Editing M60 Patton (section)

==In Team Yankee==
===USA===
[[File:M60A3Stats.jpg |300px|left|thumb|Valley forge, Custer's ranks, San Juan Hill and Patton's tanks, and the Army went rolling along...]]
[[File:M60a1.jpeg |300px|Right|thumb|Go ahead. Make my day.]]
First employed by American forces in the 1950s, the M60 Patton remains the mainstay of U.S. Army tankers in 1985 and is the sole main battle tank operated by the U.S. Marine Corps. Caught five years into the process of phasing its M60s out in favor of the newer and better M1 Abrams (introduced in 1980), the U.S. Army has waded into the fighting with a sizeable fleet of Pattons. The Marines, meanwhile, still having to make do with the second-hand stuff, will be enthusiastically destroying things that somebody else has to pay for, old tanks be damned. The M60 Patton may not be as good as it once was in 1985, but it's a workhorse and that's good enough.

Despite being a vastly different and considerably older design, the M60 Patton is basically armed with the same weapons systems as the older model [[M1 Abrams|Abrams]] (sans one .30cal) and can dish out the same damage. The M68 105mm Cannon has a ROF of 2 both moving and staying still, meaning the M60 can use its mobility while still being capable of engaging targets. The ''Laser Rangefinder'' rule allows the M60A3 to engage targets beyond 16 inches without adding +1 to your shooting rolls. The AT of 20 is more than enough to punch right through anything lighter than an MBT and stands a decent chance of damaging things like the [[T-72]]. With increasing amounts of Soviet armor available at frontal 18, you may decide to complement your tanks with a few ATGMs to reliably punch through a line of tanks.

On the defensive, however, the M60 comes up a bit short. The Patton has front armor 15, only one more than the [[T55AM2]], which means that Soviet Tank guns will perforate it like an oversized balloon, to say nothing of ATGMs. The side armor is a similarly lackluster 8 (which is actually one less than a T55AM2 but still 2 better than the [[Chieftain]]), making it vulnerable even to some of the heavier autocannons. It gets worse, the M60 lacks any kind of additional protection, including Bazooka Skirts, so what you see is what you get on this thing. And coming as it does from the 1950s, the M60 Patton has no internal armor to shield the crew from an ammunition explosion, meaning that a hit on its 105mm shell storage will send the turret flying and kill everyone inside just as a similar hit would on a Warsaw Pact tank.

While players may look at the obsolete armor that the Patton boasts- it's got the same frontal armor points as a T-72M, for Chrissakes- and run back to the Abrams, consider the point costs. Even the base Abrams costs ''double'' that of a Patton, i.e. 8pts compared to 4, (to say nothing of an M1A1HC) meaning that a platoon of M1 tanks could translate to two platoons of M60s. With the effective doubling or more in firepower, players with a preference for damage or the ability to preserve their tanks using LOS blocking will find the Patton to be far more cost-effective.

U.S. Army and U.S. Marine tank units may take Patton Platoons ranging in size from 2 to 5. There is a lot to be said for buying two M60s instead of a single Abrams, although that does mean your NATO force suddenly gets expensive, model-wise. In the typical infantry heavy meta, players will often find they are a strictly better option than the Abrams with the spare points going for additional [[US Mech Platoon|Mech Platoons]] or support instead.

TL;DR: Cheaper, decent tank, more fragile, but also more economical (for your list not your pocketbook).

===Israel===
[[File:MAGGIE.jpg|300px|left|thumb|300px|Israel gets a Patton! Iran gets a Patton! Everybody gets a Patton!]]
The Isreali designation for the M60A1 is the Magach 6 and they have fiddled with it a bit. Instead of the giant commander's cupola, it's just a flat hatch with a 7.62mm machine gun. The .50 cal gets <s>changed</s> upgraded from a M85 to a M2 and mounted on the gun shield to be used in conjunction with the built-in coax machine gun.

It has a ''Brutal'' gun which forces re-rolls on passed infantry saves, and could fire smoke if needed. Unfortunately, it drops 1 ROF while moving on the main cannon and has the ''Accurate'' special rule: terrible for maneuver warfare, but excellent at fighting in a defensive position. The gun's penetration is identical to the Merkava, so take the Magach 6 if you want maximum firepower. The Magach costs (around) half of the Merkava 2, so the trade-off is very similar to that between the Patton and the Abrams. 

If you are firing at infantry, the Magach can throw out 3-6 MG shots depending on range and whether you moved. The .50 is Anti Helo, so you can put up one shot at 5+ FP. 

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===Iran===
[[File:M60-Main-tank-400x231.jpg|300px|left|thumb|300px|Yes, this file is shit, as soon as I get Oil Wars I will upload a better one]]

A well worn hand-me-down from the USA pre-1979 revolution, in Iranian service these tanks fall between the Chieftain and T-62 both in points and tactics-wise. These have none of the fancy trimmings that US M60s get, with no stabiliser or laser rangefinder and Anti-tank dropping to 18 (I guess the arms embargo meant Iran needed to make its own sub-par ammunition). Then again, these tanks cost a mere 2 points each, literally ''half'' of the US version, so expect to see these babies spammed to death. 

FP 18 isn't going to get through any of the NATO MBTs like Abrams or Leo 2s from the front, but these guys are the cheapest MBT in the game to get ROF 2: perfect against Leo 1 spam lists. No other tank can be quite as cost-efficient as these boys when used correctly. Their armour stands a good chance of deflecting Leo AT 19 guns, while they will auto-pen a Leo 1 at any range. Ironically, as "PACT" you probably want to be defensive if you are facing large numbers of cheap(ish) NATO tanks, which used to be the meta. Halted ROF 2 and ''Accurate'' lean towards a static playstyle, so avoid moving if you can. Post them up in cover and let them get to work against light armour. Their cross value of 2+ will be your friend if you ever decide to move.

The Iranian M60 excels as a cheap long-ranged support weapon that will trade well into anything other than top tier tanks like the Leo 2, Abrams or T-64. As Iran you will struggle with these tanks anyway, so consider bringing a horde of T-62s or allied T-72s. M60s could be used in a pinch at rushing for flank shots, but this isn't recommended. They are weak against heavy armour, and suffer from their small unit size, meaning they can't really absorb losses like T-72 blocks. However, morale and remount 3+ will (hopefully) keep your formations in the fight for longer, as all of your tank crews have Allah's blessing and the key to heaven.

They can be taken as a "group" of 3. Yep, that's it. One size. An Iranian M60 company can take 2-3 groups, with 1-2 tanks in its HQ, and an optional Mechanized group. Iranians get no options in how to build their formations. 


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