The Isle of California

[Voyager989]

"Tomyris" CD Series (CD1-CD4)
Crew: 5 (Commander, gunner, loader, driver, radio operator)
Weight: 52 tonnes
Length: 6.95m
Width: 3.25m
Height: 3m
Range: 250km
Armour: 120mm hull front, 60mm sides, 40mm rear, 140mm turret front, 75mm sides, 45mm rear.
Armament: 84mm/60 AT, 1 x 13mm ranging co-axial, 1 x 7mm co-axial, 1 x 7mm hull MG
Engine: 1 x HCA-1010A Hoffmeyer V-12 diesel
Maximum speed: 60 kph

Ordered when the Hippolyte proved incapable of taking the 84mm anti-tank gun now becoming standard on Californian tanks, the Tomyris was a modern 'heavy' cruiser tank, designed to match the best that it was believed Germany (or in later years, the Soviet Union) could field in the near-future. Like the Black Princess, it was allowed to grow to meet a proper weight target. The first units saw combat in January of 1944, considered a very remarkable design cycle for a tank originally ordered in the second half of 1941. The tank reached full production at a rate of 250 per month in late 1944. Amenities were on a level of the Melanippe CII4 variant, and the tank also saw much post-war use.

[eswube]

Backstory is extremelly impressive in its size and interesting in premise (even if bit OTT in certain elements - and I'm not even talking about the basic premise, rather the more grandiose developments of the story).

[apdsmith]

Hi Voyager,

An interesting read - the back story is interesting but I find I'm having to read it in chunks, so far it's a good read, though.

I do have a question on the tanks, specifically the CII4 / CIII4 - unless I've missed something in the timeline (which is a distinct possibility, there's an awful lot of detail up there ) isn't bottled air, overpressure and filtration systems a bit recent for a WWII machine? To me, that looks like a decent NBC (well, probably "C", mostly, depending on those filters...) kit, which I'd thought would be a bit excessive for a WWII tank.

Regards,
Adam

[Voyager989]

It's expensive, and excessive, yes!

The tank is quite gold-plated, with many features that drove up cost, but the Californians faced and replied with massive chemical weapons use during the war with Japan - to the point where even after closing up the tank and cutting in the filters, there could be so much gas as to leave not enough air for the crew and engine to function. If you think of it as a (very) primitive NBC system, you're not wrong, but it was something that ended up being needed - and used - in the war to the knife they fought in the Pacific.

[Imperialist]

I hadn't realized how in-depth this thread is so I went back and reread it, plus I was a bit surprised to see some of my drawings kitbashed here! There are two tiny things I-d like to note though: 1) you could remove the bottom curved portion of the gun mantlet on the "Tomyris' for a bit enhanced gun depression (although that's probably just a visual thing), and 2) the turret is awfully big for the indien panzer hull so uou would probably need to lengthen the tank or change the turret due to the crampwd quarters.

Anyways, keep up the amazing work, I want to see more wonderful stuff in this thread

[Voyager989]

Hi Imperialist! Thanks for the compliments! I've tried to make the edits you suggested (I agree with them), and update some of the stats accordingly.

[Colosseum]

I salute anyone who has the patience and mental fortitude to read that massive wall of text.

[ezgo394]

I'm gonna read it like everyone else, in big chunks.
But in all seriousness, I give a salute to you Voyager. That's the kind of history I want for my AUs (but sadly I can't stay on topic long enough..). Bravo!

Also, nice work on the Melanippe and Tomyris!

[apdsmith]

Hi Voyager,

A quick suggestion that may make things a little less gold-plated ... rather than having bottled air you could go for a regenerative system, these being in general availability (as submarine escape kits, the Davis escape apparatus) since 1910 or so IRL. Unless, of course, this is what you mean by "bottled air" in the first place, in which case apologies, just thought this would be a way to cut the load on the filters - I can't think that this would be feasible for the engine but may at least keep the crew happy while the engine runs off the filtered stuff.

Regards,
Adam

[Voyager989]

It could work - what I meant was like what the Maus had (Germany, you so silly) - literally just bottled compressed air to allow attacks into chemical clouds so dense that the filters couldn't get enough 'air' out of what they were trying to work through. Maybe you're right, and re-breathers are a more optimal solution! If so, then even in an AU, mistakes are made, and 'friction' rears its' ugly head.