'Endgame' Heavy Tank Challenge

[eswube]

(snap)

Nicely done. Great details. Really like your sense of humor. "Faroffistan". Reminds me
of the NATO battlefield I created - "UnterOberDorf", which is close to "Dorf". I assume
Faroffistan is just West of Mongolia?

Thanks! Despite the suffix '-stan', Faroffistan isn't meant to be a Central Asian country (and arguably it can be inferred that it actually has a significant coastline, because I used already few years ago for my entry in the Tartar DEG Challenge), it's not even necessarily located "on the World map as we know it". Also, it's not really a part of any coherent AU, I merely saw the name in the net (used in non-derogatory context) and thought it can be an useful shorthand for a some unspecified country in an unspecified location "somewhere". Ruthenia, of course, is more 'real' geographic term ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruthenia ) and is an obvious stand-in for Soviet Union. Names of Herzoslovakia and Ramat are actually both taken from Agatha Christie's novels ('The Secret of Chimneys' and 'Cat Among the Pigeons' respectively), but in this context they are stand-ins for Yugoslvia or Czechoslovakia and for Egypt (or their equivalents on 'potential alternative map'). Actually, the sheet with camouflage versions in the AU4 thread has more in-jokes, but some of them are understandable only for Polish people and some even only from people from my home area.

[MihoshiK]

(snap)

Nicely done. Great details. Really like your sense of humor. "Faroffistan". Reminds me
of the NATO battlefield I created - "UnterOberDorf", which is close to "Dorf". I assume
Faroffistan is just West of Mongolia?

Thanks! Despite the suffix '-stan', Faroffistan isn't meant to be a Central Asian country (and arguably it can be inferred that it actually has a significant coastline, because I used already few years ago for my entry in the Tartar DEG Challenge), it's not even necessarily located "on the World map as we know it". Also, it's not really a part of any coherent AU, I merely saw the name in the net (used in non-derogatory context) and thought it can be an useful shorthand for a some unspecified country in an unspecified location "somewhere". Ruthenia, of course, is more 'real' geographic term ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruthenia ) and is an obvious stand-in for Soviet Union. Names of Herzoslovakia and Ramat are actually both taken from Agatha Christie's novels ('The Secret of Chimneys' and 'Cat Among the Pigeons' respectively), but in this context they are stand-ins for Yugoslvia or Czechoslovakia and for Egypt (or their equivalents on 'potential alternative map'). Actually, the sheet with camouflage versions in the AU4 thread has more in-jokes, but some of them are understandable only for Polish people and some even only from people from my home area.

Eh, it's not as bad as the Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya, so don't sweat it.



Yes, Carbombya means exactly like what it sounds like.

God, eighties cartoons...

[Aiseus]

SOM Poirot CB75

A project I did for a (semi-dead) group AU I've been working on with a couple of other members who you'll probably see post entries soon.

[Albert1099]

Yugoslavia, M-53 Vepar



M-53AI "Tarpon"
Upgrade Proposal for the AVI Program, was never made into service


In Republika Srpska service


More Versions at:viewtopic.php?p=196760#p196760

[morgansshipyard]

Carro Armato P58/47



Throughout the early 20th century, Italy's heavy industry lagged seriously behind her competitors in France, the UK and Germany. Because of this, the nation spent most of the interwar period playing a game of catch-up with them. The M13/40, M16/43, and P26/40 were nearly obsolete on completion due to their riveted (and rather thin) armor, and the build quality of these tanks was usually lower than average due to poor funding. By 1946, the only true heavy tank Italy operated was the P43/45, and while not an inherently bad vehicle the shortcomings in this design were obvious, especially when compared to other heavy tanks. A new vehicle was necessary.

The replacement for the P43 was drafted up in mid-1946, and called for an all-welded tank with a 100mm HV main gun, the ability to frontally withstand Cannone da 90/53 or Flak 18 rounds at any range, an 800hp engine, and 180km of on-road range. Delays in testing of the initial main gun forced a modified version of the 100mm/47 naval gun to be used for the first several batches of production tanks. The "Leviatano" was the heaviest tank yet produced in Italy, at a whopping 58 tons, but was ten tons lighter than the Tiger II due to its lighter armor (110mm frontal and 80mm side hull armor) and less-powerful main gun. With a top speed of over 40km/h offroad, the P58 was no slouch, and fit Italian mobile doctrine very well. The tank was not without its issues; its lesser armor made it far less durable than the Tiger II, only able to effectively resist the guns of contemporary medium tanks, and the engine was fraught with teething problems. The later P62 rectified some of these issues, trading the 800hp engine for a more reliable 750hp engine, increasing frontal armor to 127mm, and replacing the 100mm/47 with the significantly stronger Cannone da 100mm/62.

During the Second World War, the P62 and P58 were found wherever the Italian Army went, from the deserts of North Africa to the French Alps and Greek Front. A few were even utilized in support of the Wehrmacht during Operation Wilhelm der Große in Ukraine, though the Italians were reluctant to contribute significant forces to that front on account of the French armies on their doorstep. Neither was particularly effective as a breakthrough tank, but their good anti-armor characteristics at long range made them intimidating defensive weapons, a role they performed far too often after 1951. Tanks of this type were used en masse for the last time in 1952, launching the desperate assault personally directed by Benito Mussolini on the Anglo-American lines outside Rome that broke both the back and spirit of the Italian Army. Postwar, a few saw service with the Esercito Italiano until 1965, by which time they were long obsolete.

[Imperialist]

Großdeutschland - Sd.Kfz. 183 Vollketten Panzer VKPz. VII Höhlenlöwe

The last heavy tank to see any worthwhile operational combat in the Second Great War, the VKPz. VII Höhlenlöwe (Cave Lion) was born out of necessity - at least at the time the design was drawn up in mid-1942. Plans laid out by Waffen Prüfen 6 (Wa Prüf 6) for a 75-ton super-heavy tank that could mount either a: 10.5cm KwK L/70, 12.8cm KwK L/55 or 15cm KwK L/40 gun as its main armament, due to the suspicions that newer Allied heavy tanks would be combat ready sometime in mid to late 1943. A direct competitor to Krupp's VKPz. VII Löwe, Porsche's Höhlenlöwe design grew after several refinements, easily breaking out towards the 100-ton category. On August 7th, 1942, Porsche KG presented to the Kaiser the final version of the tank, this final draft being numbered K.3391. This final design had the armament listed as having a 12.8cm KwK L/55 (56 rounds), a 2cm or 3cm coaxial autocannon, and an MG 34 or MG 40 on a pintle mount, with the ability to up-arm it if need be. As this tank superseded the VKPz. VI Ausf. B Königstiger, it was more heavily armored, with an 17cm upper front plate, and 10cm lower front plate. The mantlet was thick, at 20cm, backed by another 17cm rounded turret front. Rear armor was 12cm thick, and 10cm at the sides, along with 5cm thick roof and deck armor. It was powered by a Maybach HL 230, later upgraded to a Maybach HL 240, with a few tanks receiving turbocharged GT 100/101 engines. But these only really pushed the VKPz. VII to around 35-40km/h max, and had a range of roughly 100km (off-road) to 150km (on-road). As the war progressed, some VKPz. VII's received upgraded armament and armor packages, such as various types of schürzen, but these were few and far between as the war continued onwards.

The Höhlenlöwe began production in mid 1944, after the necessary facilities and tooling was set aside, but only 73 were produced that year, 346 in 1945, 594 in 1946, and 103 in 1947, by the time the war ended after the capitulation of Berlin in April of that year. It proved its worth in the battles it found itself in, from the plains of the Eastern Europe, to the banks of the Rhine, and even the streets of Berlin, where many of them made their final stand to buy the civilian populace time to evacuate the city. One notable moment was at Weidendammer Bridge, on the night of April 17th, 1947, where several Höhlenlöwe's of the 524th Heavy Panzer Battalion (s.H.Pz.Abt. 524) spearheaded a breakout across the bridge, in an attempt to allow hundreds of soldiers and civilians an opportunity to escape the advancing Soviet armies.

Post-war, there were surprisingly quite a few surviving tanks still laying around, with many more captured incomplete at their factories. Some of these were finished and pressed into service for the Czech, Polish, and Italian armies and used for a time until the mid to late 1950's. A handful survived even longer, well into the 1960's, being used as cheap, available armor in far-off places such as Egypt, Syria, and Vietnam. Even China received a few, reverse-engineering some aspects of the tank to use in their development of armored vehicles post-war.

Sd.Kfz. 183/1 - Basic variant: 12.8cm KwK L/55 + MG 34 & Vampir IR sight

Sd.Kfz. 183/2 - Variant w/ MG 151/15 or MG 151/20 replacing MG 34 on pintle mount

Sd.Kfz. 183/3 - Variant w/ MK 108 on pintle mount for anti-infantry use

[WesleyWestland]

Rhinoceros I Heavy Tank (1943)
Used by the Westlandian Army during the latter part of the Second Great War (1940-1947).



The Rhinoceros I was developed from the infantry tanks in Westlandian service. It had initially been intended to carry a 40 mm gun in the turret and a 75 mm howitzer in the forward hull, but partway through the design process it became clear that, in order to have any effect against enemy tanks that were being faced in the field, a much larger main gun would be needed. The design was radically altered, deleting the howitzer altogether and replacing the turret with a far larger example that contained the 85 mm anti-aircraft gun which had proven itself as an emergency anti-tank weapon.

The resulting tank was heavy, well-armoured and capable of knocking out the enemy tanks, but also a slow and lumbering beast whose fuel consumption put an additional strain on the long supply lines to the front. It proved itself a popular and relatively successful tank in the field, though early models suffered from frequent mechanical failures in the desert campaign due to the sand and heat. The long, wraparound tracks made it a very capable terrain vehicle and allowed it to climb steep hills.

The Rhinoceros I chassis was also used for a series of specialist vehicles, including recovery vehicles, mobile bridges, bridge-layers and the Flame Projector-version which replaced the hull-mounted machine gun with a flamethrower and a trailer that contained fuel. The latter is pictured above, together with the tropical version used in the desert campaign and a camouflage pattern that was used later in the war.

Some (estimated) numbers:
Length: 8.5 metres (hull) / 9.3 metres (gun forward).
Width: 3.7 metres.
Height: 3.2 metres.
Mass: 67.5 tonnes.
Manufacturers: Atkinson-Fox Ltd, Burgess Brothers Ltd.
Crew: 5 (commander, gunner, loader/radio operator, driver, co-driver/hull gunner).

Armour: 150 mm front, 100 mm side, 50 mm rear.
Main armament: 1x QF 85 mm AA gun.
Secondary armament: 2x 8 mm Atkinson machine gun (1x hull, 1x coaxial).
Engine: 33.9 L petrol V12, 600 hp (de-rated Burgess V-3400 aero engine).
Power to weight: 8.9 hp/tonne.
Top speed: 25 km/h.

[morgansshipyard]

Carro Armato P78/50



The Carro Armato P78/50 was the heaviest tank ever developed in Italy. Weighing in at a whopping 78 tons, the P78 was derived from the previous P62 when the armor of that tank proved insufficient to stop the rounds of other heavy tanks. The P78 fit the role of "breakthrough tank" quite nicely, trading its predecessor's mobility for 180mm of frontal armor on the hull, and 225mm on the turret. The main gun was a 120mm/56 gun, capable of destroying virtually any enemy tank while still retaining good HE performance. Tradeoffs had to be made for the P78's absurd survivability (by Italian standards), however. As previously mentioned, the P78 lacked any sort of good mobility, and fit rather poorly with Italian mobile doctrine as a result. In addition, the comparatively poor HEAT performance and somewhat mediocre AP shell designs meant that the gun often underperformed compared to other 120-130mm caliber guns (though it was still a powerful weapon). Fewer than 400 of these vehicles were produced, making them a fairly rare sight on the battlefield, though definitely a feared one. The P78 was first used in the Battle of Toulon, where poor battlefield management by Italian commanders left 47 of the 85 deployed tanks in flames. In the later stages of the war, it served as a defensive bunker, a role it was fairly well-suited to. Twenty took part in Mussolini's Charge, with none surviving; thirteen were destroyed by US and British Army medium and heavy tanks, with the other seven falling to close-range rocket and ATGM fire. Postwar, four tanks were deployed by the Army of the Italian Republic until 1967.

[Laforest]

France, Char Lourd CL-50
After the 1940 defeat and subsequent occupation of France by the nazis, a clandestine organization for the research and production of armaments is created in Vichy France. A series of equipments are envision, among them a tank able to stand and defeat any nazi tank in the coming years.
After two years of work and endless discussions a final design is completed in april 1943, and components are produced by several firms, Laforest, Laffly, Lorraine, Panhard and Schneider among others, although with an underpowered engine and without turret and gun, this first prototype prove things are in the correct way, soon second prototype now with the Panhard 520 kw engine take the proving grounds in july 1943. Although the gun and turret are still behind of been completed, production is approved for the chassis and engines. Construction of components are carried out and a partial assembly line is prepared in the Laforest locomotive plant, where a huge amount of effort took place in order to camouflage and conceal the activities from nazis and his collaborators. With all these difficulties the final fifth prototype with turret and Schneider 105 mm gun of the now to be known as Char Lourd CL 50 is tested in december 1943, although several problems are encounter production of the turret and the canon are rush in to production, believing the technical problems can be solved on the march.
Through the first half of 1944 many changes and tests are undertaken in a frantic race to be ready for the allied invasion of France, so production continues and by august 1944 45 tanks are completed and ready, baptism of fire took place the 15th august in support of the allied landings in south France giving the nazis a big surprise. Although several problems arise the CL-50 become the only allied tank capable of destroying anything the nazis put in the battlefield and the few in service took the lead in all mayor offensives putting french troops in the first line, eager to reclaim the shame of the 1940 defeat.
Production continues and by the end of the war in Europe 227 char lourdes and 41 self-propeled guns where completed, becoming the main battle tank of the French Army.
Technical problems are solved trough different batches culminating with the 120 mm gun variant. Production ended in 1968 with 3678 heavy tanks and 422 self propelled guns, the last CL-50 was withdrawn from service in 2007.
Until the appearance of the British L7 105 mm gun in the end of the 50s, the CL-50 was the only western tank capable of facing soviet armour and win.



Variants and users:
CL-50 A,B,C,D 105 mm gun Armée Française
CL-50 F,G with 120mm gun Armée Française
CAL-50 A,B,C,D 155mm self propelled howitzer Armée Française
VRC-50 A,B,C,D, armoured recovery vehicle Armée Française
CL-50 EI, 105mm and 120mm gun export version for Israel
CL-50 EQ, 105mm and 120mm gun export version for Iraq
CL-50 EA, 105mm gun export version for Argentina
CL-50 Y, 105mm gun licence production version for Yugoslavia
CL-50 EN, 105mm export version for the Netherlands
CL-50 ES, 105mm and 120mm export version for Switzerland
CL-50 SV, 120mm licence production version for Sweden
CL-50 EB, 105mm gun export version for Belgium

Specifications for the Char Lourd CL-50 mle A (CL stands for Char Laforest)
Weight: 51 ton
Lenght of hull: 7.4 mtr
Overall lenght: 9.7 mtr
Height: 2.85 mtr
Width: 3.3 mtr
Armour: 60 to 160 mm
Powerplant: 520 Kw diesel air cooled
Transmission: 2 front, 1 reverse
Suspension: Torsion Bar
Main armament: 105 mm rifled gun
Ammunition: 72
Secondary armament: 7.62 mm machine gun, Coaxial
Secondary armament: 12.7 mm heavy machine gun, Commander cupola
Max sustained speed on road: 46 kph
Max sustained speed off road: 22 kph
Range on road: 190 km
Crew: 4 Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver

Specifications for the Canon Automoteur Lourd CAL-50 mle B (CAL stands for Canon Automoteur Laforest)
Weight: 56 ton
Overall lenght: 7.4 mtr
Height: 3.3 mtr
Width: 3.3 mtr
Armour: 60 to 160 mm
Powerplant: 520 Kw diesel air cooled
Transmission: 2 front, 1 reverse
Suspension: Torsion Bar
Main armament: 155 mm howitzer
Ammunition: 36
Secondary armament: 7.62 mm machine gun, Coaxial
Secondary armament: 12.7 mm heavy machine gun, Commander cupola
Max sustained speed on road: 37 kph
Max sustained speed off road: 16 kph
Range on road: 150 km
Crew: 5 Commander, Gunner, Loader 1, Loader 2, Driver

Source Shipbucketpedia, october 2020.

[jjx indoweeb]

i have no lore for this yet ¯\_(ツ)_/¯