CRAM Cannons
CRAM Cannons are high-caliber weapon systems, focusing on single-shot power against non-evasive targets.
Overview
CRAM Cannons are a weapon system with shell sizes varying from 1,000mm to 2,000mm. Typically, they have a longer reload time with high damage shots. This weapon system is most effective against targets that cannot evade or destroy the incoming shell.
Components
Firing Piece The main block of a CRAM system. Barrels connect to the circular face, and other components connect to the remaining 5 sides. The firing piece has a default capacity of 250 at 1,000mm, and 1,000 capacity at 2,000mm. Has a default firing arc of 35 degrees in elevation and azimuth.
Gauge Increaser Increases the maximum gauge of a cram by 50mm per block. Gauge increasers give up to a 4x bonus at 2,000mm to the capacity of the Firing Piece and Compactors
Six Way Connector Connects cram components together. Has connections on all 6 sides.
Packer Connects Pellets/Compactors to a CRAM system. Packers add one Pellet per second to the CRAM shell per connected Pellet block. Pellets/Compactors connect to the packer on the three prongs. Packers connect to the CRAM system on the remaining three sides.
Pellets Can only connect to packers Determines the type of damage the weapon does. Notable for being the most expensive block on a cram (180 materials), Although Hardener pellets are slightly cheaper (150 materials) with reduced Firepower per Volume. Hardener Pellet AP is a linear ratio between the amount of hardener pellets and other pellets to a maximum of 40 AP.
Compactor Can only connect to packers Increases the maximum capacity of a cram by 12 per connection at 1,000mm, and 50 at 2,000mm when connected to a Packer
Barrels
Connects to the Firing Piece to increase accuracy
Barrel Has double the accuracy bonus per length as other barrels
Heavy Barrel Same benefit as normal barrels; Has double the accuracy bonus per length as other barrels. Features increased Armor and Health, with a barrel traverse speed penalty.
Motor Driven Barrel Increases the traverse speed of the barrel.
Elevation Barrel (Up to 4 will have effects) Increases the maximum elevation of the barrel by 10 degrees per barrel up to 75 degrees. Decreases maximum azimuth by 10 degrees down to a minimum of 5 degrees per block.
Recoil Suppression Barrel Reduces Recoil impulse to the vehicle to 75% of the current recoil value, with a 5% reduction to current shell velocity.
Flash Suppression Barrel (only one can be used per firing piece) Halves the detection range of cram (396m -> 198m at 1,000mm, 792m -> 396m at 2,000mm) but reduces shell speed to 80%.
Bomb Chute (For use by itself as one barrel) No recoil, sets accuracy to perfect, increases the max elevation and azimuth to 80 degrees, decreases the detection range (396m -> 79m at 1,000mm, 792m -> 158m at 2,000mm), fixes shell speed to 40m/s, changes Barrel Rotation speed to 280 degrees/second at 1,000mm, and 197.99 degrees/second at 2,000mm.
Additional blocks
These blocks add additional features to a CRAM cannon. All of these can be connected to 6 ways, Firing pieces, or Gauge Increasers
Fusing Box Allows the addition of fuses to a CRAM shell and allows for Tip Conversion. Tip Conversion allows for the use of the Hollow Point tip that converts kinetic damage into impact damage at 15 AP. Each fuse used adds a 10% reduction to shell health.
Laser Targetter Used to automatically set Timed Fuses and set altitude offsets for Altitude Fuses
Predictor Draws a line following the predicted shell path
CRAM Tetris
See main article on CRAM Tetris for a more in-depth explanation
There are many ways to build a CRAM cannon; this process is called CRAM tetris. The two main methods are called 2D and 3D. 2D is simpler and is what most beginners use, focusing on how to fill up the space for the weapon on a 2-dimension plane. This can create effective weapons, though not the most optimized. 3D is more complicated, requiring an understanding of parts from a 3-dimensional mindset. To maximize the effectiveness of a CRAM cannon, 3D tetris is a must.
Shell Speed
The base speed of a CRAM shell is limited to a maximum of 300 m/s, but this can be reduced by the use of either a bomb chute, flash, or recoil suppression barrels. The more of these suppression barrels you the slower the max speed of the CRAM cannon will be. Nothing else like diameter, capacity, or barrel length affect the max speed of the CRAM shell. The actual speed of a shell can be reduced by adjusting a slider in the CRAM cannon menu. This can be useful if one wants a CRAM mortar to reach its target within a reasonable time.
Shell Capacity
The fully packed capacity of a CRAM shell is determined by the diameter of the shell and the number of compactors are connected to the CRAM cannon. If a CRAM cannon has a diameter of D, and P compactor connections it will have a capacity equal to:
Capacity = (0.75D - 500) x (1 + 0.05P)
Reload Time
The reload time of a shell is affected by its capacity, diameter, and the number of pellet connections. If a CRAM cannon has a capacity of C, diameter of D, and N pellet connections its total reload time be equal to:
Reload Time = 0.003D + C/N
The reload time is equal to the reload time indicated on the cannon’s info card and it is measured from the moment the cannon is fired to the next time it can possibly fire, assuming there is enough ammunition.
Shell Health
The health of a CRAM shell is determined by the capacity of a shell and what fraction of each pellet type is used, and the number of fuses used on the shell. If the shell has a capacity of C, a hardener pellet fraction of H, and f fuses selected the health will equal:
Health = C x (12H - 3.6(1 - H)) x (1 - 0.1f)
The armor class of the shell is always equal to 20.
Shell Damage
Cram cannons can deal damage in many different forms. These correspond with the associated pellets: Kinetic, High Explosive, Frag, EMP, and Incendiary. Additionally, Kinetic damage can be converted to Impact damage with the hollow point conversion in the fusing box.
Kinetic Damage
The kinetic damage of a CRAM shell as indicated on its info card is dependent on the shell’s capacity, what fraction of each pellet type is used to pack it, and if a thump head is used. The speed of the shell is irrelevant to the damage that it can deal. If the capacity of a shell is C, the fraction of hardener pellets used to pack it is H, and it has no hollow point its kinetic damage will equal:
Kinetic Damage = C x (15H + 5(1 - H))
And that same shell's Armor Piercing value will equal:
Armor Piercing = MAX(40H, 0.1)
If the shell uses a hollow point to deal thump damage its kinetic damage will be equal to 0.790569 time its regular kinetic damage. This shells Armor Piercing value will be equal to:
Armor Piercingthump = MAX(31.62H, 0.1)
Explosive Damage
The explosive damage and radius of a CRAM shell depend on the CRAM cannon's capacity and the fraction of explosive pellet connections. If the cannon's capacity is C and the fraction of explosive pellet connections is X then the explosive damage of the shell will be"
Explosive Damage = 42.38 x (C x X)0.9
And that shame shell's explosion radius will be equal to:
Explosive Radius = 3.0639 x (C x X)0.2705
EMP Damage
The EMP damage of a cram shell depends on the CRAM cannon's capacity and the fraction of EMP pellet connections. If the cannons capacity is C and the fraction of EMP pellet connections is E then the EMP damage of the shell will be:
EMP Damage = 16.5C x E
Frag Damage
The amount of frags produced by a CRAM shell is dependent on the CRAM cannon's capacity and the fraction of frag pellet connections. If the cannon's capacity is C and the fraction of frag pellet connections is F, then the number of frag pellets will be roughly equal to:
Number of Fragments = 5 x (C x F)0.25
The damage produced by each fragment is dependent on the capacity of the shell, the fraction of frag pellet connections used to pack it, the number of fragments, and the fragment angle. If the capacity of a shell is C, the fraction of frag pellet connections is F, the number of fragments is n, and the frag angle is A then the damage per fragment equals:
Fragment Damage = ((F x C)/n) x (41.25 x square root(A) + 82.5)