Hello,
I know Free League wanted to keep things as simple as they could for the game and not dig into the minutia of every single piece of equipment. Still, I wanted to get some thoughts from other GMs on how to cover the blast panels and a few other safety features that exist* on most modern MBTs?
As a quick summation of what I'm talking about: modern tanks like the Leopard 2, Challenger, LeClerc, and Abrams are constructed with Magazine Blow Out panels, which redirect the force of an ammunition magazine detonation in a safe direction that protects the crew and allows the MBT to remain active—making the ammunition coking off in the moment more of a danger for those outside the vehicle when it occurs. Although unless I'm missing it, there is no RAW mechanic to represent this, and all vehicles who suffer an ammunition hit that causes their magazines to explode are immediately destroyed in such a manner as to render them beyond repair.
I was thinking for my games for vehicles so equipped; I might instead play the rules as designed, playing out the explosion on the area around the tank, but rather than having the tank Destroyed, I think I might reduce the vehicle's reliability by D3.
I'm looking forward to seeing peoples thoughts on this,
-Collinsas
*I was also thinking about what to do with onboard fire impression systems, but that's another question for now.