the range increases.
         
         
         
   2. 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun
      
      This machine gun is a moderate rate of fire (550 round per minute) weapon aimed by the gunner in mouselook. Sustained or high-density fire may result in the barrel overheating. You will be able to again fire the weapon after several seconds to allow the barrel to cool down. It has a capacity of 4000 rounds.
      
      In its default mode, the coaxial will use the Challenger's Fire Control System (FCS) to determine the range of the target at which you are aiming, and will compensate for windage and bullet drop to put the rounds accurately on your target. With FCS off, you must do this manually. If FCS is off and you manually rangefind a target (via the default "R" gesture, or "/5 ranging") the range that is returned will automatically be used by the coax to calculate windage and bullet drop.
      
      Sustained or high-density fire may result in the barrel overheating. You will be able to again fire the weapon after several seconds to allow the barrel to cool down.
      
      
5. Gestures and Chat Control
   
   The Challenger will accept from the crew chat controls on channel 5, so commands can be given in the form of "/5 command" such as "/5 engine" (without the quotes, of course). Commands which are accepted on channel 5 are:
   
   engine: Starts/stops the engine.
   gunner: Toggles/hands off gunner control.
   lights: Toggles the headlights
   options: Pops up the options menu
   eject: Given by the driver/commander, ejects the gunner.
   coax: Arms the coaxial machine gun.
   l30a1 : Arms the L30A1 main cannon. The L30A1 can also take additional subcommands for selecting shells: L30A1&m829a3, L30A1&m830a1, and L30A1&m1028.
   ranging: Measures the range to a target in mouselook.
   fcs: Toggles the Fire Control System.
   smoke: Deploys smoke canisters
   
   Included in the kit are several gestures you can activate and use for most functions. The gestures use suggested key bindings, but feel free to reassign them to whatever works best for you. However, if you are not using a viewer that allows you to bind gestures to the keys these are, editing the existing gestures will not allow you to save with the current letter and number key bindings.
   
   Do note that you may have other gestures using the same keys as the ones included in this package. To locate and correct these conflicts, press control - G in your viewer and click on the"Key" column header to sort by key assignment.
6. Taking Damage
   
   
   1. Compartmentalized Damage Model
      
      The Challenger simulates seven separate systems, each of which can take damage and experience degraded performance and/or failure. Damage to a component is determined by where on the body the vehicle was hit, with possible damage to nearby systems. The 'core' of the tank is its last reserve of hit points, which if depleted will result in its destruction. As a general rule, if you have to get hit by an anti-tank weapon, taking it to the front of the body is your best bet, as this is where the armor is strongest and where the Challenger is least susceptible to catastrophic damage.
      
      
   2. Vehicle Status Display
      
      This display is a pictogram of the vehicle systems, color coded from green to red to indicate the 'health' - better to worse, respectively - of each system from good to disabled, respectively. If a component suffers a failure or critical damage, it will turn red and you will hear an alert.
      
      
      
      
7. Defense and Risk Mitigation
   
   
   1. Hull Down
      
      "Hull down" describes when a turreted vehicle positions itself on terrain in such a way that only the gun/turret is visible to enemy forces. This has the effect of making for a much smaller target, and the part of the vehicle that is presented as a target, the turret, is the least vulnerable part of the vehicle.
      
      
   2. Smoke
      
      The Challenger carries sixteen smoke grenades, which are deployed four at a time. Not only does this help in obscuring the view of your tank, but it will also help decrease the accuracy and locking ability of active seeking weapons. Bear in mind that to be an effective defense, a vehicle deploying smoke needs to immediately get moving after deployment, as a determined opponent may simply fire a weapon at your last known location.
      
      
8. Troubleshooting
   
   
   1. The Challenger has been extensively tested and is free of any known bugs. If you believe you have discovered a bug, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and provide, with as much detail as you can, step-by-step instructions for reproducing it. Things don't get fixed if we don't know what needs fixing. :)
      
      Your support phrase is 'Tea Time'.
      
      
   2. To rez the Challenger, the parcel in which you are doing this needs to have at least 160 prims/prim equivalent free.
      
      
   3. If things aren't rezzing for you, such as the gun rounds or missiles, check your group tag and the group tag of the vehicle to make sure it is harmonious with the area you are in. Some viewers give the option of always creating objects under the group to which the land is set, which may cause you issues if you aren't expecting it and travel to another parcel that requires a different group.
      
      
   4. If you seem to be doing no damage in OCS, first make sure you are wearing an OCS HUD. The OCS logo near the bottom of the Challenger HUD will appear orange when OCS is engaged and working.
      
      
   5. You may have other gestures using the same keys as the ones included in this package. To locate and correct these conflicts, press control - G in your viewer and click on the"Key" column header to sort by key assignment. The keys are merely suggested key bindings, feel free to reassign them to whatever works best for you. If you are not using a viewer that allows you to bind gestures to the keys these are, editing the existing gestures will not allow you to save with the current letter and number key bindings.
      
      
   6. Sounds, and not being able to hear them: If you're using a Viewer 2 or 3 based viewer, the default sound settings cause sounds to carry a few meters at most, then be unable to be heard. If not already showing, press Control-Alt-Shift-D and make the Advanced Menu appear. From that menu, select "Show Debug Settings." In the box, enter or locate "AudioLevelRolloff" and try setting it between 0.040 and 0.200 for better hearing.
      
      
   7. Asset corruption happens. Rarely, a copy of something will become corrupt and behave in very strange ways. The first thing to try is to unpack a fresh copy of the item from the box in which it came. If that doesn't solve the issue, you can have another box of the same item sent to you via the service kiosk at The Omega Concern's main store. Failing that, contact the support address and request a new box be sent to you and you will receive it as soon as possible.
      
      
9. The End
   
   First, a heartfelt thank you to all The Omega Concern's customers over the years. You guys gave me the sweetest gig in the world, and I love you all for it. I do this all for you.
   
   Big thank yous to Eddison Campbell, Eric Sheppard, and Caete Chevalierfor beta-testing.
   
   As it always has been, and always will be: Fun is the whole point. Do go have some. :)
   ~AH